Brigid's Journal - Archives

MUSINGS ON A LATE-NIGHT VIEWING OF "ROGER AND ME"

Last night, an attack of insomnia -- I seem to get them frequently these days -- led me to break out my "Roger and Me" DVD. For the first time, I noticed that there was a commentary track by Michael Moore. So I turned that on too.

I hadn't watched "Roger and Me" in quite a while. Every time I do, I am struck again by its raw, unpolished power. In the commentary, it's fascinating to hear Michael Moore point out that many things he captured on film were new then but are familiar now. We all remember Deputy Fred and the infamous "rabbit lady." GM lobbyists and other wealthier folk Moore interviews are both clueless and brutally honest. He comments wryly that they have learned a lot more about PR since those days.

Toward the end of the film, Moore describes a bizarre Christmas Eve that began with another visit with Deputy Fred as he did a few evictions before taking a few days off for the holiday; moved to Detroit where Moore once again tried to talk to Roger Smith at the GM Christmas party (this time he succeeded -- sort of); and ended with his returning to Flint only to encounter a tragic incident in which a Buick executive entered the restaurant where the Buick Christmas party was being held, shot his girlfriend, then went back outside and shot himself. Most of this footage did not make it into the film; Moore decided that it was already depressing enough.

Flint, MI, has become a poster child for what happened in the wild and wooly '80's, just as Bruce Springsteen's "My Hometown" has become the era's anthem. The city never has recovered. Moore says that things have only gotten worse there since he made the film.

Moore says that if there is one thing he wants people to take away from "Roger and Me," it is that you and I have the same number of votes as a Roger Smith: one each. And there are a lot more of the likes of us than there are of the likes of him. As we prepare for November, let's remember that.