Irony in Roger and me

In the documentary Roger and me, owing to layoff of thousands General Motor workers in Flint, a large number of workers would not support their families any more, even they have to move to other places for living. Moreover, crime rate is increasing and economy is depressed in that city. Filmmaker seeks out the CEO of GM, Roger Smith to query him about social responsibility and the layoff effect to development of the whole city. However, in the process of seeking Roger, Roger’s attitude towards GM’s layoff is aloof and indifferent. Moore uses irony as an effective technique to persuade viewers Roger should be responsible for the city’s backwardness and take social responsibility. For example, Moore tries to talk with Roger in various ways, while each time he was restrained by security guards or officers in GM Company, which makes viewers feel like Roger even dares not to confront with this issue. In this sense, Moore satirizes Roger’s aloof reaction to layoff and indifferent to citizen’s well-being. This irony technique reminds me of another documentary, The Cove which also uses irony to convince viewers. In The Cove, when filmmakers just come to the city, they are warned not to go to the places government officers showed. However, their behaviors indicate they are harboring some guilty secrets. Similar to Roger and me, Roger’s dodging about implies he is guilty and should face this problem. Besides, Moore employing irony technique skillfully makes the ending part a tricky one. The footage shows a family who was GM’s worker before is busy moving out of a house because of not having enough money, while Roger’s speech voice covers the video. Roger sends Christmas greeting to citizens but meanwhile, one family is cursing Roger who causes their current condition. Filmmaker Moore uses juxtaposition as a strategy to further contribute irony technique in the film and arouse social concern about this issue and criticize Roger’s layoff decision, his apathetic attitude and evading responsibility.