Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Irony in Roger & Me

Matt Murray

Throughout the documentary Roger and Me, the creator of the film, Michael Moore used many different forms of irony. Some examples of this is the multiple times Moore pays visits to various high end clubs that Roger Smith was a member of to see if he could speak with him, which displayed irony in that the man that was responsible for putting so many people out of work was busy blowing large amounts of money to partake in leisurely activities that these workless people could never even dream of partaking in. Another form of irony utilized by Moore was how he highlighted that some of the former GM employees who had been laid off decided to take correctional officer positions at the local prisons, and the majority of those who took that job ended up seeing some of their former co-workers in the prison that they were now employed with. The form of irony that Moore used in the film that was the most substantial in my opinion though, was showing the family being evicted from their house on Christmas Eve, while also playing the speech that Roger Smith had been giving at a Christmas party for GM. Here, Moore showed a family that was in a great deal of pain and agony in having to deal with being evicted from their house on Christmas Eve, while the speech Smith had been giving at the same time was one that talked about happiness, hope and positivity that completely contradicted what was occurring between the two scenes. This scene, to me, was Moore's most persuasive presentation of irony throughout the film.

2 comments:

  1. I agree that this scene was a very powerful one. However, though Moore uses irony to get his point across, he made no mention that these people may have been irresponsible with the money that they were earning from their jobs, and whether or not they actually worked for GM. He is placing all of the blame to a company, who's mission statement is probably along the lines of 'provide people with cars and make profit', not be responsible for peoples irresponsible spending and living conditions. It's a sad situation, but the blame should at least be distributed where it's due.

    Alex

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  2. i like your comment about the correctional officers that were taking of their former workers in the jails. the only job in the city were those officer jobs and the fact that they have to lock away their former coworkers is both funny and sad. and the christmas story at the end was of course the strongest piece in the movie. it leaves you with such a strong feeling against roger.

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