- - This day in car history: Roger & Me shows Americans that the Motor City is rusting

Kaitlyn FarleyDecember 20, 2025 at 5:56 AM

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Michael Moore’s groundbreaking documentary Roger & Me premiered on December 20, 1989, casting an unflinching eye on the social and economic consequences of General Motors’ decisions in Flint, Michigan. At the center of the story is GM CEO Roger Smith, whose plant closures in the early 1980s devastated Moore’s hometown. Moore chronicles the widening gap between corporate assurances and everyday realities—juxtaposing Smith’s upbeat speeches with footage of laid-off factory workers losing homes, moving away, or struggling to make ends meet.

The film was revolutionary for its time, blending dark humor with sharp critique in a way that reshaped documentary storytelling. It humanized the impact of deindustrialization and laid bare the tensions between corporate strategy and community well-being. For many viewers, Roger & Me was their first exposure to the decline of America’s manufacturing heartland—a trend that would only accelerate in the decades that followed.

Beyond its political and social impact, the film is important to automotive history because it offers a raw, ground-level view of how decisions made in Detroit boardrooms ripple outward. GM was still the world’s largest automaker in 1989, yet the struggles depicted in the film foreshadowed the challenges that would culminate in the company’s 2009 bankruptcy and restructuring.

Roger & Me remains a cultural landmark—an essential reminder that automotive history is not only about cars, technology, and design, but also about people and communities. Its debut in 1989 marked the beginning of a new era of socially conscious filmmaking and provided a sobering counterpoint to the industry’s more triumphant milestones.

Related:

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