Roger and Me. An example how the movie industry pays no attention to the plight of Flint.

The movie industry pays no attention to the plight of Flint. Although, however, Michael Moore’s 1989 documentary Roger and Me shed light on the deindustrialization situation that hurt Flint severely. The reason why he recorded and narrated this documentary is because he felt the movie industry paid no attention to the plight of Flint, Michigan. At least during the time and overall.

Maybe it was because Michael Moore's Roger And Me documentary was giving Flint a bad reputation at the time. This was in the mid 80s mind you. Flint at that time was gaining notoriety for a major violent crime center. Flint had been previously known for its capitol industry but was quickly gaining notoriety for being the murder capital of the United States at the time.  The crime rate in Flint during that time (at least in the 1980s) was one of the highest on the continent. Money Magazine had rated Flint one of the worst places to live in America in 1989. That also brought another blow to the city of Flint.

However crime in Flint had already been growing prior to the year 1989. Crime in Flint was at its peak in 1987, 1988, 1991, and 1994. Flint's economy has been going down since 1987 possibly even earlier than that.

At that time deindustrialization in the Midwestern part of the United States was happened at rapid rate. Flint was facing those same problems as the rest of the Midwest and North. It all started with the downsizing and outsourcing of GM in 1987. Ever since GM closed down their automobile manufacturing plants in Flint, the effect on Flint was absolutely devastating! That brought another blow to the city of Flint.

Michael Moore also talks about how rough Flint really is with all the violent crime, drugs, and political corruption. Crime in Flint continues to grow. Flint has gotten worse year by year. The city continues to fall into decline and a de-industrialized state. Flint keeps people trapped in an impoverished environment. It is so hard to escape the drugs and violence that plague Flint. Nearly more than half of the city of Flint is on welfare and food stamps. Flint does have homelessness problems and housing issues as well.

Cocaine had swept the streets of Flint like an epidemic as the drug was everywhere in Flint at that time. Cops, politicians, and teachers were using crack. Parents were having crack babies.