Roger and Me movie

by | Mar 12, 2023 | film

https://theflixer.tv/watch-movie/watch-roger-and-me-full-6676.2511190

After watching the film, write a commentary (500-word limit) answering the following questions:

Describe two concrete ideas from Marx’s work that help us understand what happened in Flint, Michigan? Begin by explaining Marx’s ideas and then relate them to the documentary.
What was your favorite scene and why?
Michael Moore’s documentary is from 1989. Do you believe the story he tells is relevant to our times? Please explain.

 

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

Sample Solution

Karl Marx’s theories on economics and class struggle are very clearly on display in the documentary Roger & Me. In particular, his idea of alienation is especially relevant to the story being told. Specifically, Moore shows how the decisions made by General Motors management alienate workers from their ability to support themselves and their families. The decision to close the factories leads to a massive unemployment crisis in Flint which creates further economic disparities between those who were still employed and those who lost their jobs.

Sample Solution

Karl Marx’s theories on economics and class struggle are very clearly on display in the documentary Roger & Me. In particular, his idea of alienation is especially relevant to the story being told. Specifically, Moore shows how the decisions made by General Motors management alienate workers from their ability to support themselves and their families. The decision to close the factories leads to a massive unemployment crisis in Flint which creates further economic disparities between those who were still employed and those who lost their jobs.

Additionally, Marx’s concept of commodity fetishism is also seen in this film when Moore visits Flint’s shopping mall which remains open while almost all other businesses in town have closed down due to financial difficulties caused by GM layoffs. Despite this, people continue buying items like clothes and furniture at luxury prices because they believe it will bring them happiness even though they cannot afford it – a prime example of capitalism turning work into objects that are valued more than human labor itself.

My favorite scene was during Moore’s visit with Kriss Perry, an unemployed auto worker whose wife had left him after losing his job at GM. This scene really highlighted the emotional toll felt by many people affected by mass unemployment as Kriss talked about feeling worthless without having a job or purpose in life anymore. It showed how devastating economic crises can be for individuals regardless of any political theory surrounding them.

I do believe that this documentary is highly relevant today both economically and politically given recent events such as the 2008 financial crisis caused by corporate greed or the 2017 tax bill which overwhelmingly benefits corporations over everyday citizens similar to what happened in Flint due to GM’s decision making back then . Furthermore, it serves as an important reminder for why everyone should remain aware of current events so that we don’t let something similar occur again – whether regarding economics or any other issue affecting us today – especially now that globalization has made our world much more interconnected than before .

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