In 1989 North America was in the grips of a deep recession. The opening of our story chronicles the travails of the city of Flint, Michigan through a horrendous economic downturn. With the closure of several General Motors factories, thousands of Flint residents found themselves out of work overnight. Michael Moore was a young documentary film maker in Flint in 1989. His portrait of the city of Flint in his documentary “Roger and Me” attempts to capture the devastation of these catastrophic events. Events that happened 20 years ago. A real recession, in a real city experienced by real people — 20 years ago.

Our video contains a 73-second synopsis of Michael Moore’s 1989 movie. For the record, we have never suggested that the Flint depicted in 1989 in any way represents the Flint of 2009. (In fact, we have added a page to our website called, “Flint Today” which we hope will help clarify this fact. On this page you will find a joint press release from The Flint Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and Ottawa Tourism as well as links to relevant Flint businesses and associations. Some Flint residents have forwarded other content that we have also taken the liberty of posting.)

Apparently, many Flint residents also take issue with the accuracy of the original "Roger and Me" film. We can neither defend nor contest the accuracy of the film. We merely offer up a 73-second synopsis of the film as a sharp contrast to what we believe to be the current economic situation in Ottawa.