A movie in your obituary
It says something about pop culture and how it has become America's last common thread that if you were ever involved with a movie, that fact will be highlighted in your obituary no matter how eventful a life you might have led.
The death of Roger B. Smith is a prime example of this phenomenon. Smith, when he was the head of General Motors, was sometimes credited with trying to turn the behemoth automaker around in the '80s in the face of Japanese exports - by launching the Saturn brand and establishing a venture with Toyota.
But most people outside Detroit wouldn't know who Smith was, and most of the obituaries (such as this one from The Washington Post) verify this, if not for the fact that Smith was the Roger of "Roger & Me," Michael Moore's famous (or infamous) 1989 documentary about Smith, GM, and the decline of Moore's hometown of Flint, Mich.
And, just as Orson Welles' portrayal of a fictionalized newspaper tycoon in "Citizen Kane" has forever defined what people think of William Randolph Hearst, Moore's movie will color Smith's public persona as a heartless corporate fat cat. That's showbiz.
The death of Roger B. Smith is a prime example of this phenomenon. Smith, when he was the head of General Motors, was sometimes credited with trying to turn the behemoth automaker around in the '80s in the face of Japanese exports - by launching the Saturn brand and establishing a venture with Toyota.
But most people outside Detroit wouldn't know who Smith was, and most of the obituaries (such as this one from The Washington Post) verify this, if not for the fact that Smith was the Roger of "Roger & Me," Michael Moore's famous (or infamous) 1989 documentary about Smith, GM, and the decline of Moore's hometown of Flint, Mich.
And, just as Orson Welles' portrayal of a fictionalized newspaper tycoon in "Citizen Kane" has forever defined what people think of William Randolph Hearst, Moore's movie will color Smith's public persona as a heartless corporate fat cat. That's showbiz.
11:09 AM
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1 Comments:
It's got to be hard to escape that sort of characterization. One thing I have learned in my short life is that even the most evil seeming people still have a very human side and even some "decency." I've probably gone far beyond Robert B. Smith here but you get the idea.
I will probably never be the subject of any type of film but I do sometimes wonder if the people who will remember me most when I am gone are the ones who I loved and saw the real me or the ones I accidentally cut off in traffic on a really bad day.
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