Michael Moore has until now has been seen as a controversial figure, especially after his last film Fahrenheit 9/11. If you support the current President, you hate Moore, and vice-versa.This latest film will likely bring Moore towards the center of the American spectrum because it deals directly with something no one can avoid or ignore: our health.
Moore emphasizes this early on in the film, telling viewers that this film is not about those without insurance, or those who have lost their jobs. Instead, Sicko is meant for those of us who have insurance; those who feel that they with jobs and who feel protected because they have job with benefits.
Moore seriously questions this notion with three points:
- The current state of health care is an invention of HMOs starting during the Nixon presidency. The reason it works is because it makes a profit, and in order to make a profit, patients must receive as little care as possible. Otherwise, the insurance companies suffer what they call a "company loss." To health insurance companies, losing your life is not a loss, but them losing a few buck is certainly a loss.
- Other industrialized nations, including Canada, the UK, and France, have "socialized" national health care that work not just adequately, but better than our American system of private health insurance. One example of this is that doctors are paid more if the patient suffers less and is happier. Waiting time is less, usually no more than an hour in the emergency room, and doctors are paid well enough to live a pretty good life, full of flat-screen TVs, wining and dining, and luxury automobiles.
- The HMOs have bought the federal government and have ultimately stopped any talk, let alone action, towards nationalized health care. Using a combining of propaganda and fear mongering, private health insurance companies like Kaiser have prevented any move that would end their reign of endless profits at the cost of American lives.
Moore will most likely be assailed by conservatives and nationalists for his favorable view of Cuba in this film. This is the one weakness in the film, as Moore looks to outside nations for solutions. If there is one Achilles heal, it is Moore's discussion of Cuba as a model for health care. Moore cleverly wraps the subject of September 11 around this discussion, so it now remains to be seen how conservatives will respond.
With the 2008 elections looming next year, Moore's latest documentary will likely put the question of national health care front and center, and Presidential candidates (including Hillary Clinton who is featured prominently) would be wise to start formulating to their answers.
Labels: Michael_Moore, movie_review, Sicko
