Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Sicko (2007)


"Sicko" is a Michael Moore documentary about the United States healthcare programs.  Not only is the healthcare program in the United States discussed, but the healthcare programs in England, Canada, France, and Cuba are also examined.

"Sicko" is a very good documentary, but it is difficult to know what is true when it comes to Michael Moore.  He uses trick editing to make things seem worse than they actually are.  That is not a fault of the movie however.  I just take his films with a grain of salt.  I don't believe in everything he says.  

The American healthcare program, shown in the film, is horrible.  Moore follows several people who were heroes in 9/11.  They have all had medical issues since the attacks, but our healthcare program does not aid them due to their financial restraints.  The group takes a trip down to Cuba where they receive free medical examinations and medicine at a much cheaper price.  A bottle of medicine in America which costs more than $100 is only 5 cents in Cuba.  It is ridiculous the way our system works.

The most emotional part deals with interviews with people who lost loved ones because they did not have the money to see a doctor.  It is a very sad thing.  One lady told the story of how she lost her baby because the system took so long to give her medical treatment.  Another story that shows how our system works, involves a man who lost two of his fingers.  The doctors told him that it would cost $5,000 to reattach one finger and $50,000 to reattach the other.  It is amazing that doctors have the nerve to put a price on body parts.  In other countries around the world, all of the benefits are free.  Doctors could not begin to fathom putting prices on your body.

The thing that bugs me most about Michael Moore's films are that he does not show the entire story.  Sure medical benefits are free in other countries, but look at the living conditions they are in.  Cuba, for instance, has great benefits, but when the country is shown, it looks like a hellhole.  America may be expensive, but it is worth it to be in a country that has everything you could possibly want.

In every Michael Moore documentary he talks about how great Canada is.  He always visits the country and shows how much better it is than America.  If he really believed that, then why is he still living in the United States?  

Even if it might be a biased film, it is still worth seeing.  It achieves what it set out to do.  It gets you to think about our situation with American healthcare programs.  Things need to change and this is a good way to get people to start thinking about change.

B  I recommend it.

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