SiCKO actually does make me sick-o

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Well, we went to SiCKO last night, and since we didn't get back until after 1AM, I didn't write a review then.  You can check out my Flickr set by clicking the photo.

Few movies were better titled. Now, I'm not sure if Moore intended the title as in "make you sicko" or "treating the sicko" but either way, it works.  I'm not what you would call a Michael Moore fanboy. I mean, his tactics can be grating and more than a little annoying. But, I think this movie makes his strongest statement yet. To put it shortly, this movie made me sad and frustrated, yet I feel more determined to work for change than ever.

The movie specifically disclaims those who are uninsured, as the opening credits roll, Moore states that the movie is not about those who do their own sutures at home, or those who die waiting for assistance at the few public hospitals. Rather the movie is about the weakest link in our health care delivery system, the insurance companies.  Follow me over the flip...
I'm no movie critic, so forgive me my lack of Roger Ebert polish.  Now, that out of the way, let me say that the movie was stunning throughout, yet had a few occasions of well, too longness.  And occasionally, it felt like an ad for France.  Hey, I like France as much as the next guy (well probably more than many GOP next guys), but the Francophile bit seemed a bit long.  But with much of his comparisons to other country, he makes one grand point:

We, not me.

Let me repeat that: We, not me. It's a simple, yet powerful refrain. For too long, Reaganists have pushed us to fear the government. As one line in the movie said, roughly paraphrased, "The Americans fear the government, but in France, the government fears the people." You see, we have lived to long in a state of fear, constantly running from one crisis to the next, never wondering why we have such crises. Or how we could prevent ourselves from reaching the levels of poverty that we have achieved in what is supposed to be the richest nation EVER.

So, when Moore goes all Cuba-loving, Franco-philiac and what not, he does it because in those nations he sees the underlying community responsibility.  Or to put it another way, Moore is trying to speak of the commitment that we all make to one another as a neighborhood, a community, a state, and a nation, not to mention our duty to the human race in general.

But the movie doesn't deal only in generalities. It tells stories so horrifying and so pathetic, that it just screams insanity.  Like the story of a mother who lost her toddler due to Kaiser's reluctance to pay an out-of-network, or the 50somethings who have to move into their daughter's basement after co-pays forced them to sell their house. Or the man who found a perfect bone marrow donor, but the health group said the transplant was "expiremental". No, it was abundantly clear that insurance companies are becoming the weak link in our health care delivery, if not the thief in the night. They seek to deny care. That is their job, not to ensure a healthy population, not to "thrive", but to keep their "medical losses" to a minimum.

This movie was powerful, and should be considered on the order of Inconvenient Truth. It should make people stop, think, and wonder if they are next. Or your mother, or your toddler. How many more people will be dumped on the Skid Row, or die for lack of care before we just finally decide that enough is enough. Before we finally decide that we are just plain SiCK of the profit motive in our health care industry, or until we are just SiCKOs.