Sicko
Posted by susan.brackett on Jul 19, 2007 · Member since Jun 2007 · 198 posts
I just got back from seeing this movie and feel >:( :( :-[ :'(. (too bad there's not one for screaming into a pillow!!!)
Has anyone else seen the movie and what did you think?
I really enjoyed the movie; however, I wish Michael Moore would have touched on some of the problems of universal healthcare as well. I think his film made universal healthcare look flawless, which it is not. While I don't agree with the way things are currently run in the U.S., I think his film gives some people a false idea of how easy it would be to implement a different system.
Also, with a couple of the examples, I was left with a "why didn't they just do it anyway" sentiment (i.e. the mom with the little girl who had a fever--why didn't she just go to another hospital instead of arguing with the people at the one that her insurance didn't cover?).
Finally, the emphasis on prescription drugs and how we need to have better access to all of them I thought was a little bit too narrow-minded few of "healthcare"--he touched a little bit on preventative sorts of things, but I think a big part of the health of Americans has to do with crappy lifestyle habits and not necessarily lack of access to MRIs, bone marrow transplants, and drugs.
Still, the film is definitely worth seeing--for both the information Moore provides as well as his humor.
I really enjoyed the movie; however, I wish Michael Moore would have touched on some of the problems of universal healthcare as well. I think his film made universal healthcare look flawless, which it is not. While I don't agree with the way things are currently run in the U.S., I think his film gives some people a false idea of how easy it would be to implement a different system.
Also, with a couple of the examples, I was left with a "why didn't they just do it anyway" sentiment (i.e. the mom with the little girl who had a fever--why didn't she just go to another hospital instead of arguing with the people at the one that her insurance didn't cover?).
Finally, the emphasis on prescription drugs and how we need to have better access to all of them I thought was a little bit too narrow-minded few of "healthcare"--he touched a little bit on preventative sorts of things, but I think a big part of the health of Americans has to do with crappy lifestyle habits and not necessarily lack of access to MRIs, bone marrow transplants, and drugs.
Still, the film is definitely worth seeing--for both the information Moore provides as well as his humor.
I appreciate kbuettne's opinion, but...I'm afraid the criticism comes from lack of experience. The incident she spoke of from the film took place at a hospital (MLK/Drew) located between Watts and Compton in Los Angeles. I doubt she's familiar with LA, but the closest hospital covered by the womans insurance was in Bellflower(Kaiser). LA always has traffic, so a terrified mother was looking at least a 30 min drive, assuming she had a car/gas, to a location she probably had never been to. Also, I'm sure the poster has no idea what it's like to have a child with a medical emergency.
I believe the emphasis on scripts referred to dealt with life saving meds for those with conditions that required them, such as the 9/11 female EMT.
You know I'm not a Moore apologist, I just think the post is a very good example of why the US is in the position we are in. We have a lack of empathy for others, pull yourself up by your bootstraps mentality.
Please don't think I'm criticizing you. I just think the post illustrates the results of decades of media and a sense of entitlement that comes from never wanting. Volunteer more than once at a soup kitchen or free clinic to see what really goes on. It's far worse than the movie portrays.
I saw this recently and, like all of Moore's films, found it to be nothing more than liberal propaganda. His interviews and 'dinners' were staged and very one-sided. I look for much more in a documentary than a one-dimensional message being shoved down my throat. Healthcare is a huge corporation thing here and we all know how evil all of them are, so is it really that much of a surprise that they just want to make money? Not to me. American corporations are greedy and awful. I also found the film to be 80% human interest story, 20% misrepresented information.
Not impressed.
Wasn't he recently taken to task about his interviewing practices and misinformation about other forms of health care? I seem to remember something about him and CNN...
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I certainly feel we need to improve our healthcare system. Michael Moore is a propaganda pusher, though...even if you agree with his positions, you have to take his work with a grain of salt - because he's shady.
"It's true that Americans get hip replacements faster than Canadians. But there's a funny thing about that example, which is used constantly as an argument for the superiority of private health insurance over a government-run system: the large majority of hip replacements in the United States are paid for by, um, Medicare.
That's right: the hip-replacement gap is actually a comparison of two government health insurance systems. American Medicare has shorter waits than Canadian Medicare (yes, that's what they call their system) because it has more lavish funding - end of story. The alleged virtues of private insurance have nothing to do with it.
The bottom line is that the opponents of universal health care appear to have run out of honest arguments. All they have left are fantasies: horror fiction about health care in other countries, and fairy tales about health care here in America."
- Paul Krugman in the New York Times points out the propaganda being used to prop up the obscene profits being made by the health care industry in the US, and the shoddy service we are putting up with in exchange.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/071607F.shtml
Wasn't he recently taken to task about his interviewing practices and misinformation about other forms of health care? I seem to remember something about him and CNN...
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I certainly feel we need to improve our healthcare system. Michael Moore is a propaganda pusher, though...even if you agree with his positions, you have to take his work with a grain of salt - because he's shady.
CNN actually retracted what they said about him & acknowledged that they did bad research and he was actually right. If you go to his website they show what CNN said, then they back up the films info with their research and they also have CNNs retraction statement.
I haven't seen the movie yet but i have wanted to ever since my friend who worked for a big pharm co. got a memo from the higher ups warning that moore was making a movie and don't speak to him if you see him around. so funny.
I saw it. I agree we have A LOT of problems in healthcare. But, I do not support universal healthcare, nor will I ever.
Of course, I also don't support government or paying taxes. So, obviously universal healthcare wouldn't work without taxes, lol.
The latest word... http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/15/moore.gupta/index.html?iref=newssearch
I saw about 45 minutes of it (me and a friend snuck in while waiting for our movie to start) and it was alright. I'm usually a avid fan of Moore, so I was upset he didn't appear in the film, only narrated. At least that's what I was told, and I didn't see him once the entire time I watched it.
I agree with secondbase, though. He was very biased, although he's an American documentist, so what can you expect? That's the way Hollywood makes documentaries these days, and he's simply following the tide.
To me, universal health care is the way to go, so I think that does effect my opinion of the film a bit. Although, I didn't like the way he only touched on the positive sides of it - I would've liked to see someone like Morgan Spurlock do the documentary, because he always voices both sides of the story.
It was almost depressing that Moore didn't touch on the fact that, while Canadians have to wait months or even a year for common surgeries like knee corrective surgery (or hip replacements, like BCSH said), Americans can generally go in and schedule an appointment for a few days later.
I didn't like that, of the portion I saw, he was pretty much handing Hillary Clinton free press. I'm neither for or against her, because honestly I don't know enough of her views to say either, but it just bothered me a bit. Did that ever change throughout the film?
I do plan on going to see the entire movie, though. I wanted to see it before it came out, I just haven't gotten around to it. He makes really good films if you're smart enough to be able to actually think not only about what he says, but what he isn't saying. He never displays any negative aspects of anything he's doing, although I don't hold that against him. All politicians do the same thing.
Twink, are you seriously only 14? When I was 14, not only did I have NO CLUE about the workings of government and/or social programs, but I didn't care. It's cool that you take such an interest. Word.
I'm the first to admit Moore is a jerk and has a definite point of view, but do you think your attacks may have more to do with not wanting to accept the truth about our country?
Take a good look at what's happened since the '70's and '80's.
Do you really like what you see?
As vegans aren't we suppose to be compassionate to ALL animals?
The US already has an example of single payer healthcare, MEDICARE. All we would have to do is expand it. It would not require a completely new program.
We don't get appointments in a couple of days with HMO's as twink suggests. If I want to see a GYN I have to wait 3 months for an appointment. If I want to see my doc I have wait 6 weeks. This is common.
I also don't think Moore was promoting Senator Clinton either. He made it very clear that she is in the pockets of the pharma/medical/HMO lobbyists.
IT"S TIME FOR A CHANGE!!!
I really enjoyed the movie; however, I wish Michael Moore would have touched on some of the problems of universal healthcare as well. I think his film made universal healthcare look flawless, which it is not. While I don't agree with the way things are currently run in the U.S., I think his film gives some people a false idea of how easy it would be to implement a different system.
Also, with a couple of the examples, I was left with a "why didn't they just do it anyway" sentiment (i.e. the mom with the little girl who had a fever--why didn't she just go to another hospital instead of arguing with the people at the one that her insurance didn't cover?).
Finally, the emphasis on prescription drugs and how we need to have better access to all of them I thought was a little bit too narrow-minded few of "healthcare"--he touched a little bit on preventative sorts of things, but I think a big part of the health of Americans has to do with crappy lifestyle habits and not necessarily lack of access to MRIs, bone marrow transplants, and drugs.
Still, the film is definitely worth seeing--for both the information Moore provides as well as his humor.
I appreciate kbuettne's opinion, but...I'm afraid the criticism comes from lack of experience. The incident she spoke of from the film took place at a hospital (MLK/Drew) located between Watts and Compton in Los Angeles. I doubt she's familiar with LA, but the closest hospital covered by the womans insurance was in Bellflower(Kaiser). LA always has traffic, so a terrified mother was looking at least a 30 min drive, assuming she had a car/gas, to a location she probably had never been to. Also, I'm sure the poster has no idea what it's like to have a child with a medical emergency.
I believe the emphasis on scripts referred to dealt with life saving meds for those with conditions that required them, such as the 9/11 female EMT.
You know I'm not a Moore apologist, I just think the post is a very good example of why the US is in the position we are in. We have a lack of empathy for others, pull yourself up by your bootstraps mentality.
Please don't think I'm criticizing you. I just think the post illustrates the results of decades of media and a sense of entitlement that comes from never wanting. Volunteer more than once at a soup kitchen or free clinic to see what really goes on. It's far worse than the movie portrays.
I don't feel criticized here, but I do think you misunderstood me. I definitely don't have a "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" attitude--I just think if Moore wanted to really prove his point, he should have gone into more detail about the problems of the system (i.e. the LA example you gave). It would have made his argument more strong instead of just pulling similar examples from different countries and saying, "See? U.S. healthcare sucks." It would have been more effective for me, anyway, because I have yet to make up my mind on universal healthcare.
Twink: Moore appears later in the movie--he would have appeared shortly after you left, in fact. It's definitely worth seeing the whole thing, but since Moore obviously has particular agendas in making his films (not that it's a bad thing--I like Moore overall), his film should be taken with a few grains of salt.