Over the weekend, I finally saw SiCKO, Michael Moore's latest. Seeing as how he's one of the most polarizing filmmakers out there, let me preface this with my take on him:

I've never seen Roger & Me, the movie that made Michael Moore. I was first exposed to him via his short-lived TV show TV Nation, which was great. Canadian Bacon was mildly amusing. I liked Bowling for Columbine a lot - its examination of America's obsession with guns and the paranoia underlying it all. Fahrenheit 9/11 had its moments, but it had too many crazy conspiracy theories and was ultimately a partisan attack job. All in all, I like Moore's work, but feel he yanks a bit too hard on the viewer's heartstrings and sometimes fudges things to reinforce his arguments.

So that brings us to SiCKO. In short, I thought it was a great movie. For those who haven't seen it, it's an indictment of the American healthcare system, where many people have no insurance and are sometimes forced into financial dire straits by their huge medical bills. In addition, even when they are insured, insurance companies are motivated by the bottom line to deny benefits whenever possible. America is then compared to places like Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, all of which have some form of public or socialized healthcare, available to every citizen.

The movie starts with an endless parade of people who've been screwed over by the insurance industry, and who can't relate to that? My family and I have been there. As I watched, I found myself thinking over and over - how did we (America) let our healthcare system get so messed up? Where did this idiotic system originate, where some basic necessities (police, fire department, schools) are available to all, while others (healthcare) are for-profit, where you're only ever one job away from losing it? Why is it that if you're retired of self-employed, you have to decide how valuable your health really is, since being fully-insured costs an astronomical amount of money? And even if you think you're covered, why is using that coverage often such an uphill battle? I've long seen the insurance industry as the ultimate legalized racket, and this movie engraved that opinion in granite.

In the countries mentioned above, anyone receives healthcare, in some cases without regard to whether you're a citizen or not. Here's where I think the movie does itself a disservice - it makes a strong case that these other systems are better than what we've got, but it glosses over the shortcomings in them, and makes them seem so wonderful that we in America must be fools not to embrace them immediately. After watching the movie, I did enough online reading to understand that it's not as cut and dried as Moore makes it out to be. Things aren't perfect in those other countries, and public healthcare does have a price (in taxes, at the least). Still, a system where healthcare is seen as a basic right of every person is, in my mind, much better than the system we've got, where you just hope you stay lucky and never get screwed by your insurance (or lack thereof). Our current free-market approach to healthcare is clearly flawed.

His main point - that a modern society should take care of everyone - is a good one, and even with the extra silliness (like taking boats of sick people to Cuba), it comes across well. I enjoyed the scene in the movie where the Canadian golfer talks about how it all comes down to (paraphrasing), "I take care of my neighbor, because if the tables were turned, I know he'd take care of me." As a big liberal, "we're all in this together" is always on my mind. This is in contrast to the right-wing rhetoric about "personal responsibility" and "self-reliance" - which is another way of saying, "I've got mine - why don't you?" I think we can do better as a society, and if it ever came to a vote, I would support a true national healthcare plan. But with the entrenched corporate interests and the members of Congress they bankroll, along with our American attitude of "I am an island / take care of yourself", I don't see things changing anytime soon. Sadly.