Thursday, May 31, 2007
Mevish Jaffer, contributing editor
Infamous film maker, Michael Moore has released a new movie that addresses the need for America to supply its citizens with sufficient health insurance. Notorious for exposing controversial topics, Moore’s latest project, SiCKO does not disappoint. The film recently opened to a sold out crowd at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Moore’s film received substantial applause and standing ovations from a satisfied audience at its finale. Slang for sick, SiCKO tackles the present healthcare crisis in the U.S. in an effort to emphasize the lacking and costly medical treatment currently being offered to the citizens of America.
Among the many healthcare issues exposed in Moore’s film, he points out the fact that 50 million Americans are currently without health insurance coverage, of which more than 9 million are children. Moore attempts to reach new heights with his film by asking why a country with supposedly more wealth and technological advances than any other country in the world is housing so many adults and children without medical insurance. SiCKO also addresses another major issue affecting healthcare in the U.S. Most of the individuals who need healthcare insurance are not able to get benefits because of their current health status and/or underwriting guidelines.
All of Moore’s prior films have identified some sort of villain including the gun industry and the Bush Administration; but the villain in SiCKO is not as apparent. However, it appears that Moore is strongly against politicians who gain millions from HMOs and other pharmaceutical companies while disregarding universal healthcare coverage options.
In an effort to further emphasize the lacking U.S. healthcare system, Moore adds emotional appeal in his film by showing painful stories of everyday American citizens. These include many without any medical insurance benefits what so ever, as well as others in spite of having coverage, experiencing financial hardship due to rising medical care costs. SiCKO brings attention to the federal government’s neglectful manner towards the current health care crisis which is causing individuals all over the country to loose their entire life savings as a result of inflated costs due to uncontrollable factors such as illness or injury.
As expected, Moore adds his undeniable wit and usual cynicism to SiCKO. Until now, the U.S. healthcare system has not received sufficient attention from federal lawmakers, but Moore’s film SiCKO aims to change all that. Ultimately, Moore hopes that his film will wake people up and push them to stop and think about America’s current healthcare crisis.
