Sicko
I went to see Sicko yesterday afternoon to escape the heat. Michael Moore has always annoyed me, which is quite an accomplishment, because I actually agree with most of what he says. Yet he manages to say it in ways that inspire me to disagree.
Sicko is nothing like his earlier films. Not as snarky, not as Moore-centric, and much more emotionally affecting, perhaps because it deals with all of our lives. Of course, as someone with a pre-existing health problem, most of the film played like a horrible recurring nightmare. There were moments when it made me feel as if I should just give up, or leave the country.
The one false moment comes when Moore loads his sick subjects into a boat and attempts to go to Guantanimo Bay to get treatment from the American doctors there. He seems surprised that they can't boat in, and then figures they can go to a Cuban hospital instead, since they are already there. His "gee whiz" bumpkin act seems completely put on. But, I've actually visited the hospital where everyone is treated, and have to say: it really is that good. The Cubans decided long ago to invest their few resources into health care, not just to care for their own, but also to market their services to other countries. They develop and sell drugs around the world, and people from other countries routinely fly into Cuba to consult with doctors there.
Anyway, by the end of movie, my back was killing me. So today I'm trying to hunt down an accupuncturist.
Sicko is nothing like his earlier films. Not as snarky, not as Moore-centric, and much more emotionally affecting, perhaps because it deals with all of our lives. Of course, as someone with a pre-existing health problem, most of the film played like a horrible recurring nightmare. There were moments when it made me feel as if I should just give up, or leave the country.
The one false moment comes when Moore loads his sick subjects into a boat and attempts to go to Guantanimo Bay to get treatment from the American doctors there. He seems surprised that they can't boat in, and then figures they can go to a Cuban hospital instead, since they are already there. His "gee whiz" bumpkin act seems completely put on. But, I've actually visited the hospital where everyone is treated, and have to say: it really is that good. The Cubans decided long ago to invest their few resources into health care, not just to care for their own, but also to market their services to other countries. They develop and sell drugs around the world, and people from other countries routinely fly into Cuba to consult with doctors there.
Anyway, by the end of movie, my back was killing me. So today I'm trying to hunt down an accupuncturist.
Comments
That's the most frightening thing to me. No reference to the hunger strikes, the detention for months and even years without charges or lawyers, the numerous allegations by groups that are as mainstream as the Red Cross about torture, sleep deprivation, beatings, solitary confinement in cold cells, etc?
Has Moore lost his head in his effort to play the middle?
Amnesty, CCR and Human Rights Watch have reports detailing all this. Even wikipedia seems to know more than Michael Moore?
Or, does Moore know this all too well?
Moore wasn't born yesterday.
It seems clear to me that Moore is ignoring prison brutality in order to appear mainstream and better sell his main point to a broader audience.
To sell health care, he freely paints Guantanamo as a health care wonderland.
This is the serious mistake of the film - and will end up making SICKO cause more harm than good.
Any thoughts about comment, folks?
Wikilink: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp