Journal of Sacred Work

I think one movie can make a difference; I do believe that.  – Michael Moore   

   The reason to see the movie "Sicko" is not because it’s an objective documentary. It’s not. Instead, go see this film because of the way it presents its argument in favor of universal health care. The movie is propaganda to be sure, but it is so brilliantly and entertainingly done that it’s well worth the investment of your time. You won’t need to worry about being bored. Filmmaker Michael Moore has a nice gift for making hard subjects funny as well as informative and inspirational.
   In 1994, the pharmaceutical and insurance companies flooded the country with warnings about the so-called horrors of universal health care. They succeeded in drowning a program that would have guaranteed health care for all Americans. Now, thirteen years later, nearly fifty million of our fellow citizens are uninsured. Meanwhile, most HMOs and drug companies are racking up huge profits…

   The executives that run these companies are drawing huge (some would say obscene) incomes. Some of them (the head of United Healthcare, as one example) have earned more than a billion dollars in a single year.

   Whatever you may think of the universal healthcare solution, the country is gradually coming to the conclusion that the current system is failing. Horror stories of the way HMOs have declined care are so rampant that some HMO employees have quit their employers in shame.
   "Sicko’s" producer, director, and star makes no effort to present both sides of the story. He seems to believe the other side can pay to present their own case (or that they already have.) And the film can certainly be criticized for its slanted presentation. Would any of us, for example, really prefer to be treated in a Cuban hospital over an American one (as the film suggests.) The answer is No for those of us who are lucky enough to have health insurance. But what if we don’t?
   See "Sicko" and make up your own mind. For me, the film’s story is terribly convincing. Most interesting of all is Moore’s notion that people delivering care in socialist countries actually treat patients more lovingly that we do here in the United States. His rationale is that once you free healthcare workers from screening patients based on payment type, you have removed the specter of money from patient encounters. Accordingly, caregivers can focus on loving attention to patients. After all, he says, the police, fire and postal departments are basically socialized. So are our school systems. Why not health care?

   If universal health care finally comes to pass in America, dozens of overpaid executives will have no one to blame but their own greed. And fifty million people will be able to thank one person more than than anyone else for their free health care. And he is Michael Moore.    
   There are lots of forgettable films out there in theaters. You will not be able to forget the images and the message in "Sicko." At the end of the story, the crowd in the theater gave the film a standing ovation. When is the last time you saw that in a movie theater?

-Erie Chapman

*The opinions expressed in this essay are the authors and are not necessarily those of the Baptist Healing Trust.