Sicko Rules

I just came back from watching SICKO. What a great film! I was writing in the morning and then went to get some lunch. I passed by the movie theater and thought I should go check it out. But I was also thinking Geez it would be two hours off the middle of the day... should I or should I not?

In the back of my mind, I was also afraid that I would be confronted with some kind of uncomfortable reality for watching a documentary (vs. something like TRANSFORMERS). It was kind of like to be or not to be... that typical writer's procrastination. My family also has a history of hypochondria and watching a documentary about heath care certainly raises some issues.

I did buy a ticket.

In the beginning of the movie, I was trying to place myself in the movie... where would my perspective fit? I live in the U.S. and I am certainly affected by the health care system. I'm healthy in my 30s, but I still have to wreck my brains to pick which heath plan to buy and face with some medical bills like annual check-ups... Should I switch to a PPO as I'm now with an HMO? Health care is a dilemma that every American faces... and every one on earth I'd say. Clearly, some has it better than others.

What's particularly powerful and insightful about the movie is that it humanely critiques the American heath care system in comparison with those of Canada, Britain, France and even Cuba. Michael Moore really opens my eyes to how deficient the U.S. health care system is. I live under the system without realizing how inhumane it is. People who can pay get treated, and the poor dies.

The U.S. heath care system sucks because it is entirely profit driven with no consideration to whether you live or die. It's scary. I just pray that I don't get too sick like having cancer or needing any type of transplant. And if I'm broke or don’t have health insurance, I die. Even if I have health insurance, I may die too because of how painfully bureaucratic it is to get treatment.

The movie also makes me rethink how I should live my life. I should really really take better care of myself. When you're young and healthy, you don't think about these things. Just wait till you're sick...

The French, British, Canadian and Cuban systems are certainly superior because you don't really have to worry about it. You get treatment and drugs when you need to, for basically free! And their systems work. So why aren't we doing it here or elsewhere in the world? Well, essentially those in the heath care systems are greedy and do not want to give up their gross profits.

I'm inspired because Moore demonstrates how powerful the medium of film can be used. He has certainly pushed the medium to its ideal where a film becomes a tool for social change. And that reminds me why I've become a filmmaker in the first place. I have something to say and I can contribute to changing the world. Somehow and sometimes, I get too distracted in LA by all the superficial things and I forget... and it's good to be reminded.

If Errol Morris' THE THIN BLUE LINE got the courts to reopen a case and freed an innocent man, SICKO certainly has the potential change a nation's mind about our inhumane health care system.

The movie isn't just criticizing the U.S. Moore is saying that we're good people, we love each other, we all want to live a better life, and why can't we do better? Other countries can do it, why can't we?

I was particularly moved toward the end of the movie where he made the point that we're all human, why can't we help each other out? Why can't we learn from each other and make our lives better?

It was a great feeling walking out of theater and feeling that you had learned so much and could do something about your life.

SICKO rules.