Movie Review: SiCKO

What’s this? A movie review for a movie that’s still in the theatres? I know, kids, I’m scared too.

We went and saw SiCKO, by Michael Moore, on Saturday. I liked it, but don’t have much to say. This time around, Moore is taking a more anecdotal approach; instead of giving us a lot of facts and figures about the health care industry in America, he gives us just a few facts and figures, and then spends a lot of time showing the effects on normal Americans. Much of the movie seems to be spent trying to convince Americans that the word “socialism” isn’t necessarily a bad thing; they have socialized police, and fire departments, and schools, so why not socialized health care?

My one concern about the movie, is purely the concern of a Canadian: Moore spends a bit of time comparing the American health care system to the British system, and a lot of time comparing it to the Canadian and French systems. I worry that this emphasis on the Canadian system, and how much better it is than the American system, is going to make us complacent. I mean, let’s face it, we already have a superiority complex, when comparing our health care to theirs, but we don’t seem to pay attention to the fact that our system is being eroded in the same way that the American system was. (We just started later than they did.) Privatization has already begun here in Canada. If Moore’s movie helps Canadians to stand up, and say “let’s not let our system become like theirs”, then I’m happy. But if Moore’s movie makes Canadians think “Phew! I don’t have to worry about health care, because Michael Moore says our health care system is great!” then we have a problem.