I just saw the new Michael Moore film “SICKO” over the weekend.  Moore’s got his own genre down to a science and I love it.  I believe that these days film is one of the post powerful organizing tools we’ve got and even though many might think Moore is beating us over the head, or not doing as good a job as he should investigating and portraying all sides of an issue, I think his ability to disseminate the progressive viewpoint and use and share information reigns high.  The thesis of the film was America’s focus on individualism vs. Cuba/France/Canada/UK’s focus on community—the “me” viewpoint vs. the “we” viewpoint; “what can I get for myself?” vs. “what can we get for all of us?” I got really fired up thinking about how true this point is, and this coupled with the compelling stories in the film, has me charged up and ready to fight the good fight… not just for me, but for all of us!!

I agree that Moore’s sicko is very inspiring (especially when viewing in a packed theater full of vocal viewers) AND that Moore is extremely creative and fresh within his genre. However I am tired of leaving his movies feeling emotionally beat up and frustrated-- I want to leave with a plan of action. As I fear may too often be the case, it is entirely too easy to point out the problems and skip out before offering up some creative solutions.  I DO want universal health care-- but how do we get there short of marrying across the border? Were there any small, grassroots orgs mentioned in the film or any particular politicians to pay attention to? http://www.healthcare-now.org responds to Sicko with a call to action, why can’t Moore reciprocate in his films? Good thing there are people out there working for change (not just in England, France, and Canada)-- I do wish Moore would grant them a shout out.

I agree. Michael Moore is good at showing what’s happening and it’s good for people to see the truth, but we need people to be told how they can make things better.

It looks like Slate had a similar review of the film http://www.slate.com/id/2169458/nav/navoa/. Lots of info. Not much direction. I swear, I’m gonna keep looking…

I am adamant that we get some new language surrounding this issue of health care.  Even Moore overuses one of the right’s favorite fear-inducing terms: “socialized” health care.  Let’s stop putting labels on every aspect of our platforms and focus specific steps we can take. We are coming up on a big election here: let’s find out where our representatives stand, and if they are taking corporate buyouts from HMO’s and Insurance companies, and whether or not they are willing to write up some legislation to limit the power of these companies.  People are caomplaing about how powerless we are-- but we are living in a representative democracy, so let’s demystify the process NOT get put off by political campaigns and jargon and do something. And if I hear someone take the lazy approach of simply saying we need “socialized” health care I am going to ask them who their candidate is.