Michael Moore

by MovieMaker Staff | Published June 24, 2007

He has been an elected official (at the budding age of 18 no less), executive editor of Mother Jones magazine and a would-be priest. Now, as a video journalist and moviemaker, Michael Moore is conquering his next mountain: The U.S. healthcare system. In SiCKO, out in early release from The Weinstein Company on June 22, Moore documents the drawbacks and inconsistencies in the privatized system while promoting an elimination of private health insurance and a regulation of pharmaceutical companies. â€œOne thing I said to my coworkers when we started was that we donâ€(tm)t need to spend a lot of time in the film telling the audience how bad the system is, because they already know,â€ Moore says. â€œThat would be like making a movie now and pointing out that Bush is a lousy president.â€ Wait, didnâ€(tm)t he already do that?

In 2004 the moviemaker caused a worldwide stir when his scathing critique on the Bush administration, Fahrenheit 9/11, hit theaters sans support of its Disney distribution label. With the mouse house out of the picture, the Weinstein brothers, Lionsgate and IFC Films stepped up to promote and distribute what became the highest grossing documentary in box office history.

Moore, no stranger to controversy, has become synonymous with sociopolitical calls to action since first raising a popular ruckus with the release of 1989â€(tm)s Roger & Me. His attempts at meeting with General Motors CEO Roger Smith raised many an eye to the economic fate of Mooreâ€(tm)s hometown of Flint, Michigan. His next documentary, the Academy Award-winning Bowling for Columbine, expanded its scope to the nationâ€(tm)s gun control laws (or, rather, leniency) after the shooting rampage at Columbine High School. Its screening at Cannes marked the first documentary to be shown at the festival in 46 years and came home with the 55th Anniversary Prize.

â€œIgnorance is never a healthy thing,â€ Moore observes. â€œYou canâ€(tm)t make the best decisions without having all of the information. Thatâ€(tm)s true in our daily life, and thatâ€(tm)s true in our political life.â€ Which is probably why we look to this passionate moviemaker to challenge us every few years.

Sound Off: Michael Moore confronts issues in his movies often by revealing only one side of the argument, explaining that the other side is what the public is bombarded with day in and day out. Some people find this deceitful while others find it necessary. What’s your view? Tell us what you think in our comments section!

SHARE THIS STORY

COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Comment by pantelis panteloglou on 6/25/07 at 2:18 am

I wonder why you’re not mentioning his second film, “the big one” along with “Roger & me”. Those first two films reflect on the consuquences of free movement of factors of production on everyday life. Based on the experience of his hometown, Flint, Michigan, he casts his ironic eye on mainstream America, on the one hand, while on the other he shows how difficult it is to lead a life with dignity if you’re unlucky enough to have been born a worker.

His later movies, although interesting, do tend to become sentimental (remember the Charlton Heston sequence on “Columbine"), something that does not help his arguments.

As he is telling his opinion, I think he has no obligation to repeat the mainstream arguments - we’ve heard enough of them.
-----

Comment by mayra on 6/25/07 at 2:16 pm

The system could work if they had medicines and the hospitals or clinics were clean. As a cuban raised in a communist country and believing in social justice this is all I have to say to Mr. Moore. A good movi, but missing the entire picture.
As a naturalized american citizen I see all the faults in this system.

Comment by Gustavo on 6/25/07 at 7:57 pm

I’ve travelled to Cuba many times to visit relatives and what Mr. Moore presents in Sicko is not what every day Cubans receive health care wise. THey fear going to hospitals because they say the conditions are deplorable lacking sheets, pillow, light bulbs, all types of medicines, etc. Cubans laugh saying, “you go in sick and come out dead.” The few good hospitals they have are for the government officials, diplomats, tourists and foreign businessmen who must pay in dollars or Euros..

I personally visited a doctor in 2002 in a town just outside of Havana called El Cotorro. He is responsible for 250 people in his area and complained he rarely had medicines to give them for the most common of ailments. He wanted to defect or work abroad in order to then defect like so many of his doctor friends had done. THe following year when I went to visit him his sister told me he had been shipped off to Venezuela against his will. Doctors in Cuba have to serve where ever the government sends them.

I’ve enjoyed Michael Moore’s other documentaries but he made a terrible miscalculation choosing the Cuban model in order to uncover the failings of our rediculous health care system. “Michael, you didn’t do your homework!”

Comment by Trespatines on 6/25/07 at 8:11 pm

Michael Moore is obsessed with the concept “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Hoa pathetic and misguided. I will not patronize this biased propaganda.

Comment by Rosario on 6/25/07 at 8:43 pm

Michael Mooreâ€™s journalistic work has always impressed me and it will probably continue to do so, because his politics and mine and very similar. â€œSickoâ€™ is no different than his prior works. Choosing the Cuban model is a big mistake, because in Cuba government officials are in charge of American celebrities. They are shown exactly what the government wants them to see and often they stage situations to impact these guests. Unfortunately, the Cuban propaganda machine is outstanding, especially when it comes to impress foreign visitors, and if they are from the USA even more.

Part of Cubaâ€™s propagandistic strategy is to offer help, particularly in the areas of health and education, to American minorities. This has earned the Cuban revolution the support and admiration of people like Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, Jessie Jackson etc. I guess Michael Moore is the â€œnewâ€ star being astutely courted the Cubans. He probably doesnâ€™t speak Spanish and relied on the guides â€œattendingâ€ to him. â€œAttending (del verbo atender) is the word used by the government when they assign intelligence personnel to take care of a guest, probably a guide from the Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples (Instituto cubano de amistad con los pueblos). If Michael Moore returns to Cuba, he should spontaneously and without an assigned guide to â€œattendâ€ him, visit the Calixto GarcÃa Hospital, or any hospital in Havana, except for the Cira GarcÃa or Cimec. The first one is strictly for foreigners and the second one is for he high hierarchy of the government. Michael: Just go to any medical facility like the Hospital de Emergencia, or la Covadonga, Hospital Hermanos Ameijeiras, Maternidad, or just any hospital for the everyday Cuban in Havana. You will find many ill-timed surprises, but your work will be complete.

Comment by pantelis panteloglou on 6/26/07 at 2:35 am

haven’t seen sicko yet, but the points made by fellow cubans seem correct. it’s true that the enemy of the enemy is not a friend, but on the other hand one should take in account the whole embargo situation against Cuba.

Oh, and Michael Moore’s interview by Larry King on CNN was postponed today, because Larry has to interview Paris Hilton on her jail experience. How about a movie “24 days in jail with Paris”?

Comment by Carmen Pelaez on 6/26/07 at 2:12 pm

Tourist always get great treatment in Cuba--that is nothing new. By Mr. Moore propagating a dictatorship’s propaganda he severely undercuts the noble quest to improve our health care system here in the states.

When my friend had a baby in Cuba-we had to take the sheets, the supplies, the cleaning products to disinfect her bed-everything. The shared bathroom was covered in human excrement, bloodied paper towels, feminine hygine products and vomit. When we returned the next day-they confiscated our camera.

It’s a shame. Once again an American’s best effort is diminished by his immense ego. And once again it isn’t Americans that pay the price but innocent people that suffer the daily oppression of a sadistic dictator.

Comment by Michael J. Bray / Disabled on 2/17/08 at 12:50 pm

MR. MOORE, I NEED YOU TO CALL ME ASAP - 1 man dead and going after out disabled family - 479-876-5546 POLICE MISCONDUCT OK IN ARKANSAS
Disabled BRAY family continues to pay for Police and State of Arkansas misconduct in Benton County
CBS: Quadlapligic dumped on Police Officer Lobby Floor / have tape for court 2 2008

cc: Michael Moore / Independant Movie maker

NOTE: MR. BRAY just got out of hospital due to police misconduvt in June 2007 - released home February 15, 2007. Dammit I want this stopped.

1-4 emails to HON Judge Black & HON JUDGE SKAGGS
Stark Ligon / Investigator State of Arkansas

David Stewart / Judicail Investigator Director / I want full investigation into Lance Womak your investigator NOW!
LITTLE ROCK, AR June 2007 to date FEB 17, 2008
I HAVE HIM ON TAPE - I WANT SOME ANSWERS

Mr. Stark Ligon - I want you to forward attorney under investigations to me - STOP what your doing I need help - 8 months in long enough.
This are the Bray family rights under the Constitution of the United States of America.

cc: U.S. SUPREME COURT / Disabled Laws of 1990 / ACTS I-V are being ingorned in Arkansas.
Attorney general Dustin McDaniel - I need your help - I have contacted your office on numerous occasions.
United States Senator Blanche Lincoln I need your help, immeidatly.

Note: To protect against computer viruses, e-mail programs may prevent sending or receiving certain types of file attachments. Check your e-mail security settings to determine how attachments are handled.