DON'T GET SICK (O)

How many times have you seen a film and it resonates within you? I’m not talking about getting all breathless over star, or even getting jazzed by the plot or action or whatever. No, what I am talking about is a film making connection to your real life.

Michael Moore’s Sicko does that for me.

Moore's film is hitting the DVD shelves this week. Like his other films, Sicko is a populist, uneven slam. Previously, he lobbed Molotov cocktails of invective, honesty and over statements at General Motors, the NRA and the Bush Presidency. His films are as outsized as his girth. Yet no matter WHETHER you like or detest the man, his films are comedic and thought provoking.

In Sicko the object of his scorn is one of the largest, basest business' in this country, the inaptly named Health Care industry. Moore assails this regrettably necessary monolith as avaricious, callous, manipulative, and a supreme marketer OF half truths. They are not concerned about health. They are not concerned about care. They are a profit driven industry trading in the well being of humanity.

In Sicko, Moore details how everyday folks face incredibly hard medical decisions. Which finger should be saved? What medicine to forego? In one compelling sequence,  9/11 workers suffer and have no recourse, even though they are true American heroes.

I have not been in that position, nor have I had any major illness, but my dealings with my insurance company ARE as distasteful.  My wife nor I work for a large company. We’re independents. You know, the folks who, according to the American mythology, are this country’s backbone, but as such, we are not eligible for group rates. We are at the mercy of health insurance providers.

This past year our insurance rates WERE raised by Anthem Blue Cross of New Hampshire by over 50%. We had no hospital visits. We don’t have any expensive medications.  You can count on one hand the number of times we have been to see a doctor. So why has our alleged ‘provider’ jacked the rates so high in one year?

Simple, they don’t like me. When you raise rates that high, they are sending a message. We don’t want you. Why? Probably because they’d rather deal with large corporations. It’s easier. The other part of the equation is also simple. They mismanaged their business. I have fallen into a demographic profile they have found to be unprofitable. So rather than be caring, they respond by making it onerous and difficult. Of course, if they are questioned, a pat answer about rising costs, responsibilities to stock holders, or some other equally inane response will roll off their tongues.

So Michael Moore’s Sicko, splashes cold water into the soulless face of heath care. Some of it maybe a bit much, but you will see health insurance companies as they are. Their bottom lines and the executives well paid jobs are their concerns. You are not.

Remember this, it’s not about those who have and those who don’t. These days its about the haves and the been had. Sicko makes that quite clear.

Garen has been sitting in the dark for over 30 years as an film exhibitor, consultant and reviewer. You may have seen him on NE Cable or some other Boston station.  More likely you heard him pontificating about films on NPR, TKK, RKO, New Hampshire Public Radio, or any number of other stations he's been on, but one thing is certain, he loves, and knows, film.