the non-review review of SICKO...

It was FABULOUS, seldom do I like movies.... more so now than ever, but this was FAB. I laughed really, really loudly and I cried with full blown tears three times, if not more....Don't get me wrong, this movie was NUANCED as well. I think it will open a lot of eyes and raise a lot of questions about hyper-capitalism and corporate interests.

IT WAS GOOD! GO WATCH IT! NOW!

And in case you were wondering - most DRs in Canada also live in million dollar homes and sadly we aren't all socialists. Hell, they even showed a conservative canadian wax poetic about Tommy Douglas (in case you don't know of him already - you'll learn), that's how much the average Canadian citizen cares about healthcare as an issue.

ETA: I realized I rushed to write this post last night, and I should add a few things. There are a few problems with Canadian Healthcare (NOT the 'longer wait times'):

1) In the past 5 years tuition for Drs has increased to about $10K/yr, so it's pretty much only accessible to rich people and it leaves those who aren't rich in a higher debt (but not to worry, the banks offer huge credit loans to potential Drs - cough, cough). When you consider most 'non-professional' programs only cost $4500K a year for tuition - $10k is A LOT of money.
2) Physiotherapy, Optometry and dentistry (all needed things) are not covered. BUT most dentists do offer a sliding scale for people who don't have health coverage from their empolyers. Students usually only have to pay 70% of their dentist's/prescription expense because you pay a small medical fee when you pay your tuition. In the past physio and optometry were covered, slowly the government has been chipping away and 'streamlining' our healthcare system - which is very scary. A visit to the physio costs roughly $80-100/hour. A visit to the opt costs roughly $100-160.
3) Drug and Glasses Prescriptions are not covered. This is especially troublesome when you factor in the working poor and the growing senior population...
4) To book a specialist can often take months. BUT they do prioritize patients, if you are very ill, you can get an appointment much faster.
5) Most lab testing is covered.

ETA2:
6) There is a shortage of Drs in Ontario
7) There are many Drs with foreign training credentials who aren't given the opportunities that "Canadian trained" Drs are given.
8) When foreign trained Drs are recertified they are the first to get placed in rural towns (they do get higher pay), where they may/may not have racialized communities and interactions (this becomes isolating for them).

But I swear I've never heard someone having to chose between which finger they wanted to save... But under American capitalism that makes sense. How cruel.

From a Canadian perspective, the timing of this movie couldn't be better our new conservative government is okay with privatization, AND the Ontario government has approved 6 new private healthcare facilities in this province...This is a deeply disturbing problem of course. We can't allow this to happen - and having a two-tierd healthcare system is not going to help anyone ... but of course .... the rich!

It was humane, intelligent, funny, touching and very-well done overall. I think many Americans will start questioning who feeds them commie myths and who tells them who their enemies are etc...

The one quip I had about it was that Moore had to refer to Hillary Clinton as 'sexy'. Why? Why do female politicians (or female anythings) have to be sexified?