Americans Split About Sicko

SICKO, the documentary by controversial American film-maker who shook the establishment with his earlier works, such as Fahrenheit 9/11, on the prevailing condition of the prevailing health system in the US, has managed to revive an old debate that has been raging across the US for a while.

For a long time now, healthcare has been a burning issue with Americans. The nation has seen numerous protests and debates, and has literally split the country into two. There are a large number of Americans who are opposed to health-care reform, the core issue being debated across the country. On the other hand, there are a large number of people who are opposed to the health-care being provided by the government in the current form.

The reaction to the movie has mostly been positive. However, moviegoers are saying this is not to say that it would achieve anything major, simply because only those who think on the same lines as the movie maker would see the film, not the rest of America who see things related to health-care and associated reforms differently.

Health-care has been a major issue in the US for a while now, and is one of the most contentious issues on which the 2008 presidential elections would be contested. Many candidates are using this issue as the primary thrust of their campaigns. There are 45 million uninsured Americans, and the candidates are promising changes that will look after not just the insured, but these uninsured as well.

People who have faced the brunt of the inadequacies of the health-care situation today have been vocal in their praise for Moore’s current work. This is because the movie has been made on the tales of woe of Americans on whom insurance companies have turned their back, depriving them of vital medical care.

The major criticism of the movie is that it has not offered any proper comparison of the health care system of the United States with systems in other countries that are of a universal nature.

Moore has long been making movies about social issues that haunt America. He won an Oscar for his 2002 movie on the shooting incident at Columbine, called Bowling for Columbine. That movie brought him onto the radar of the US government, and his Fahrenheit 9/11 got him the title of Enemy of America.