Activity Analysis #4 - Film Review - Essay Example

Film Review SICKO is one of the finest documentaries directed by Michael Moore, an eminent personality in the American film industry. This movie hasbeen released on June 29, 2007 and it made an attempt to expose the different aspects of American health care system. It uses a comparison to bring out the real crisis of the health care system in America. The profit focused health care institutes are the special characteristics of the American Health Care System and it is compared with the free and universal health care services in the United Kingdom, Canada and France.

The director depicts a contrast with the news report of the United States about the Canadian health services by way of providing experiences of the Canadian hospitals and clinics. He presents the theme by incorporating various scientific methods like interviews with the doctors and patients in order to understand the cost, salary and quality of the services rendered in the UK and France. In fact, profit oriented health maintenance organizations were promoted by Nixon in 1971. But, it was a failure in the part of Clinton in 1990 when he tried to revive it.

The director in this documentary tries to expose the reason behind the promotion of Nixon and failure of Clinton. The health care system in the northern part of America is insignificant because of the profit focused services of the HMOs. They were not interested in saving the lives of the patients, but they are focused on accumulating profit. This is the main plot of the documentary. The next important aspect emerging from this documentary is the corrupted political system in relation to the health care system.

It brings the livelihood of an average person in America into limelight. He travels to Canada, the UK and France to assess the quality and cost systems in their hospitals. Along with this, he raises another significant fact of the treatment rendered to the prisoners in Guantanamo. It is assessed that they are provided with better treatments than the ordinary people in America. “It will investigate health care with a focus on large American pharmaceutical companies and of corruption in the Food and Drug Administration.

” (Sicko by Michael Moore, 2010, para.1). The plot of this documentary has come to the mind of the director when he was shocked by the vision that the dependence of the rescue workers in the attack of world trade center in Cuba for the treatment. The question posed in this situation is that, if Cuba can provide free and universal treatment services to its people; why the country which is on the front line of the world for its economic prosperity cannot give free and universal treatments services to its citizens?

The US health care system must undergo a thorough change; since large health care facilities and health insurance are owned by private sector. A number of people in the US are uninsured because they are not able to bear the cost of the premium of the insurance. For a change to happen, the American health care system has to develop strategies for the government to interfere in the health care services. The focus of the government should be in providing free and universal medical treatment to the people.

Reference ListSicko by Michael Moore. (2010). Hub pages. Retrieved July 28, 2010, from http://hubpages.com/hub/sicko