MovieChat Forums > Sicko (2007) Discussion > Opinion from someone not living in the U...

Opinion from someone not living in the US


I have just finished watching the movie, which by the way I think is very good. It's a good thing there are people out there like Michael who aren't afraid of sharing his POV even though there are so many haters waiting around to destroy his character.

I do hope the guy who runs his hate website found out about his donation although I highly doubt he'll change his point of view regarding Michael. He'll probably just suggest he did it to look good and whatnot. Like he needed it.
But that's not what I wanted to say. I respect Michael Moore and completely get where he's coming from. However, as a non-American -although I've lived there many years ago- I think a lot of people are missing out on something very important:
To me this movie portrays Americans as victims of the system -which I agree they are; even those not affected by it because they were lucky enough not to need to rely on it. But what about people in third-world countries that not only have UHC -as is the case in Argentina- but also have to suffer the consequences of being 'unwanted' thanks to the misportrayal people suffer for being socialist or for being so unlucky to have a very corrupt president?

The Cubans in the movie not only helped people but were kind and considerate and embraced them as brothers even though Americans would let Cubans trying to cross the border die in the attempt before helping them reach land. To me, it is unfair that Americans can get this kind of compassion while their country is so outrageously unfair and sabotaging of other nations.

I don't mean to say those people shouldn't have gotten the help they did. I'm gald they did and hopefully they will find a way to continue treatments according to their needs and not being scammed out of their money in their desperation to seek help regarding their illnesses. That said, I think if you are so lucky as to find a place that you have damaged so much but where people are kind enough, resilient enough and humane enough to want to help anyway, you're mindset shouldn't be "I want to buy meds here b/c they're so cheap and take them home" but rather say "what can I do to repay these people and make it up to them?" Those medications are practically free because the system works that way in Cuba and of course people pay a price for it. Same thing in Argentina. We have UHC but it comes out of tax-money similarly to what happens in the UK or France but with thousands of homeless people queuing up at hospitals. Because the country is a poor one and badly administrated, there are a lot of problems; but I see more foreigners come to use the help when they need it than coming to help support and better the quality of life of those generous enough to help them.

I think it speaks admirably about Cubans that they have such great hearts that they would sell medications at the same price to an American than a Cuban. If only it also worked the other way around and they could go to the US to use the services that were cheaper or more convient there.

It seems some are always on the giving end and others on the taking. "Some people eat better, some people sleep better".

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Couldn't take a word you say seriously past ghe part where you do the usual whining about how people who debunk Moore's propaganda are "destroying his character".

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You also know absolutely nothing about the reality of life and healthcare in Cuba.

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