Michael Moore may be confrontational, outspoken and one-sided, but he’s not looking out only for himself.
The writer-director of “Bowling for Columbine” and “Fahrenheit 9/11” makes that clear in his new movie, “Sicko,” in which Moore at one point covers the hospital bills of the operator of an anti-Michael Moore Web site.
Is it a show-offy gimmick to make a point in the movie? Absolutely. It also proves that Moore is willing to do what he doesn’t think American health-care companies will: put someone else’s interests before his own.
In “Sicko,” the filmmaker takes dead aim at what he considers America’s flawed health-care system and wonders why we don’t offer universal coverage to everyone like countries such as Canada or France. He includes countless interviews with Americans with health insurance who have suffered because they can’t get treatment, make payments or other problems.
Moore says that when he put the word out that he was looking for Americans with stories to tell, he received letters from approximately 25,000 people eager to voice their dissatisfaction. He initially planned to use “Sicko” to try to save 10 lives but scrapped the idea when he realized how small an achievement that would be with so many people in need.
During an interview with reporters at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, the always-opinionated Moore talked about making movies, HMOs and doctors with blood on their hands.
Do you wish you could just make movies and not have people attacking you?
I think those days are gone.
The government is investigating your trip to Cuba during filming. Did you predict the trip would cause rumblings?
No, because the law is very clear. You can go down there for journalistic endeavors. That’s what this was. It’s a documentary. It’s a non-fiction film. I don’t have to get a license. I don’t have to get approval. So no laws were broken. So I was kinda surprised that they actually came after me.
And surprised on another level, too, that they would want to bring publicity and attention to the film. If they wanted to go after me, go after me six months from now after the film’s already left the theaters. I mean, why would you do it just a few weeks before? It just doesn’t seem very smart. Then, that’s the key word.
Why aren’t you interested in knocking on the doors of HMO executives to plead your case?
‘Cause it’s not just one company that’s the problem here. And my audience has grown with each film. And I know they like to live vicariously through me. “Yeah, Mike, go [mess] up the man, take him on.”
But this is never going to change with just Michael Moore doing it. The audience has to get up out of the theater seat. The audience has to go and participate. … What happened in that emergency room in L.A. a couple weeks ago, where they were calling 911 because nobody was helping the person that was dying — I actually had a scene that I was going to put in the movie encouraging people to …
If the health insurance company is telling the doctor they can’t treat you when you go to the hospital, call 911 and report an attempted murder. Because this is attempted murder. And in fact sometimes it is murder. Because they’re making a decision, as the doctor said in her testimony: “I signed ‘denied,’ and I knew when I was doing that that person was going to die.”
It’s a form of murder, and I would like to see criminal charges brought against these people and they won’t do it until we the people stand up and demand it.
But people are apathetic. It seems unlikely that a large number would stand up and fight.
Well, it is. … But sometimes a few people say “No, that’s enough,” and it’s over.
Would you say that doctors have blood on their hands?
Absolutely. When you think about 18,000 [people] die each year simply because they don’t have health insurance, that’s six 9/11s. Every year. And the only reason they’re dead is because they didn’t have health insurance. It’s just criminal. We shouldn’t allow it. I’m embarrassed by it.
Are there politics to “Sicko”?
No, I made this as a non-partisan … illness does not care whether you are a Democrat or a Republican. You get sick, you get sick. And we need to come together on this issue. People of different political viewpoints need to find common ground on this and say, “You know what, every American should be insured. Every American should get help when they need help.” Can’t we at least agree on that?
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READY, AIM, MOORE!
Michael Moore has raised a sword of protest against ruling titans before. Here’s a look at who the filmmaker-activist from Flint, Mich., has taken on in past documentaries and the domestic gross of each.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS IN MILLIONS
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TOPIC MOVIE YR BOX
GM “Roger and Me” ’89 $6.7
NRA/gun control “Bowling for Columbine” ’02 $21.5
Bush admin “Fahrenheit 9/11” ’04 $119
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[ source: boxofficemojo.com ]What’s next?
Now that Michael Moore’s “Sicko” has opened, the director should start thinking about what problem he’ll tackle next. RedEye has some suggestions for the subject and title. [ RedEye ]
CTA “Road to Nowhere”
Immigration “Run for the Border”
Global warming “Got Gas?”
Lohan family “Nuclear Family”
Starbucks “$12 Coffee Nation”
Diets “To Diet for”
Cubs “Fight Club”
Oil companies “Dark Secrets”
Airlines “Leg Room Only”
Reality TV “Cam-erica”
Postal Service “Going Postal”
Wal-Mart “Big Box Boogie”
Catholic church “Beneath the Robes”
Obesity “Size Matters”
American legal system “After Further Review … “
Rosie O’Donnell “Nobody Cares”
