Embracing "Sicko"

The first time I saw this documentary was in Baguio. It was aired on the community channel of the local cable TV network. With the exceptionally unconventional programming of this channel, plus switching between the History and Biography channels, I got boob-tube hooked and almost never decided to get out of my hotel room. I never got to see what the title of this documentary, though.

The next time I was in Baguio, I checked the community channel again, and after almost a half-day’s worth of wait, it aired again. This time around, the theme was a whole lot more personal, more meaningful. This was already after that pancreatitis scare that highlighted my birthday. (By the way, from how I understood it, it wasn’t really “pancreatitis” but an early attack of type II diabetes.) Actually, when I was in the hospital, staring blankly at the TV, between dread for another zipping abdominal pain and routine blood glucose “embroidery” (sometimes dashed with my aunt’s diatribes over her domestic issues), I thought of Michael Moore’s “Sicko.” I really so wanted to see the whole documentary again.

So when I was blessed with yet another screening of Sicko, I swear, it really moved me to tears. It really felt so true - especially at that time, post-hospitalization, post official indebtedness, and pre-Philhealth claim. Considering that our own health system is essentially almost a carbon-copy of the American’s, indeed, how have we ended up like this as a country? The health of our nation’s citizenry at the mercy of so-called “market forces.” With the help of a little Wikipedia, my reflections led me to this conclusion: health insurance should not (solely) be the State’s response for the health of its people. Even Philhealth is a mere token of what we really need: universal health care coverage. (My Philhealth claim only amounted to just a little over 10 percent of how much was spent on my birthday hospitalization.)

Whenever I had the chance to go to malls, I looked for this documentary in video stores. Blessed are the “innocence” of our sales clerks of anything documentary, all they knew about documentary were DVD’s of Discovery Channel specials. (”Michael Moore po? Action ba yun o drama, sir?”) My little cash for luxury purchase, I’m convinced, this masterpiece really deserves. But I nonetheless took my chances at the pirated market. Nothing there as well. (”Naku, masyado na yatang luma yun, sir… hindi na kami nagbebenta nun. Pero meron naman kaming ibang magagandang black-and-white dito, sir.”)

Even at my conviction of Sicko deserving a legal purchase, I got desperate and finally looked into torrents. Thanks be, Moore has a following among torrent freaks; it’s well seeded. And I’m not the only one who’s moved by this piece. A whole movement has been born out of this opus.

For the rest of us, at least among cable TV subscribers, I’m happy to announce that Sicko will be aired by Star Movies starting November 1. Mark it on your calendar - it really deserves 123 minutes of your All Saints’ holiday time.

Shown in 2007, Sicko also was nominated for best documentary on the 80th Academy Awards, but lost to Taxi from the Dark Side (which I believe must also be a very good one). (Wikipedia article on Sicko HERE)