Moore's Persuasive Attack on America
Moore’s persuasive attack on the United States of America
The United States of America is considered one of the most powerful countries in the world; however, despite its status, it is one of the few countries that does not provide universal healthcare. As a result, many Americans are unable to receive the expensive medical attention they need. In Moore’s Sicko, a documentary that USA Today labelled “entertaining and informative”, Moore introduces different Americans who have been affected by the absence of universal healthcare. Additionally, Moore compares the lives of Americans to those of others in different countries, such as France, who have access to universal healthcare. In order to further stress the problems with the lack of universal healthcare, Moore reveals the corruption in different health insurance companies, such as Humana, that denied their services to patients in order to maximize their profit. With the usage of a combination of different filmic elements,
Moore effectively uses fear as a method of persuasion.
A series of different clips strung together attracts the audience and helps them grasp the ideas presented by the filmmaker. At the very beginning of Sicko, two sets of clips are shown of two Americans who were unable to receive the proper medical attention they needed. One set of clips shows a man groaning in pain while stitching his own leg with a threaded needle. The other shows another man who lost the tops of two of his fingers and only reattached one of them due to the expenses of the surgery. At first, it is questionable why Moore would use such disturbing clips as an introduction to his documentary; but by using these clips immediately at the beginning of Sicko, Moore quickly introduces the idea that due to the unavailability of universal
Lee 2 healthcare, Americans resort to their own methods of “medical care” or sacrifice body parts because they cannot pay for surgery. These gruesome clips will undoubtedly
The United States of America is considered one of the most powerful countries in the world; however, despite its status, it is one of the few countries that does not provide universal healthcare. As a result, many Americans are unable to receive the expensive medical attention they need. In Moore’s Sicko, a documentary that USA Today labelled “entertaining and informative”, Moore introduces different Americans who have been affected by the absence of universal healthcare. Additionally, Moore compares the lives of Americans to those of others in different countries, such as France, who have access to universal healthcare. In order to further stress the problems with the lack of universal healthcare, Moore reveals the corruption in different health insurance companies, such as Humana, that denied their services to patients in order to maximize their profit. With the usage of a combination of different filmic elements,
Moore effectively uses fear as a method of persuasion.
A series of different clips strung together attracts the audience and helps them grasp the ideas presented by the filmmaker. At the very beginning of Sicko, two sets of clips are shown of two Americans who were unable to receive the proper medical attention they needed. One set of clips shows a man groaning in pain while stitching his own leg with a threaded needle. The other shows another man who lost the tops of two of his fingers and only reattached one of them due to the expenses of the surgery. At first, it is questionable why Moore would use such disturbing clips as an introduction to his documentary; but by using these clips immediately at the beginning of Sicko, Moore quickly introduces the idea that due to the unavailability of universal
Lee 2 healthcare, Americans resort to their own methods of “medical care” or sacrifice body parts because they cannot pay for surgery. These gruesome clips will undoubtedly
Cited: - Moore, Michael, Dir. Sicko. Dir. Moore Michael." The Weinstein Company: 2007, DVD. - Puig, Amanda. "Moore wields a sharp scalpel in ambitious 'Sicko '." USA Today (2007): n. o pag. Web. 6 Mar 2010. .