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The official trailer for Michael Moore’s SiCKO.
The new Michael Moore movie is scheduled for release by the end of this month. If you’re in Slovenia, you probably already know that the country appears in the film as well as in the official trailer above.
I’m a bit late coming to this. (If you speak Slovene, a TV report can be seen here) But I had some advance warning that it was coming. Back in February, one of the producers contacted me wanting to talk about the Slovenian health care system. (I think this post led them to me) We talked for a bit, but in the end they seemed to be mostly interested in finding “something strange” about the country. This was around carnival time, so I suggested going to Ptuj for Slovenia’s somewhat unique take on that. They hinted that they might do some filming in Ljubljana, and try to catch some kurenti there.
But in the end, they chose a clip from the popular sitcom Naša Mala Klinika, which features lots of goofy-looking doctors. Apparently, the actors were neither thrilled nor consulted about this. (Permission was given via the studio)
I’m also hoping that the movie isn’t needlessly harsh on Slovenia. I was hoping that their point would be: “If a poorer country of 2 million people can achieve universal health care, why can’t the world’s greatest hyperpower?” and not: “Our system sucks so much that we almost suck as much as Slovenia, OMGWTF amirite?”
SiCKO opens on June 29, 2007.
(Thanks Boštjan!)
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Michael Moore lovers of Slovenia, unite!
Let’s just hope Michael Moore likes Slovenija enough than he dislikes the wrongs of the US government in order to portray the country fairly. I mostly like what he does, but sometimes it seems he goes on out on a limb to prove something and the end justifies the means. Balance is the key…
I thought I saw NZ higher on that list…. from my perspective the healthcare system is about the same as Slovenia’s, if not a bit less extensive in NZ. Also much less taxes.
OT: a helluva lot Michael Ms in this post!
I was planning on writing a witty commentary, but irony would have it that Michael M. posted this a day after a respected businessman died in Celje hospital, where they rejected treating him for chest-pains and difficult breathing because je didn’t have a napotnica (translation?)…. Sounds awfully like stories we hear from the other side of the Great Pond. Details here
@pengovsky: Why is it necessary for you to state that he was a respected businessman?
As I said not long ago, for twice I’ve gone to the doctor, they told me to “forget about having this test done in Lj, there’s only one machine in Celje and you’ll have to wait 1 yr and a half at least. However that machine is old so I don’t think it will hold on till then”, or they encouraged me to bribe ‘em.
So, joining this to the nice stories about … Vzajemna?, -some of which mr Pengovsky talked about recently…- I could talk a bit with Mr. Moore.
Das ist ja mal voll der Abschuss. Wenn ich sowas lese bin ich gezwungen zu denken, dass Moore selbst die größte Pappnase in dem Laden ist, den er kritisiert.
@pengovsky:
slovensko-angleški slovar:
napótnica ~a za bolišnico doctor’s note (directing patient to a hospital)
better dict.leo.org:
refferal
What’s funny is that Americans are always SURPRISED when they find out that a tiny state they have never heard of can compare to them. I guess it comes from being constantly brainwashed with that “we are the greatest country in the world” mantra. They just don’t seem to be able to accept the fact that the US are in many respects socially underdeveloped, just like Slovenia. And it’s certainly a paradox that such an attitude should be coming from Michael Moore as well.
I don’t like Michael Moore. He is a strange patriot who has been eternally scarred by the fact that the world in which he grew up (1950s, suburban, white America) no longer exists. So now he is running around like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz with motley crew of broken people he met along the way (one need only review this scene where he is standing and yelling with 9-11 survivors outside Gtmo Bay) looking for the Wizard to send him and his little dog back. The guy needs to get a reality check and a gym pass and to leave Slovenia out of it.
This however just hammers the point that their needs to be a better campaign to promote and educate people of the the world about Slovenia. At the moment it seems to be just a blank slate and is too often just another name for WEIRD COUNTRY YOU DON’T KNOW OR CARE ABOUT. Michael’s Blogres speech was the battle cry. Bloggers you’ve got work to do! I’ll be in with more ammo shortly…
Did anyone else get an involuntary shiver at this magic moment in speech delivery:
“Too many OBGYNs can’t practice their love with the women of this country.”
That man sure has a flair with words. It’s poetic, no? And pretty rich, coming from a fundamentalist Republican.
Michael Moore films tend to make Canadians unbearably smug.
I would hope that SLO Moore lovers would realize the worth of his “documentaries” now. What does a sitcom scene from a funny show have to do with the state of the health care system?
As far as end justifying the means- he purports to make documentaries and even insinuates that his conclusions should be taken seriously. Well, in science one needs to do this the opposite way - the means justify the conclusion.
To make a long story short, Michael Moore is just an Ann Coulter of the left - a stupid festering cunt.
Actually, I’d turn this upside down. It’s probably clear that our (Slovenian) health care system is not exactly the best.
But it is a real embarrasment to see that we are even behind such a crappy country (in terms of health care) as the US of A. I think this really is a proof that our system sucks big time.
The infants mortality rate is perhaps another indicator where the USA actually stands.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate
With regard to M. Moore - even though the issues brought up in his movies (gun control, health care etc.) definitely have to be addressed, he certainly uses way too much manipulation, statements torn out of context and such. So for anyone with at least half the brain, it’s often difficult to take him seriously. His dubious methods also make him an easy target for the right wing fanatics.
Of course, he does have blind supporters who’ll always think he’s genius, just like GW Bush has his supporters who are convinced he’s the greatest man to ever walk this Earth, no matter how much he messes things up.
The excerpt from “Nasa mala klinika” is just one example, and Moore’s movies are full of such manipulative stuff in place of verifiable facts.
Regarding our beloved Slovenia - well let’s face it. It wasn’t the first time, and surely not the last time we’ve been portraited like that. It is slightly unfortunate that our contry name just does not sound too pretty to Average Joe. And to Hans Jedermann, too. Those very few who actually know a bit about Slovenia certainly know better. But to the vast majority, it does sound like a shitty place where they don’t really want to be. Former communist nation somewhere in the Balkans or maybe in former Soviet Union, where people most probably still live in the trees and shoot at each other.
And then there’s the infamous “slovenly Slovenia” connotation.
Speaking about that, I remain convinced the “I feel Slovenia” tourist ad should actually say: “I feel slovenly!” Throw a bit of sarcasm in, and base the national tourist campaign on that!
@historix: I didn’t find it necesary to point out that the man who died was a respected businessman. It is a fact that he was. If it were a popular high school teacher, I’d have written “a popular high school teacher”…
@crni: Yes… but films and society are not scientific. You don’t really need to utilize scientific method to show that there is something utterly unfair about US health system. And I’m not saying that SLO health system is the paragon of fairness and user-friendliness (it is not).
The fact that MM is a stupid festering cunt doesn’t make him any more or less right than he is in the firts place.
I know a lot of obnoxcious people who tend to be right… If they only weren’t so obnoxcious…
The guy is just American version of Neva Miklavcic. And by my opinion he is not worth a single word of serious debate.
The point is, MM is not right. He does not just show that something is right in the health care system, or with the gun culture or whatever. He points to a reason and never proves his point.
Not only in Slovenia they let’em die… link
Another of his mockumentaries I’ll skip.
I mostly like Micheal Moore, but I personally took him to task on his revisionist views of the wars in Bosnia-Hercegovina and Kosovo. He came perilously close to defending Milosevic. I actually wrote to him about it, and then contacted him by e-mail several times about it.
I know that nearly all the Balkans countries have better health care access than the U.S. I have spent time in Croatia, and in BiH and seen the health care systems of both places. Believe me even with corruption there’s better access for most people! The fact is that co-pays come to more here in the U.S.
Pengovsky and Crni: when you talk about MM, I really hope you mean Michael Moore and not our own Michael Manske. Crni’s “MM is a stupid festering cunt” would really be a bit harsh on Mr Manske. Can acronyms really be so much fun?
Check this blog about the issue …
michaelmoore.blog.siol.net/
I am not against only insured health insurance or in other words unsocialized medicine, but if i would be insured i would expect normal treatment. So is that really that bad? I’ve watched yesterday Sicko and if that’s true that you can’t have any pre-existing condition (which includes a lot of “normal” things) for getting insurance, then i rather have socialized health insurance.
But of course the problem doesn’t lie in either that or that, but i think is more the problem of corruption here.
All above is mostly based on the documentary, so please tell me more about it. Maybe they just chose the wrong insurance company, or they are all like that?