Sicko (2007)

Michael Moore: Self

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Quotes 

• Michael Moore : If this is what can happen between supposed enemies, if one enemy can hold out his hand and offer to heal, then what else is possible? That's when I heard that the man who runs the biggest anti-Michael Moore website was going to have to shut it down. He could no longer afford to keep it up because his wife was ill and he couldn't afford to pay for her health insurance. He was faced with a choice of either keep attacking me or pay for his wife's health. Fortunately, he chose his wife. But something seemed wrong about being forced into such a decision. Why, in a free country, shouldn't he be able to have health insurance and exercise his First Amendment right to run me into the ground? So I wrote him a check for the 12,000 dollars he needed to keep his wife insured and in treatment, and sent it to him anonymously. His wife got better and his website is still going strong.

• Michael Moore : [to a British couple in hospital]  What'd they charge you for that baby?

  British mother : [confused]  I'm sorry?

  Michael Moore : You gotta pay before you get out of here, right?

  British mother : No.

  British father : Na na na. Everything's on...

  British mother : This is NHS.

  British father : So no. It's not - it's not America.

  [British couple laughs] 

• Michael Moore : I'm wondering why you expect your fellow Canadians, who don't have your problem, why should they, through their tax dollars, have to pay for a problem you have.

  Canadian : Because we would do the same for them.

  Michael Moore : Yeah, but...

  Canadian : It's just the way it's always been, and so we hope it'll always be.

  Michael Moore : Right. But if you just had to pay for your problem, and don't pay for everybody else's problem - just take care of yourself.

  Canadian : Well, there are lots of people who aren't in a position to be able to do that. And somebody has to look out for them.

  Michael Moore : Are you a member of like the Socialist party here?

  Canadian : No, no.

  Michael Moore : Green party?

  Canadian : No. Well, actually I'm a member of the Conservative party. Is that bad?

  Michael Moore : Well, it's just a little confusing.

  Canadian : Well, it shouldn't be. I think that where medical matters are concerned, it wouldn't matter in Canada what party you were affiliated with.

• Diane : We don't think your tumor is life threatening.

  Michael Moore : [voiceover]  Diane died from her "non life threatening" tumor.

• [final lines] 

  Michael Moore : It was hard for me to acknowledge that in the end, we truly are all in the same boat. And that now matter what are differences, we sink or swim together. That's how it seems to be everywhere else. They take care of each other, no matter what their disagreements. You know, when we see a good idea from another country, we grab it. If they build a better car, we drive it. If they make a better wine, we drink it. So if they've come up with a better way to treat the sick, to teach their kids, to take care of their babies, to simply be good to each other, then what's our problem? Why can't we do that? They live in a world of 'we', not 'me'. We'll never fix anything until we get that one basic thing right. And powerful forces hope that we never do. And that we remain the only country in the western world without free, universal health care. You know, if we ever did remove the chokehold of medical bills, college loans, daycare, and everything else that makes us afraid to step out of line, well, watch out. Cause it will be a new day in America. In the meantime, I'm gonna go get the government to do my laundry.

• Michael Moore : Hope for the best is what we do, right from the moment we're born. We've got the worst infant mortality rate in the western world. A baby in El Salvador has a better chance of surviving than a baby born in Detroit. But it gets better when we go to school.

  Spokeperson : Classrooms with 40 students. Schools with no science labs.

  Michael Moore : Ha, no wonder the majority of our young adults can't find Britain on the map. But that's okay. There's always college. And by the time we graduate, our ass is so in hock, we're deep in debt before we even have our first job.

  college student in debt : I'm at about - we'll say about 35,000 dollars in debt. That's for my third year of college.

  Michael Moore : That way, you'll be the kind of employee they're looking for - one who needs this job. But what employer wouldn't want to employ someone thousands of dollars in debt? Because they won't cause any trouble. In addition to having to pay off your college debt, you need a job with health insurance. It would be horrible to lose that kind of job. And if that one job doesn't pay all the bills, don't worry, you can get another one, and another one, and another one.

  woman who works 3 jobs : I work three jobs, and I feel like I contribute.

  George W. Bush : You work three jobs?

  woman who works 3 jobs : Three jobs, yes.

  George W. Bush : [to crowd]  Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean that is fantastic that you're doing that. Get any sleep?

  Michael Moore : And if you're not getting enough sleep, take pharmecuticals.

  [a montage of several pharmaceutical commercials is shown, all saying the "Ask Your doctor" catchphrase] 

  Michael Moore : Yes, ask your doctor, and ask him for more drugs. That should keep you pretty doped up until it's time to retire. D-did I say retire?

  [Moore sarcastically laughs] 

  Michael Moore : Well if you do make it to 80, I'm sure your pension will still be there. Unlike the new employees for these companies which will never see a pension.

  [a quick slide show shows many companies, such as Coca-Cola, IBM, GM, Hershey's, Sprint and FedEx] 

  Michael Moore : But don't worry, I'm sure our kids will take care of us. Considering the great life we've given them. Oh, and remember: Let's defeat the terrorists over there, so we don't have to fight them here.

• Michael Moore : I always thought health insurance companies were there to help us. So, I posted a note on the Internet asking people if they had had any similar stories.Within 24 hours, I had over 3,700 responses. And by the end of the week, over 25,000 people had sent me their healthcare horror stories. Some of them decided not to wait for me to get back to them. Like Doug Noe, who took matters into his own hands, without my permission. His daughter was nine months old when they discovered she was going deaf. His health insurance company, CIGNA, said they'd pay for an implant in only one of her ears. According to the letter they sent, it's experimental for her to hear in two ears.

• U.S Coast Guard officer : Are you trying to get by?

  Michael Moore : Which way to Guantanamo Bay? Can we go?

  [Officer signals "no"] 

  Michael Moore : We're not going to Cuba! We're going to America! It's American soil!

• Border Guard : [points to the camera]  That thing's not on, right?

  Michael Moore : No.

• [end lines] 

  Michael Moore : In the meantime, I'm going to get the government to do my laundry.

• Michael Moore : ...so, working for the goverment, you probably have to use public transportation?

  British Doctor : No, so, I have a car that I use...

  Michael Moore : An old beater?

  [cut to a frontal close take of the Doctor's HOT Audi parking] 

• Michael Moore : What are your other big expenses?

  French Housewife : Er, ze fish...

• Michael Moore : So there was actually one place on American soil that had free, universal healthcare.

  [cut to aerial picture of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba] 

  Michael Moore : That's all I needed to know. I went down to Miami, Florida, Got myself a boat, and loaded up Bill, and Reggie, and John, and anyone else I could find who needed o see a doctor, and couldn't afford one. So many people showed up, I had to get a few extra boats. And I called up Donna Smith from Denver, who was now on 9 different medications, and asked her if she'd like to come along. I figured she'd like to get out of her daughter's basement for a while.

• Adam : [tending his cuts]  I don't have a job. I don't want to have any more debt out to anybody else. I'm flushing the wound...

  Michael Moore : [narrating off-screen]  This is Adam. He had an accident. He's one of the nearly 50 million Americans with no health insurance.

• Rick : So this is the table saw. It was spinning that way.

  Michael Moore : [narrating off-screen]  This is Rick...

  Rick : [continuing]  I was gripping a piece of wood and I grabbed it here and it hit a knot...

  Michael Moore : [narrating off-screen]  He sawed off the tops of two of his fingers.

  Rick : And it was that quick...

• Michael Moore : There are nearly 50 million Americans with no health insurance. They pray every day they don't get sick because 18,000 of them will die this year, simply because they're uninsured. But this movie isn't about them. It's about the 250 million of you who have health insurance. Those of you who are living the American Dream.