Movie industry polling for the film found that 93 percent of viewers would "strongly recommend 'SiCKO'" to their friends and family, which is more than double the industry average of 45 percent.
Michael Moore has touched the one chord that all Americans can relate to ~ Healthcare. Unlike Global Warming which is slowly creeping up on us or a terrorist attack which would effect a few but scare many ~ Healthcare is a major concern to babyboomers in their 50's as well as seniors and strikes a universal chord as witnessed by the incredible word of mouth recommendations and record breaking box office results this past weekend.
Because of Michael Moore's brilliant movie SICKO, single pay universal healthcare will be on the top of the agenda in the 2008 Presidential election and will break the hearts of many healthcare lobbyists as well as their bought politicians who will be vainly trying to swim against the tide of an issue whose time has come.
The American Progress Report confirms this coming tsunami and the incredible response to Moore's call for action .
Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2007/07/02.html
UPON HUGE OPENING WEEKEND, MICHAEL MOORE'S SiCKO PASSES FACT-CHECK TEST
by Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, and Matt Corley / American Progress report / 7/02/07
On June 29, Michael Moore's latest film, SiCKO -- an exploration of the failings of the current American healthcare system -- opened in theaters nationwide.
On the heels of strong reviews, the response to the film has been overwhelming, according to Moore, who sent a message to fans this weekend declaring that the film is "on track to have the second largest opening weekend for a documentary in the history of the movies."
In his letter, Moore also noted that the industry polling for the film found that 93 percent of viewers would "strongly recommend 'SiCKO'" to their friends and family, which is more than double the industry average of 45 percent.
Not everyone is reacting so positively to SiCKO, however, as the health care industry and its surrogates on the right are doing all that they can to pushback against the film. Before the premiere, think tanks funded by the healthcare and pharmaceutical lobby launched a smear campaign against Moore, using personal attacks against the director while propagating the message of those invested in maintaining the status quo.
Moore's opponents have thus been forced to resort to personal attacks as SiCKO has stood up to scrutiny: on Saturday, a CNN fact-check found "surprisingly few inaccuracies in the film" while noting that "most pundits or health-care experts...spent more time on errors of omission rather than disputing the actual claims in the film." Click here to find a showing near you .
Freelance columnist Allen L Roland is available for comments , interviews and speaking engagements ( allen@allenroland.com )
