Michael Moore's Sicko in the Oscar Race

I brought Michael Moore's Sicko home for the family several weeks ago. We have been very impressed with all Michael Moore's work (Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 911,Roger and Me). Of course he is a native son, but that's not all. We laughed, some of us cried and were appalled, especially by the introductory scene with a man sewing up, very neatly I might add, his own leg. We were all aghast and angered about the extreme state of affairs in our health care industry (notice the word industry isn't that an oxymoron when used with health care?) Our teenagers were as engaged and incensed as we were. I immediately signed up to be placed on Michael Moore's website.

I recently received an email update that Sicko is in the Oscar race for several awards, one of which being the prestigious Best Documentary. Up to this point in his Oscar nomination history, his work has always attracted attention. And it was almost obligatorily so. Any Michael Moore production is stellar work. But alas, it's always intensely political and controversial. And we Americans don't like being reminded of what makes us uncomfortable. When Morgan Spurlock's Supersize Me beat out Fahrenheit 911, I was not surprised. Supersize Me was indeed an important film. I use it in class every year. But politically it was a much safer topic.

2008's Oscar nominees are not quite so safe. The competitors for best documentary are all pretty inflammatory in themselves. Operation Homecoming depicts actors reading letters from soldiers stationed in Iraq. That's got to be a poignant expose. If I had a child in Iraq, I'd find it pretty difficult to watch. Taxi to the Dark Side graphically and mercilessly shows US torture methods in Iraq and Afghanistan. I couldn't watch all of this one. No End in Sight in this Sundance Channel film, we finally hear ex-Bush Sr. administration officials admit the screw ups and poor planning in Desert Storm. Too little too late, I say to the Republican lament and applaud the creators of this documentary.