enter doubts

On Saturday night, I saw ‘Sicko,’ which was interesting and depressing. The first half of it—before a tour of a British millionaire doctor’s home and the romanticization of the Cuban medical system—is probably my favorite thing that Michael Moore has done, possibly because he is in it so little. I was really annoyed by the way he introduced Hillary Clinton, though, making comments about her appearance that just wouldn’t be made about a male politician. (That immediately preceding the screening, I had a long talk with MK and J about how Clinton is scrutinized in ways men are not [her laugh] didn’t help things.)

It was a hard film, probably not the best choice for right before I return to the states (at least my health insurance will last until February). The final lines of the film, in which Moore’s voiceover says something along the lines of ‘most countries think in terms of “we,” while American’s think about “me”’ struck a chord. Do I really want to be returning to that?

As I was gathering my things, I overheard the conversation of the people sitting in front of me. A woman said (in Serbian, of course) that ‘America is only for the pretty, the young, and the healthy.’ Again, words resonated. I walked out of the theater feeling much more daunted by the prospect of reintegrating into American culture.