Even with prior knowledge of the American healthcare system and the corruptness of insurance companies, the documentary Sicko by Michael Moore was still able to shock me about the harsh realities people actually endure concerning their health and well being. I was so blown away with the stories that I actually imagining myself in those people’s situations. C. Wright Mills would say I was using the sociological imagination, which is the ability to see how individual experiences are connected to the larger society. In America we are raised to believe that our nation is the best in the world in every category. This documentary serves to tell otherwise.
“People who like to avoid shocking discoveries, who prefer to believe that society is just what they were taught in Sunday school, who like the safety of the rules and the maxims of what Alfred Schuetz has called the “world-taken-for-granted,” should stay away from sociology” (Macionis and Benokraitis, 7) That quote can also be used to describe this film. We need to think outside of our own experiences in life, to truly understand society as a whole. Otherwise we will remain ignorant and heartless as most of health insurance companies in America. The U.S. healthcare system is ranked 37 out of 191 countries in the world. We need to use our sociological imagination to understand the different people affected, especially people like me who have had good enough insurance to cover my medical needs thus far in my life, of course nothing drastic was needed on my part.
“The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society” (Macionis and Benokraitis, 3). We need to look overseas to London, France and etc. because their citizens have far longer of a life expectancy than ours. For our society to become better, we need to look onto theirs and see the reality