"Cuba: The Enemies"
Length of Film Clip: 1 min 38 secs
Written By: Adrian De Guia
In this scene Moore sets out to Cuba to obtain free health care for some of the people in his documentary. Moore attempts to give the stereotypical portrayal that Americans have had towards Cubans. He uses several images of former President John F. Kennedy explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis and portrays Cuba as a threat to the United States. He then shows images of the evil dictator Fidel Castro in Cuba. He seems to demonizes Cuba and makes them seem malevolent and a threat to the well being of the United States. His use of images like a fire burning in front of the Cuban flag and protest in the U.S. against Cuba makes Cuba and everyone in Cuba seem like dangerous people. He depicts the mood of hatred and animosity towards the Cubans that the Americans have historically. But in the immediate scene that follows it, he portrays Cubans as a most generous and caring people because they offer free universal health care to all citizens. He states that they are known to have one of the best health care system in the world and have gained prominence as the most generous when it comes to providing developing countries with well trained doctors and health supplies. With these established facts, Moore attempts to re-establish the way Americans view Cuba. In a way, he tries to establish a point that even the most corrupted country can care for their people. He is able to get the audience to re-think the way they view Cuba and erase the propaganda that is stuck in their head from the extensive negative depiction of Cuba by the United States. By doing this, Moore can rebuild their image and sway America’s opinion about Cuba into a more positive connotation. Moore then juxtaposes the cost of health care in the U.S. with the cost of health care in Cuba in order to show that a person can receive health care for a low price like in Cuba. He says that health care in America cost about $7,000 per person but in Cuba it cost $251. He also states that Cubans have a longer life span than Americans even though they are paying less for health care. By providing these facts, Moore is able to nullify the idea in America that you don’t have to pay a lot of money to receive the best health care you can get. He uses Cuba to illustrate the idea that you don't have to pay much to get the health care you need to live a long and healthy life and by providing the fact that Cubans have a longer life span only further supports his idea of a economical health care plan. Moore ends the scene by saying "Their only sin when it comes to health care seems to be they don't do it for a profit." Moore is able to indirectly criticize the way the American health care system works with this quote. In stating this quote, he characterizes the way the American health care system is designed as a sin because they are motivated by profit and greed more than they are motivated to ensure the well-being of their clientele.