Health Reform a Blow to Film

No one doubts that American life will change when health-care reform takes effect. But few have considered how the changes will affect popular culture—specifically movies. Health care has been a catch-all motivator for screenwriters, allowing for the injection of life-or-death struggle into otherwise comfortable American middle-class existence. John Lopez asks you to consider how the following films would turn out under socialized medicine:

• As Good As It Gets. Jack Nicholson's character would never have had to get involved with Helen Hunt's waitress if her medical bills were under control.
• Mo'Nique might not have landed Precious if there'd been no reason for her character in Domino to pull a big heist: Her granddaughter's treatment would've been covered by Uncle Sam.
• Michael Moore's Sicko, instead of a heart-wrenching document of insurance company practices, "would have simply been a well-reasoned lecture about the benefits of regular exercise," Lopez writes for Vanity Fair.

(Read more health care stories.)