WATCHING:
The Fault In Our Stars
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe

Rom-sob – Teen(s) sick, gunna die…

But well done – and yes, there is a twist.

Whatev.

I liked – and would recommend – but will I revisit? Nah. Will tweens (esp. women) re-watch? Yeppers. Hot guy, empowered woman.

Overall, good watch. Some fun wordplay in the dialog – it’s mainly a movie about relationships, so not big on special effects. Words – and Woodley’s & Elgort’s performances – make this movie.

One complaint – I found Willem Dafoe oddly miscast. He has a small – but pivotal – part, as a washed-up writer important to Woodley’s character. It’s so small, he never really gets you buy into his character, you just watch him and think “Hey, that’s Willem Dafoe!”.

All movies

On Thanksgiving Day 2014, Kevin Drum posted the following blog post: I’m Pretty Thankful This Year. Here’s Why.

As usual, it was a well-written entry, but the reason he’s thankful is set out very elegantly and is hard to dispute. Drum, who was diagnosed with cancer this year, had this to say about how his cancer was discovered and how all the gears (insurance, first responders, hospitals, work) meshed around his new reality (emphasis added):

So sure: cancer sucks. But how many people who go through it have all this? Not many. Some have money problems. Some have work problems. Some are on their own. Some have lousy or nonexistent health insurance. Some get inadequate treatment. I have none of those problems. I am lucky almost beyond belief.

And one more thing: health care is suddenly a lot more real to me than ever before. Sure, I’ve always favored universal health care as a policy position. But now? It’s all I can do to wonder why anyone, no matter how principled their beliefs, would want to deny the kind of care I’ve gotten to even a single person. Not grudging, bare-bones care that’s an endless nightmare of stress and bill collectors. Decent, generous care that the richest country in the richest era in human history can easily afford.

Why wouldn’t you want that for everyone? It beggars the imagination.

When Joni Ernst ran (and won) for the Iowa Senate seat in 2014, one of the things she ran on was weakening the safety net. Obamacare bad; we should get back to the days where local food pantries and church rummage sales helped feed and clothe the less fortunate. It’s a valid argument, but it really doesn’t stand up in today’s world. (Note: Not singling out Ernst; just an example painted with broad strokes.)

Today, many don’t know their neighbors – especially if one doesn’t have kids. That nostalgic look back at how community once was is just that – nostalgia. Not reality. To be sure, it still happens (see below), but not to a degree that could even begin to replace something like Food Stamps or other wide-ranging government programs.

Community/friends helping out does still happen – I have someone close to me who has been in the hospital for a couple of months with some serious issues. Yes, months.

And his neighbors and friends are helping out. Doing the “winterization” chores that are needed but he can’t do and so on.

But without health insurance, he’d be in a bad place. I don’t know the deductible and so on details, but with insurance, they’ll be able to hold onto their house. Savings might get depleted, but still have the house.

Now imagine them – or anyone else – with an expensive health issue, like Drum’s. And they’ve lost their job and health insurance. And since – because of actions like Sen. Ernst endorses (remember, this is “now imagine…”) – Obamacare has been repealed, they can’t get insurance due to cost/pre-exisiting condition or what have you. Are they going to get the specialists, the expensive medicine that will prolong their lives?

No.

Will some people game the system to live off the Safety Net (food stamps, welfare, unemployment insurance….)? Of course – that’s human nature. I don’t defend nor condone these abuses, but it’s a reality.

But we’re talking about life and death, and – to a certain extent – the moral imperative. It’s a Christian imperative to help others, but this seems lost in the political chatter. Don’t like Obamacare? Create a better solution. Don’t like food stamps? Find a way to help starving children (at the least) eat. Why would one – especially the Christian Right (which seems most upset over these “handouts”) – object to doing “what Christ taught”?

Yes, it beggars the imagination.