This paper examines some of the reasons why One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was such a landmark success when it was released at the time and the themes behind the film that serve as a microcosm for the antiestablishment feelings of the masses all through out the sixties and mid- seventies. The friction of Nurse Ratched and McMurphy are parsed out in specific detail in order to draw parallels to the feelings of society at large during the end of the Sixties.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is an independent film released in 1975 by United Artists. The lead producer Michael Douglas had received the rights for the film adaptation from his father, Kirk Douglas, who had starred and portrayed Randall Patrick McMurphy in the play version in 1963, penned by Dale Wasserman. The original source of the film prior to the play on Broadway was from a novel by Ken Kesey released in 1962. Kesey had been employed as an attendant at a Veterans hospital when he volunteered to be tested for the effects of a drug then called LSD. This premise is what served as the inspiration for his Kesey’s explosive novel that Milos Forman, a Czechoslovakian director adapted for film only after over a decade of the successful stage production on Broadway. Kirk Douglas spent many years in the sixties trying to get a studio to produce the film but to no avail as the content matter of an insane asylum was hard to sell. Finally, passing the baton to his son, Michael who took over the project, together with the Forman’s colleague and friend, Saul Zaentz, co-produced to raise an estimated $4.4 Million (IMDB) that eventually went on to reap $112 Million in the United States alone. Not only was the film monetarily successful, it also won several of the important awards and swept the Academy Awards of 1975. This had only happened once before in the history of the academies since the 1934 Frank Capra film "It Happened One Night"( IMDB). One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest won in all five of the top Academy Awards, for best picture, actor ( ack Nicholson), actress (Louise Fletcher), director (Milos Forman) and screenplay (Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman)(IMDB). The contenders that year at the Academies were heavy hitters by many auteur directors but nothing really fell into the genre that One Flew Over A Cuckoo’s Nest was in.
What kind of genre then does One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest fall under specifically? Certainly, the crazy antics of McMurphy to have the patients revolt against Nurse Ratched feels and looks like a comedy. Yet it is so much more than just a comedy as the film delves deeper into the subconscious when the viewer begins to recognize the film’s underlying message and starts to question the ways in which order and systematic obedience must be played out. Nominated for best picture that year contending with Forman’s film was Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, which falls under the drama, romance ,war genre. The next contender was Dog Day Afternoon, a crime drama directed by Sidney Lumet, followed by Spielberg’s Jaws, a horror/ thriller and lastly, Altman’s Nashville, a musical black comedy. Just by taking a closer look at the films that were in contention for Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is the only psychological thriller/ comedy that can sum up the turbulent decade that had past. The film serves as a commentary to millions of people in the United States that had gone through the culture wars that had them questioning entities that forced control over ideologies such as big corporations manufacturing culture as a commodity to be sold and profited from or government agencies that repressed freedom of communication.
Indeed, the objectives of the two leads in the film really create much of the ongoing tension in the film. Thus, a big focus of this paper will be the portrayal of Nurse Ratched’s iron grip and McMurphys’ rebellious character in association to one another in order to provide context for the discussion of how the film mirrors the antiestablishment feelings of the society after the sixties. The character of Randal Patrick McMurphy, superbly portrayed by Jack Nicolson is the antihero/ protagonist of the film. His character growth really moves the plot along as he enters the asylum with hopes of passing off as insane in order to get out of a working farm. As he is subjected to the stringent policies established by the lead nurse, he openly becomes defiant of her rules that constrict not only him but also the other patients as well from enjoying menial joys such as a watching the baseball playoffs. McMurphys’ influence on the other inmates slowly becomes apparent when they begin to break out of habit, speak up and question Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched’s character is unbreakable, inflexible and manipulative to the point of driving another inmate to kill himself. However, she is the epitome of a passive- aggressive type of character. According to divorce.com, passive aggressive behavior is actually considered a form of ‘covert” abuse which is when a person is sly or underhandedly abusing another domestically. Nurse Ratched is without a doubt this kind of character, creatively portrayed with subtle yet distinct nuances by actress, Louis Fletcher. In one of the first scenes where a meeting takes place with the patients of the ward on McMurphy’s first day, A sign on the board behind Nurse Ratched says” If you wish to see Dr. Swivy, sign up at the Doctors station”. Already a bureaucracy is set in place to see the person in the highest position, which is the Doctor. Yet to get to him, the patients need to go through the dominating and feared nurse, which then restrains the patients from seeking counseling from the Doctor.
Ken Kesey, the original source writer was actually fired from the film set and had vowed to never watch the film adaptation. The differences from the original novel source and the film adaptation must then be discussed. In the novel, the narrator was the mute Chief Bromden who in the film only really plays a secondary role to the development of the plot. His entire back story is cut from the film altogether, which is justifiable, as the medium must tell a story in a limited amount of time. McMurphy in the novel also goes through a lot more character development but that once again is to be expected, as there is less time on screen to portray a character arc. In the novel McMurphy’s character is calm and collected when first institutionalized into the psychiatric ward before becoming rebellious during the latter part of the story, but that may also be due to Nicolson’s portrayal of the character or the direction that Forman wanted to go with McMurphy’s character. Granted when a creative piece of art such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is portrayed in not just two but three mediums, which are book form to stage play to film adaptation, leeway for changes in the story have to be accommodated because of the nature of the different mediums. The various versions that are not quite similar in all regards can in many ways can turn off and alienate an audience, especially if they are fans of one kind of medium over another. It is important to remember that there has to be room for varied adaptations because the medium has to be taken into consideration.
Clearly, the audience of this film must be defined and possible reasons for why and how they were really able to identify and relate to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Even though the setting is in a mental facility, the film is not really about the psychological problems of the inmates. Instead, the film tackles the lack of freedom of the patients because of the oppression they are facing in a closed system, led by Nurse Ratched, who has hindered their growth, independence and chance for normalcy. The demographics of the film are mostly men and some women who are probably older than 25 at the time of this release who have the maturity to understand the concept of being repressed in a society that curtails freedom of expression and independence. Even a review in the Variety from 1975 by critic A.D Murphy makes the same observation when he writes:
Thus, this long-delayed film emerges with a dual impact. To those under the age of, say 25, it will be a theatrically powerful but not especially challenging ensemble showpiece, which poses the now-familiar question, who is insane -- the keepers or the kept? To those over that age barrier, it is intellectual nostalgia…(November 18, 1975).”
This decade being discussed really fostered a confused identity among the masses and the demonstrations and protest that were so prevalent during the tale end of the sixties are proof of the ideological mayhem succumbing society at the time. People were no longer willing to be passive, much like how the patients at the institution are when McMurphy first arrives. At the start of the film, the inmates are bound to the regularity and repetitiveness of their schedule. No one dares to question taking pills or if they can watch television. However after being influenced by McMurphy’s attitude toward the system, the inmates slowly question the restrictions placed upon them. An example of this is when Cheswick defiantly questions Nurse Ratched for his cigarettes. McMurphy in many ways liberate the patients, particularly Chief Bromden, who eventually opens up and confesses his inferiorities to McMurphy in a touching scene when the Chief proclaims he is not as “big” in spirit as McMurphy. Chief at the start of the film keeps to himself and doesn’t interact or talk to anyone. He eventually opens up to McMurphy and actually starts talking and even engages with the other inmates in a round of basketball. Beside Chief Bromden, Billy Bibbit is another character that makes a progressive transformation in the film if only for a few seconds. Billy Bibbit stops stuttering and for a split second regains his confidence after he is discovered naked with Candy the prostitute. When the other inmates applaud his sexual act, he regains an ounce of confidence especially when he answers Nurse Ratcheds’ question of if he is embarrassed of what he has just done. Billy proudly proclaims that he isn’t. But his newfound confidence is taken away from him when Nurse Ratched manipulatively brings up how Billy’s mother is a good friend of hers and must be told of her son’s business, treating him like a child.
Other scenes from One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest that can provide an exhibit of a microcosm of society during the era known as the sixties are described below. However, some background on when and exactly what the sixties represent should be touched upon.
The “sixties” has come to be known as a series of cultural, societal and political events that shaped and influenced ideology on a global level. Frederic Jameson, theorist says: “THE SIXTIES WERE IN THAT SENSE AN IMMENSE AND INFLATIONARY ISSUING OF SUPERSTRUCTURAL CREDIT… (Jameson) ”. The social unrest swept not only the American nation but was a global movement that began in the mid 50’s against organized establishments and the rise of decolonization, socialism and reform movements. The end of the sixties lasted well into the mid-1970’s with the decline of political forces such as the Black Panther Movement, Nixon’s fall from power because of the Watergate scandal, the end of “drafting” and the Vietnam War among many others. Uprisings against political and social ideologies became commonplace around the world( Greg Cohen[1]).
Nurse Ratched on the surface poses as if she does want to help the inmates at the asylum get better and yet her objectives behind her iron grip and icy exterior are clear: She wants to control as opposed to truly find a solution to each individual’s problems. This character trait of Nurse Ratched is distinctly evident in the scene described above of her manipulative actions when she finds Billy with Candy. In the meetings she holds with the inmates, she establishes an open trust policy and yet she abolishes any sense of free will to question the stringent regulations she has set forth. Much like the drafting during the Vietnam War, the burning of the draft card was a regulation that was instilled to stop people from expressing their true and honest opinions of the way they felt about being drafted into Vietnam. In a landmark case at the Supreme Court known as the “United States Versus O’Brien” case, it was heralded that the willful destruction of a draft card for antiwar demonstrations and protest was deemed illegal and not protected by the first amendment, which is freedom of expression. Antiwar demonstration became rampant in the sixties and many cases like USA Vs. O’Brien mirror Nurse Ratched and her inflexible policies for freedom of expression.
Secondly, Nurse Ratched is wary and keeps a keen eye about McMurphy’s interaction with inmates that are seemingly getting better because of McMurphy’s prompting. In the two scenes articulated below, instead of acknowledge a breakthrough in the individuals’ psychosis, she instead either dismisses or stunts the inmates recuperation. When McMurphy is playing basketball in the yard, Chief Bromden at first does not respond to his coaxing to play ball. There is a shot that zooms in to Nurse Ratched watching as McMurphy tries to engage Chief Bromden. Chief eventually starts playing basketball and when a vote needs to tilt Nurse Ratcheds’ decision to let the inmates watch the playoff’s, Chief Bromden raises his hand, even if he was considered deaf and mute in the beginning of the film. Nurse Ratched dismisses the Chief’s breakthrough and tells McMurphy that the meeting has been adjourned therefore the Chief’s vote doesn’t count. The nurse disregards Chiefs’ progress and never even acknowledges how her patient is seemingly responding to outside forces thus getting better.
And Thirdly, in the scene that ultimately causes Billy Bibbit’s character to resort to suicide, Nurse Ratched manipulatively uses the very insecurities of the patient to control and instill fear in his heart. Much like the government’s tactics during the cold war, the ideology of communism was used as a ploy to get the nation’s support for the Vietnam War. The shaming and embarrassment that Nurse Ratched subjects Billy to is very similar to the HUAC proceedings that happened in the late 50’s. The House of Un-American Committee was an investigative group led by the United States House of Representatives that called upon many people from the entertainment industry and questioned their affiliation and ties with the communist party. Senator Joseph McCarthy who led this investigation condemned many people that in turn got blacklisted from procuring employment if deemed connected to the reds. The “Red Scare” had an early wave in the early 1900’s but really escalated after the World War II when the fear of espionage was heightened on a national level and became a societal concern for both foreigners and Americans. This kind of fear mongering is much like the tactics of Nurse Ratched when she discovers Billy with the prostitute named Candy after a night of copulation. She specifically says shames him in front of the other inmates and treats him like a child. The use of fear to influence or bully another for a specific purpose is evident in the scenes of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest articulated above and parallels how the United States government used the same devices in the second “Red Scare” when communism was deemed as an ideological enemy. In the case of the film, the patients’ courage to question the institution over their own lives is the main thread and concept that people from the sixties can relate to.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a significant film because it sums up the power struggles of the American people in peril against various authorities who control and repress society during the era in which the film was released. The timing of this film is remarkably apt as well since American society as a whole was extremely receptive and ready to support and watch a film that dealt with these feelings of antiestablishment, which is evident by the success of film monetarily as well as the critical reception it garnered. However, Vincent Canby, famed reviewer for the New York Times disagrees with my argument and says:
“There are some unsettling things about "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." I suspect that we are meant to make connections between Randle's confrontation with the oppressive Nurse Ratched and the political turmoil in this country in the 1960's. The connection doesn't work. All it does is conveniently distract us from questioning the accuracy of the film's picture of life in a mental institution where shock treatments are dispensed like aspirins and lobotomies are prescribed as if the mind's frontal lobes were troublesome wisdom teeth (November 28, 1975).”
The plot of the story makes it clear that the shock treatments and lobotomies were only used on patients that had caused friction or went against regulations. They were not performed on patients that followed the so-called “code” of Nurse Ratched. McMurphy, Chief Bromden and Cheswick only get electrocuted because Cheswick was questioning the rationing of his cigarettes. McMurphy only in reaction to Cheswick’s whining breaks the glass window to obtain Cheswicks cigarettes and then defends himself by punching an orderly. When he is on the ground, Chief comes to his aid and therefore is punished for getting the orderly off McMurphy. These three characters are the only people subjected to shock treatments in the entire film because of their conduct and misbehavior that was aggravated by the refusal of Nurse Ratched to find a compromising situation to Cheswicks request. McMurphy receives a lobotomy only after he tries to kill Nurse Ratched because of Billy Bibbits’ suicide. To say that the “lobotomies are prescribed as if the mind's frontal lobes were troublesome wisdom teeth” has no basis because McMurphy’s clear intention, had an orderly not pulled him off Nurse Ratched, was to strangle her to death.
In conclusion, a review by Roger Ebert proclaims that One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest is on every list of favorite films and reaffirms my argument when he states:
The movie's simplistic approach to mental illness is not really a fault of the movie, because it has no interest in being about insanity. It is about a free spirit in a closed system. Nurse Ratched, who is so inflexible, so unseeing, so blandly sure she is right, represents Momism at its radical extreme, and McMurphy is the Huck Finn who wants to break loose from her version of civilization ( Febuary 3, 2003).
One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest is a film that upon deeper introspection provides definitive clues that parallel the power struggle of being dominated and controlled by an institution or establishment during the turbulent long decade known as the sixties.
[1] Notes from Film 112: Film ad Social Change: The Art of a Revolution Spring 2011 @ UCLA, conducted by Professor Greg Cohen.
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