Greetings, and welcome to Earthling Cinema. I am your host, Garyx Wormuloid. This week’s
artifact is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, or One Flew Over the for short. The film stars
the inimitable Jack Nicholson, who is best remembered as the mascot for the Los Angeles
Lakers.
When One Flew Over the begins, Randle P. McMurphy has just been admitted to a mental institution,
which is like a hotel for your brain. He befriends the other residents of his ward, and starts
up a classic rivalry with the domineering Nurse Ratched. Before long, McMurphy steals
a hospital bus and takes his friends on a fishing boat to go fishing for fish. Later,
after an impromptu brawl, Nurse Ratched gives him shock therapy. Earth women, am I right?
I don’t know if I’m right.
McMurphy has had enough, so he decides to escape. Naturally, he throws a party, subscribing
to the human credo that alcohol fixes everything. Turns out he’s a pretty great wingman. But
he parties too hard and falls asleep, which puts a damper on the whole escape thing.
Nurse Ratched arrives in the morning and notices a few things are out of place
She threatens to tattle on Billy, so he freaks out and kills himself.
McMurphy is none too pleased about this, and tries to hug Nurse Ratched’s neck to death.
For this, he gets a lobotomy, which is where they replace part of your brain with corned
beef hash.
In the end, the Chief gives McMurphy the old Kevourkian treatment and then shamelessly
plagiarizes his escape plan.
At its core, One Flew Over the is about the struggle between chaos and order. There’s
no freedom without a little chaos, yet to maintain order, there must be oppression.
In this shot, McMurphy sees a baby horse running along the edge of a chain link fence -- freedom
vs. man-made social order. Little-known fact: that horse would go on to star is several
more movies, including Seabiscuit, Hidalgo, and Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.
McMurphy upsets the established routine of the ward, asking for schedule changes and
inspiring resistance during therapy sessions. He teaches his fellow denizens to have fun
and encourages them to embrace their disgusting human desires.
McMurphy convinces them that not only are they sane, but they are men, as evidenced
by their desire to watch sports. As he tells Martini during the card game,
the residents of the ward are “real people.”
In contrast, Nurse Ratched is an authoritarian. The first time we see her she is framed by
a gate, signifying imprisonment. Whereas McMurphy flies by the seat of his pants, Nurse Ratched
is always stoic, and nobody likes a stoic. The only time
she shows any emotion is when McMurphy has to literally choke it out of her, and that
emotion is “ouch.”
Order is imposed on the patients with an almost religious or cult-like rigor. When the patients
are given their medicine, one of them receives it on his tongue like communion. McMurphy
rejects the communion when he spits the pills out, choosing instead to forge his own destiny,
one where he doesn’t have the icky taste of medicine in his mouth. Maybe next time
she’ll choose Flintstones.
McMurphy soon discovers that he’s trapped behind not just physical walls, but mental
ones as well. Routine is imprisonment. While many of the mental patients were self- admitted
because they felt unfit to function in society, their strict schedule makes them dependent,
ensuring that they’ll stay that way. Meanwhile, my strict schedule ensures that I’m never
home in time to see my kids, so maybe it’s not all bad.
The sink, an old hydrotherapy console, represents the establishment's hold over the patients;
the oppressive structure labels them as "crazy" and nullifies their will to freedom. McMurphy
attempts to use it as a means of liberation, but can’t do it because he’s not tall
enough to be strong. Later, when the Chief tries to lift the console, he is successful
because McMurphy has made him feel “as big as a mountain,” and also because he is as
big as a mountain.
At the end, order has been re- established. People are taking their
medicine again, and Nurse Ratched is wearing a cute new accessory. However,
Harding and the other guys still gamble, both as a small gesture of rebellion, and because
otherwise cards are just boring.
It seems McMurphy’s influence has not completely disappeared. When the Chief kills MacMurphy,
he sets him free, immortalizing him as a symbol of hope that will forever inspire the patients.
He also sets the audience free by ending the movie.
For Earthling Cinema, I’m Garyx Wormuloid. To get a lobotomy of your very own, click
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