It was all so simple back then. No one was really crazy. Mental illness was just something the authorities invented in order to lock up folks who wouldn’t conform to what was [offically] prescribed to be normal behavior. And if anyone really was a few sandwiches short of a picnic it was all the fault of capitalism. Once the revolution happened mental illness would vanish off the face of the earth.
I [sort of] believed that myself back then. Now I [sort of] don’t.
Which isn’t to suggest the film doesn’t expose just how much bullshit is involved with “therapy” that presumes the problem is folks not acting “normal”. How many Nurse Ratchets [and her ilk] are out there still?
But so much mental anguish does revolve around people hell bent on establishing the right thing to do. And then for all the rest of us too.
But here is a crucial point:
IMDb: Louise Fletcher got the part of Nurse Ratched mainly because she could embody evil without knowing it. She believes she’s helping people even when she isn’t.
Lots of people don’t take that into consideration when they thump those who don’t share their own point of view about mental health. What really is “evil” today?
IMDb
[b]Many extras were actual mental patients. The cast and crew had to become accustomed to working with extras and supporting crew members who were inmates at the Oregon State Mental Hospital; each member of the professional cast and crew inevitably worked closely with at least two or three mental patients.
Most of Jack Nicholson’s scene with Dean R. Brooks upon arriving at the hospital was improvised - including his slamming a stapler, asking about a fishing photo, and discussing his rape conviction; Brooks’s reactions were authentic.
Louise Fletcher only realized that the part of Nurse Ratched was a hotly contested role among all the leading actresses of the day when a reporter visiting the set happened to casually mention it.
Author Ken Kesey was so bitter about the way the filmmakers were “butchering” his story that he vowed never to watch the completed film and even sued the movie’s producers because it wasn’t shown from Chief Bromden’s perspective (as the novel is). Years later, he claimed to be lying in bed flipping through TV channels when he settled onto a late-night movie that looked sort of interesting, only to realize after a few minutes that it was this film. He then changed channels.[/b]
wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_O … Nest_(film
Look for Anjelica Huston
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST [1975]
Directed by Milos Forman
[b]Dr. Spivey: Well, it says several things here. It said you’ve been belligerent. Talked when unauthorized. You’ve been resentful in attitude towards work, in general. That you’re lazy.
McMurphy: Chewing gum in class.
…
Dr. Spivey: Well, the real reason that you’ve been sent over here is because they wanted you to be evaluated… to determine whether or not you are mentally ill. This is the real reason. Why do you think they might think that?
McMurphy: Well, as near as I can figure out, it’s 'cause I, uh, fight and fuck too much.
…
Dr. Spivey: Why did you get sent over here from the work farm?
McMurphy: Well, I really don’t know, Doc.
Dr. Spivey: It says here that you went around…Let me just take a look…
McMurphy: It ain’t up to me, you know.
Dr. Spivey: One…two, three…four…You’ve got at least five arrests for assault. What can you tell me about that?
McMurphy: Five fights, huh? Rocky Marciano’s got 40 and he’s a millionaire.
Dr. Spivey: That’s true.
McMurphy: That is true.
…
Dr. Spivey: Of course, it’s true that you went in for statutory rape. That’s true, is it not, this time?
McMurphy: Absolutely true. But, Doc, she was fifteen years old, going on thirty-five, and she told me she was eighteen, she was very willing, I practically had to take to sewing my pants shut. Between you and me, uh, she might have been fifteen, but when you get that little red beaver right up there in front of you, I don’t think it’s crazy at all and I don’t think you do either. No man alive could resist that, and that’s why I got into jail to begin with. And now they’re telling me I’m crazy over here because I don’t sit there like a goddamn vegetable. Don’t make a bit of sense to me. If that’s what being crazy is, then I’m senseless, out of it, gone-down-the-road, wacko. But no more, no less, that’s it.
…
Dr. Spivey: Do you think there’s anything wrong with your mind, really?
McMurphy: Not a thing, Doc. I’m a goddamn marvel of modern science.
Dr. Spivey: You’re going to be here for a period, for us to evaluate you. We’re going to study you. We’ll make our determinations as to what we’re going to do and give you the necessary treatment as indicated.
McMurphy: Doc, let me just tell you this. I’m here to cooperate with you a hundred percent. A hundred percent. I’ll be just right down the line with you. You watch. 'Cause I think we ought to get to the bottom of R.P. McMurphy.
…
Nurse Ratched: Have you ever speculated, Mr. Harding that perhaps you arevimpatient with your wifevbecause she doesn’t meet your mental requirements?
Harding: Perhaps. But you see, the only thing I can really speculate on, Nurse Ratched is the very existence of my life…with or without my wife…in terms of the human relationships, the juxtaposition of one person to another, the form, the content.
Tabor: Harding, why don’t you knock off the bullshit and get to the point?
Harding: This is the point. This is the point, Taber. It’s not bullshit. I’m not just talking about my wife, I’m talking about my LIFE, I can’t seem to get that through to you. I’m not just talking about one person, I’m talking about everybody. I’m talking about form. I’m talking about content. I’m talking about interrelationships. I’m talking about God, the devil, Hell, Heaven. Do you understand…FINALLY?
…
Nurse Ratched: If Mr. McMurphy doesn’t want to take his medication orally, I’m sure we can arrange that he can have it some other way. But I don’t think that he would like it.
…
McMurphy: But I tried, didn’t I? Goddamnit, at least I did that.
…
McMurphy: Which one of you nuts has got any guts?
…
McMurphy: Nurse Ratched, Nurse Ratched! The Chief voted! Now will you please turn on the television set?
Nurse Ratched [she opens the glass window]: Mr. McMurphy, the meeting was adjourned and the vote was closed.
McMurphy: But the vote was 10 to 8. The Chief, he’s got his hand up! Look!
Nurse Ratched: No, Mr. McMurphy. When the meeting was adjourned, the vote was 9 to 9.
McMurphy [exasperated]: Aw come on, you’re not gonna say that now! You’re not gonna say that now! You’re gonna pull that hen house shit? Now when the vote…the Chief just voted - it was 10 to 9. Now I want that television set turned on right now!
…
Dr Spivey: Do you like it here?
McMurphy: That fucking nurse, man!
Dr Spivey: What do you mean, sir?
McMurphy: She ain’t honest.
Dr Spivey: Miss Ratched’s one of the finest nurses we’ve got in this institution.
McMurphy: Well I don’t wanna break up the meeting or nothin’, but she’s somethin’ of a cunt, ain’t she Doc?
…
McMurphy: Is that crazy enough for ya’? Want me to take a shit on the floor?
…
Young Psychiatrist: Have you ever heard of the old saying “a rolling stone gathers no moss?”
McMurphy: Yeah.
Young Psychiatrist: Does that mean something to you?
McMurphy: Uh…it’s the same as “don’t wash your dirty underwear in public.”
Young Psychiatrist: I’m not sure I understand what you mean.
McMurphy: [smiling] I’m smarter than him, ain’t I?
[laughs]
McMurphy: Well, that sort of has always meant, is, uh, it’s hard for something to grow on something that’s moving.
…
Candy: You all crazies?
…
Candy: You better quit on this. They’ll throw you in the can again, you know?
McMurphy: No, they won’t. We’re nuts! They’ll just take us back to the funny farm, see?
…
McMurphy: What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin’? Well you’re not! You’re not! You’re no crazier than the average asshole out walkin’ around on the streets and that’s it.
…
McMurphy: Want some gum?
Chief: Thank you. Mmm. Juicy Fruit.
McMurphy: You sly son of a bitch, Chief. Can you hear me, too?
Chief: Yeah, you bet!
McMurphy: Well, I’ll be goddamned, Chief! And they all, they all think you’re deaf and dumb. Jesus Christ! You fooled them, Chief. You fooled them. You fooled them all! Goddamn you!
…
McMurphy: A little dab’ll do ya.
…
McMurphy: I can’t take it no more. I gotta get outta here.
Chief: I can’t. I just can’t.
McMurphy: It’s easier than you think, Chief.
Chief: For you, maybe. You’re a lot bigger than me.
…
Chief: My pop was real big. He did like he pleased. That’s why everybody worked on him. The last time I seen my father, he was blind and diseased from drinking. And every time he put the bottle to his mouth, he didn’t suck out of it, it sucked out of him until he shrunk so wrinkled and yellow even the dogs didn’t know him.
McMurphy: Killed him, huh?
Chief: I’m not saying they killed him. They just worked on him. The way they’re working on you.
…
McMurphy: Wake up, boys. Wake up. It’s medication time. Medication time.
…
Nurse Ratched: Aren’t you ashamed?
Billy: No, I’m not.
[Applause from friends]
Nurse Ratched: You know Billy, what worries me is how your mother is going to take this.
Billy: Um, um, well, y-y-y-you d-d-d-don’t have to t-t-t-tell her, Miss Ratched.
Nurse Ratched: I don’t have to tell her? Your mother and I are old friends. You know that.
Billy: P-p-p-please d-d-don’t tell my m-m-m-mother.
…
Nurse Ratched [after Billy is found dead]: The best thing we can do is go on with our daily routine.
…
Chief: Mac…they said you escaped. I knew you wouldn’t leave without me. I was waiting for you. Now we can make it, Mac; I feel big as a damn mountain.
[he suddenly sees the lobotomy scars]
Chief: Oh, no…
[embracing McMurphy]
Chief: I’m not goin’ without you, Mac. I wouldn’t leave you this way…You’re coming with me. Let’s go.
[he smothers him to death][/b]