The Struggle for Independence in Mental Institutions in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Assignment Example

 The Struggle for Independence in Mental Institutions in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Society tends to have a stereotyped view of the mentally ill as helpless and defenseless human beings who are wards of the state. Milos Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest defies this stereotype by presenting the formidable, free-spirited character of Randle Patrick McMurphy (Nicholson) in a public mental institution. The situational irony is that McMurphy actually has a short prison term, but because he assumes that a mental institution is paradise compared to prison labor, he pretends to be insane to enjoy a more “comfortable” sentence. What he is not aware of is that patients who are assigned to mental hospitals lose their ability to be free by the end of their prison term because that will be the decision of the hospital staff taking care of them. Formalist analysis reveals how the basic elements of the film are arranged to reflect the struggle of mental patients against oppression. In the hospital, McMurphy clashes with the equally determined Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). Through a chronological storyline that is filled with metaphors, irony and realistic cinematography, acting, and directing, the film depicts the inner and outer conflicts of mental patients who are rational enough to claim independence from an authoritarian establishment that has taken away their freedom to choose their destinies, where its ending underscores that, to be truly free, the individual must make the hard choice of rejecting society altogether. The storytelling of the film involves an omniscient storyteller that shows different perspectives, although the point of view generally comes from McMurphy using a linear story time in modern time setting. The setting is a real mental hospital to capture the poor physical conditions of such hospitals and to demonstrate the exact environment of the mentally ill. The story revolves around the main character, McMurphy, and his interactions with nurses and patients in the hospital. An example is that he sees the mental hospital from his own perspective, especially his needs and wants as an individualist. Although the movie shows what Ratched also sees as a nurse, McMurphy’s motives and freedom ideals drive the primary conflicts, especially the conflict between person-against-person and person-against-society. The story follows these conflicts and how McMurphy creates interesting ways to gain autonomy for himself and his fellow patients. Furthermore, the linear chronological timeframe helps the audience focus more on the characters and the events surrounding them than analyzing disconnected timelines. The audience does not have to think about the connections between different scenes in different timeframes with a linear story. The chronological plot also helps enhance the realistic approach of the film to depicting mental patients in their actual disempowered setting and conditions. It shows the progress that mental patients are making because of McMurphy’s autonomy therapy, not Ratched’s group talk therapy that has false participatory intentions. Moreover, the film shows the internal and external conflicts of the film through metaphors and irony. The genre of the film is counter-culture fiction that explores these various conflicts. Ratched represents the oppressive government that tyrannizes mental patients by removing their freedoms and rights as individuals. The approach of the government is to use their power and “benevolence” to control people. Ratched may speak gently and rationally, but her calmness hides the raging source of power control inside her. An example is the ballgame scene, where “Chief” Bromden (Sampson) already raises his hand to vote for watching the ball game, but Ratched still rejects it. She is inside the staff room and a glass window separates her from McMurphy. The glass symbolizes Big Brother monitoring and the glass ceiling that McMurphy cannot reach because Ratched does not intend to share power with anyone because she thinks that sharing it will undermine her authority. McMurphy is the anti-thesis of Ratched- carefree and uncontrollable. He fits the counter-revolution against the government that seizes away their ability to think and act as free individuals. Apart from discussing the storytelling elements, the acting in the film is more natural than stylized because the film wants to emphasize the reality of oppressive patient situations in public mental institutions. Nicholson is not acting over-the-top as the carefree, testosterone-crazy criminal, but his acting reflects the desire of a person who loves his freedom and comforts in life. When he makes a fit because Ratched does not want to allow the patients to watch the baseball game, he is furious. At first, the audience thinks that he has grimly accepted his fate, but when he pretends to watch the game and other patients support him, Nicolson demonstrates that some wills never yield. As for Ratched, her acting depicts the cold personality of paternal authoritarian governments. Her steely eyes alone are enough to send the message of control over the patients. The cinematography uses desaturated color, high-key lighting, and mise-en-scenes that capture the realistic look of a mental institution steeped in conflicts that affect the psychological identities of the characters. Desaturated color is used for the gritty look of the film that makes it naturalistic. High-key lighting is also used that is typical for hospital settings, though natural lighting is also used in outside scenes. The ballgame scene that shows McMurphy defeated at first, as he sits on the chair, includes the empty chairs behind him, large windows, white walls and floors, and a walking mental patient. Their mental patient costume underscores their loss of freedom, while the empty chair signifies disempowerment with lack of numbers. The large windows are not freeing, but only a superficial form of letting patients see the outside world. The whiteness of the hospital shows the sanitized tyranny of the hospital administration. The mise-en-scene argues how depressing mental hospitals are to the mental outlook of patients. Discontinuity editing approach is used to emphasize the power struggles of the characters over their decisions and destinies. Subjective shots and reaction shots are frequently used to underscore the subjective view of McMurphy and his conflict with Ratched. The fake baseball game on TV that draws a cheering crowd is followed by a zooming in on Ratched’s controlled fury. She is slightly looking sideways because she sternly watches McMurphy’s insubordination, but the close-up shot reveals her taut facial muscles, blazing-angry eyes, and slight tremble of rage. The reaction shot underscores how much McMurphy and Ratched are fighting for power over the patients. Sound combines dialogue, music, and natural sounds in the setting to underscore the realism of events and the ups and downs of the characters as autonomous individuals. Dialogue is mostly used to show the realistic therapies provided to the patients. The silence in the mental hospital, when present, also draws attention to the oppressive atmosphere of the setting. When music is added, it adds to the mood of the scene, as well as the tension. The baseball scene has a musical score that sends the feeling of triumph. The music supports McMurphy’s success over Ratched’s tyrannical decisions. The style and directing of the film focus on the characters and how they shape the natural need for freedom that opposes stereotypes about mental institution patients. The style is a mix of documentary and auteur since the director controls what is seen and not seen in the movie that creates particular impacts on the audience. An example is the I-want-my-cigarette scene. It shows McMurphy expressing his ideas to other patients and Ratched about the kind of therapy that mental patients need, which is freedom, not imprisonment and loss of rights. The medium shot shows the reactions of other patients, which, though they are not talking, their happiness and thinking faces underscore a form of enlightenment. They are slowly opening up to the idea of freedom in making choices in a documentary approach of capturing their “natural” reactions. The society has shaped the film because of the ongoing promotion of civil rights and freedoms, which is present as a theme of the film, while the film affected society’s perceptions of mental patients and mental institutions. The society is under flux because of the gains of the Civil Rights Movement. It underscores the power of individuals and groups in fighting for their rights that is present in the film. The film reveals realities that non-mentally-ill people may prefer to be ignorant of- the reality that mental institutions are not always helping the mentally ill get better if they want to impose rules and procedures, instead of helping them survive in the outside world. It shows the dismal conditions of patients in centralized bureaucracies that are not helpful to the “healing” of mental troubles (Goodfriends, 2012). References Douglas, M. (Producer), & Forman, M. (Director). (1975). One flew over the cuckoo's nest [Motion picture]. United States: United Artists. Goodfriend, W. (2012, May 22). Mental hospitals in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Psychology Today. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psychologist-the-movies/201205/mental-hospitals-in-one-flew-over-the-cuckoo-s-nest Read More