You are 100% right when you say that McMurphy and Nurse Ratched were exactly the same. The movie was never, ever on one character's side or the other. They were both the villains of the movie.
McMurphy and Nurse Ratched were engaged in a power struggle. What happened is that they each became so carried away that they wound up hurting the mental patients in the process.
For example, in the case of the blonde kid who kills himself (I forgot his name), he was too immature to handle sex and booze. Yet McMurphy encouraged him to party it up, out of this fantasy that all these mental patients needed was "fun" to get better. He refused to accept that they needed structure and had issues. Plus, he was irresponsible in his handling of the party. He had already seen what happens to the patients when they misbehave (shock treatment, abuse, etc.) but didn't seem to care that by throwing this farewell party, he was going to put them all in trouble. In fact, Milos Foreman makes it a point in one key scene to show how irresponsible and careless McMurphy is. McMurphy was going to leave the patients in the lurch after the party but then changed his mind.
Nurse Ratched, to get back at McMurphy--who kept undermining her authority--got carried away with trying to reassert herself, which is why she started shaming the kid. It wasn't about wanting to shame the kid but to reestablish herself as the one in control in the face of McMurphy.
So, you are right about your feelings. The reason why the movie has been so badly misinterpreted is generational attitudes and misogyny. At the time, being anti-establishment was all the rage among young audiences of the 1970s, so everyone watching this movie immediately identified with McMurphy. And the reason why they latched onto her as a villain is sexism. I say that because when you get down to it, the worst moments of brutality were carried out by the male orderlies and doctors. We saw countless scenes of them abusing the crap out of the patients as they were begging and screaming in fear but for some reason, Nurse Ratched--whose only crime was being cold and carrying out their orders--is seen as the ultimate villain of the movie.
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Otter (24464)
4 years ago
I think the movie is better than the book, more nuanced.
The book is an interesting read and has some great language and imagery, but it really is the work of an imnature mind. It's very much about male vs. female, with McMurphy and Ratched representing their sexes, and McMurphy is presented as rampant, uninhibited, uncontrollable, a walking Id that will fight or fuck anything. The Female personified by Ratched is controlling, repressive, joyless, stifling, and deserving of the beatdown she gets. The author's sympathies are entirely with the anarchic McMurphy, and it made me feel the deepest sympathy for any woman ever involved with Ken Kesey.
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[deleted]
4 years ago
I didn't read the book, but I figured as much. That book was written at a time when people were beginning to mindlessly lashing out at the establishment and seeing anyone who did as "cool," regardless of whether they were in the right or not. I think Milos Foreman realized how ridiculous this was and tried adding nuance in his adaptation.
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