One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was one of the most powerful films that we watched all year. It had the most depth to it when dealing with the serious issues of the mental illnesses at the hospital, but also had moments where it was balanced with lighthearted comedy. I think the two most interesting relationships in the movie were between McMurphy and Nurse Ratchet and between McMurphy and Chief Bromden. I think that McMurphy and Nurse Ratchet had similar ideas of the fact that they wanted to change the mental hospital, but they went about it in two very different ways. Nurse Ratchet believed that all the patients should always listen to the doctors and nurses and never question them, and she was able to keep that rule over them until McMurphy showed up and decided to make other changes of his own by creating real friendships with the other patients in the ward. McMurphy created some good relationships with the other patients and helped them to not be so afraid of Nurse Ratchet, but the most powerful and effective relationship was between McMurphy and Chief Bromden. Until McMurphy came to the hospital, all the patients had the mutual understanding that Chief was "deaf, dumb, and mute" and never questioned it and simply ignored him the whole time.
Chief was the first patient that McMurphy spoke to when he first entered the ward, and I think that shows something about his character and what he wanted to achieve at the hospital in that he wanted to change everyone's life, not just the ones that would respond to his actions. And even though Chief didn't immediately respond to McMurphy, his actions paid off in the end because Chief revealed to McMurphy and only McMurphy that he wasn't deaf or mute. I think he did this for McMurphy only because McMurphy was the only person in the entire ward that didn't immediately write him off as useless or worthless just because he'd never spoken to anyone.
What other relationships in the movie do you think were the most powerful?
I had never really thought about what ways Mac and Nurse Ratchet were similar, so it was interesting to see you compare the two. I too thought that the relationship between Mac and Chief was extremely powerful and very complex as the film unfolds. By only speaking to Mac shows just how much Chief valued their friendship. It also shows how vital Macs presence was to the men in the ward. Chief only speaking to Mac symbolizes the feeling that all the men have towards Mac. They trust him immensely because he establishes himself as the leader almost immediately after he arrives. I think another important relationship is between Mac and Nurse Ratchet because Macs arrival changes how she runs the ward, whether this is forced or not. There is so much conflict between them that there is no way that their relationship cant be powerful.
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