One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

When you think of movies that are related to medicine it cannot be denied that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is definitely one of the great classics, not only in medicine but of all time. It is, for me, a member of my top 10 movies.

The reason why I class this movie as a classic for movies related to medicine is because One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest deals with themes such as mental illness, living in a mental institution, and how to treat patients (or how not to treat patients in Nurse Ratched's case). The movie not only tackles these themes, but in my opinion it tackles them perfectly, and to me the movie depicts a very realistic idea of living with a mental illness in such institutions during the late 1950's and early 1960's.

The movie itself to me was eye opening to the transformation of views on mental illness, it shows the change in the connotations with mental illness through the past decades, and how far as a society we have progressed, in both our views on those who are mentally ill and how we treat them. Whilst yes it cannot be denied we still have a long way to go, I think it can be universally agreed that the fact frontal lobotomy has become a disparaged procedure shows we have come a long way and are heading in the right direction. However, to me particularly the movie also highlights the fine line between what we class as sane or insane, it made me question whether Nurse Ratched was insane or not, and if I am being honest, how someone sane could treat patients in the cruel, dictatorial way she did.



Medically there is a lot to take from this movie, but it is also a masterpiece of film making in it's own right, it was extremely thought provoking, and below I will list some of the thoughts I had whilst watching this movies:

• McMurphy is almost a martyr, sacrificing himself for the other patients
• Could the asylum symbolise society and how we must all conform to the rule of others, and the oppressive nature some of higher dictatorial figures?
• McMurphy gives life and hope to the other patients, Chief revives his strength and escapes at the end
• McMurphy allows all the patients to question the rules and norms, and experience normality
• Laughter is key
• Was McMurphy actually insane, or was he just a selfish criminal who through his time in the asylum was allowed to or discovered his true self and compassion
• Makes you evaluate the way you perceive other people, and that the mentally ill are just as if not more powerful the the sane.
• Increased sense of morality, what is really right for the patients, the harsh treatment didn't help Mac or the other patients. 

Of course, these are just my personal reflections and opinions. However, I think it is clear that there are many ideas to be taken away from this movie not only for the medical aspects, but for the way we treat people as a whole. So of course if you have not seen this movie, I highly recommend it, and if you have I think we can all agree it is a classic and a masterpiece that is a must watch.