McCARTHY AT HOLLYWOOD AND VINE; Episode #124 (Or, CUCKOO FOR CUCKOO'S NEST)

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[From the STMcC archive; August 21, 2006.]

HOW BIG OF AN IDIOT TAKES ONE OF THE GREAT FILMS OF THE 20TH CENTURY AND TURNS IT INTO RIGHT WING PROPAGANDA? I HOPE HILLARY DOES GET YOU AND THE REST OF YOUR FERRET-FACED FASCIST FRIENDS.
~ JOAN P.

Last night, Brother Nappy and I watched the movie ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST for the 1,674th time. At one point, I turned to Nappy and I said, “I just don’t have any respect for anybody who wouldn’t include this movie on their Top Ten Favorite Films list.”

Three years ago I wrote a review of this movie which I posted on BigBitch.com (that’s Amazon.com to y’all). I had dreamed up my own political interpretation of the movie and made a review of it. This was before USAP exploded on the scene with his “Hope” and “Change” slogan, and there was no clear leader emerging from the Republican party to run for the presidency. Without a doubt, Hillary Clinton was considered the White House frontrunner at that time. I was genuinely concerned about her winning the next election and my review reflected that concern.

Shortly after posting my review, a woman named Joan P. left the comment I opened this Blog Bit with on my ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ review. My review really ticked Joan off and that totally tickled me. In fact, it still tickles me. She was so ticked and I was so tickled that I’m thinking this review might be worth posting here even though it’s now very outdated.

***SPOILER ALERT***
If you’ve never seen the movie ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’ and you’re thinking that someday you might, you should read no further because I will be discussing important plot points that you won’t want revealed in advance.

Still here? OK, then don’t blame me for spoiling the movie for ya.

In viewing this great film again last night, I was particularly impressed with Jack Nicholson’s ability to "play dead." It’s not easy to play dead when there’s a big camera close up on your face and you can’t twitch, blink, breathe or belch. It requires a good deal of concentration. Or relaxation. Something. Whatever it requires, Nicholson has it.

I know of what I speak because in 1979 I had to “play dead” on an episode of the television show M*A*S*H. Although I am anti-war, I was not a fan of the TV show; way too Leftist for my tastes. But any true fan of the show will remember the episode I’m referring to because it was notable for its story which unfolded in real time and which included a ticking clock in the lower right corner of the screen throughout the episode - an episode which was titled “Life Time.”

A bloke named George needs an aorta graft within 20 minutes or he ain’t gonna make it. Another bloke named Harold has had half his brain blown away (I was Harold – typecast as the "brainless bloke" again!), and the doctors are hoping that Harold will die in time to provide the missing aorta for George. Meanwhile, Harold’s buddy, Roberts, can’t accept the fact that B.J. and Hawkeye aren’t trying to save the life of his friend - to the contrary, they are hoping he will die quickly.

Anyway, I had to gasp and cough a little and then die on camera. But I didn’t really die. See? It was all pretend! “The report of my death has been greatly exaggerated.” But I gotta admit, Jack Nicholson "did dead" better than I did. But then that’s why Jack made the big bucks. “I don’t know Jack!” but still I can tell ya that dying in front of the camera ain’t as easy as it looks. There’s a lot of pressure and the seconds feel like days. Nevertheless, it was good practice for when Uncle Sam comes for me.

I now dedicate this old review to all of my "ferret-faced fascist friends." You know who you are:

INTERVIEWER: Hello, and welcome back to McCARTHY AT HOLLYWOOD AND VINE. We’re here today with Stephen T. McCarthy and discussing one of his very favorite films: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST. Tell us, Stephen, when did you first see this highly acclaimed film?

McCARTHY: CUCKOO’S NEST was released in nineteen seventy-five, and I saw it numerous times at The Avco Cinema Center in Los Angeles. I and a group of friends – some who later went on to become police officers – sneaked into the theatre repeatedly during its initial run. To this day, it remains entrenched on my all-time Top Ten movie list.

INTERVIEWER: Stephen, you little criminal! We never would have thought it of you. I understand that you have a rather original perspective on this classic film. Want to share that with us?

McCARTHY: Well, back in seventy-five, I thought I was just viewing a magnificently crafted and masterfully acted film centered on the important theme of individualism and finding and being true to one’s own voice. I had no way of knowing that the movie was actually remarkably prescient with regards to the American political situation that would manifest over thirty years later.

INTERVIEWER: Would you care to elaborate?

McCARTHY: To the viewer in nineteen seventy-five, this movie, which won five Academy Awards, appeared to tell the story of a man who feigns mental illness in order to avoid his prison work detail. While he is undergoing psychiatric evaluation, his rebellious, individualistic spirit “infects” the real “nut cases” who begin to assert themselves much to the resentment of the domineering head nurse at the mental institution. But here in aught six, we can see that the movie was actually foretelling the political situation that this country now finds itself in.

INTERVIEWER: To you, the characters in this movie represent something completely different, don’t they?

McCARTHY: Yes. Actually, CUCKOO’S NEST is about the 2008 Presidential Election. The mental institution itself symbolizes the United States – a loony bin if there ever was one. The domineering, manipulative, and vindictive head nurse, Mildred Ratched, represents Hillary Clinton – a power-hungry woman driven by her insatiable quest for control. It should be pointed out that Louise Fletcher won an Oscar for her remarkable portrayal of Ms. Clinton. Capturing every aspect of the senator’s traits, she paints us as good a portrait of Clinton as Clinton herself could have done.

INTERVIEWER: But the senator’s road to The White House is not without obstacles, is it?

McCARTHY: No. Standing in her way is the rebellious underdog, Randle Patrick McMurphy, a man who seeks to bring the nuts around him back to their senses. McMurphy personifies the true American spirit opposed to the Socialism of Nurse Ratched. There is one scene in particular that forcefully illustrates this friction: McMurphy petitions to have the television in the community room turned on so that he and his fellow Americans – or “the mental defective league”, as he accurately refers to them - can watch the second game of the 1963 World Series. Baseball, being “America’s Pastime”, is naturally repugnant to the Leftist Nurse, and so she resorts to her unique brand of sophism in order to prevent genuinely American traditions from being broadcasted into the community (room).

INTERVIEWER: And Nurse Ratched is aided and abetted by-

McCARTHY: She is voted into power and protected by women and minorities. This is conveyed by her ever-present subordinate female nurse and by the mental institution’s watchful and protective orderlies. Ratched’s eventual success in quashing all sense of individualism and driving the country deeper into the pit of Socialism is “shockingly” revealed in the eventual castration of America’s spirit, that being R. P. McMurphy. The castration, however, is thinly veiled by the fact that the scalpel is actually wielded against his “Northern” hemisphere.

INTERVIEWER: Is there no happy ending here?

McCARTHY: No, I’m afraid not. With the true American spirit now impotent, Ms. Clinton occupies the ultimate position of power that she coveted, and the principles of Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and George Mason, those formerly enduring ideals NATIVE to America, “fly the coop” - that is, “they leave the cuckoo’s nest.” This is represented by the “Native American”, Chief Bromden, who heads for the hills.

INTERVIEWER: And isn’t it true that-- Hey, wait, Stephen, where are you going?!

McCARTHY: To pack my bags! I’m afraid that Nurse Ratched really is going to win the 2008 election, and I also need to be ready to escape this insane country and “head for the hills.”

~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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