A Feminist Analysis of Nurse Ratched

I am approaching this as a cineaste, not a bibliophile, having never read the book but being aware of the historical impact of the film which vilifies Nurse Mildred Ratched. I recently completed a specialization in writing and editing created by Patrick Barry, a professor in legal writing at the University of Michigan, and I was inspired by the idea of writing a legal document for a fictional film.

As a big nerd for due process and criminal investigative procedure, I approach this with the perspective of a forensic psychologist, and as an educator, so that we can determine with evidence if Nurse Ratched had any mental health complications that rendered her unable to perform her duties. As a person with a Masters in Education / Teaching, trained in descalation and nonviolent intervention, and a decade of experience with people with an ample variety of disabilities, I have some arguments for Nurse Ratched's behaviors. I believe that we need to reframe McMurphy and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with a feminist view in order to understand how he was the catalyst and true villain of the film, and that Mildred Ratched is a by product of an industry. I feel if you disagree, you may be a part of the problem. 

Who's the sadist?

Before even watching the film, one adjective that I saw regularly used to describe Ratched is "sadistic". I'd like to place this in context. The movie itself (and novel) are a critique of what were contemporary beliefs surrounding mental health, disability, and their treatment. In that vein, without using a presentist approach, we can view Ratched as an authoritarian figure as misguided as other professionals were about what was "best" for patients at one time. Nurse Ratched is an adult female in a position of power who acts emotionless, maintains a certain routine and affect; she follows protocol to a fault. She is not without her own errors, and I would like to establish this as a large part of my thesis: Nurse Mildred Ratched is a the product of a system wherein she is unprecedently both a female and authority figure, making her situation equally as precarious as unique. 

Now, we must address why Nurse Ratched does not at all fit the descriptor "sadistic". Was she overtly or even covertly seeking to harm others for her own pleasure? No, she is not sadistic; she is punitive and overly authoritarian, which is unfortunately common (no matter the era) in some institutions. Before McMurphy arrives, established norms are present that make people feel more at ease about their day. 

If you've taken any classes on basic special education, there are some expectations in place that have been historically supported as a way to ease the stress of people dealing with high anxiety or difficulty with "transitioning" from one situation to the next. This is incredibly common. Often people with high anxiety or limited communicative ability will need a visual schedule to indicate their plans for the day, but by keeping a regular, daily routine at the hospital, there is no need for a schedule; the residents are completely aware of what will happen and when. 

The classical music (which symbolizes western culture and oppression in any light), which McMurphy wants to change is another method of creating a relaxing situation for the residents. In an institution music would be used to create a "white noise" or a base volume level, to encourage a certain volume of private conversation without stirring up too much excitement which, like a domino, could lead to a series of panic attacks on the part of the residents. For example, when McMurphy tries to rile up the others about his baseball games there is a twofold purpose. First, he wants some amount of control to counter Nurse Ratched's regulation; second, he wants noise, and to some extent, chaos.

You can see even during their talk therapy sessions that Nurse Ratched is practicing a flat affect, and that would be intentional on the part of some professionals in tense situations, either as a response to trauma of their own or as a means to mediate with others. The talk therapy facilitated by Nurse Ratched could be addressed in modern terms as "Dialectical Behavioral Therapy" or DBT, wherein patients are asked to confront their own ideas as being wrong and to learn to respond to others when they have overwhelmingly strong feelings. Because some of the people in that therapy group might have benefited, to some extent, in experiencing "social disagreement", it's not an absurd form of therapy for the right people. However, McMurphy with his oppositional and defiant tendencies, would not thrive and would instead seek out narcissistic vengeance on his "enemy". McMurphy, who is able to manage larger varieties of information and stimuli, then becomes more rebellious when lacking stimulation and variety, when that stimulation and variety can actually cause panic and distress in senstive people with whom he shares his residency. He views the hospital as a prison while others use it as a safe space. McMurphy is the type of person from which some people need the most protection. He simply does not fit in.

So, again, I ask, is Nurse Ratched sadistic or simply a product of system? I feel that the two moments where she enjoyed seeing some level of others' pain was when she relished the power of taking away priveleges. Perhaps she relished, in some way, when had to tell Billy she would need to inform his mother (which she would legally if he was a "dependent adult"). Yes, she did shame him in front of everyone. However, did she inflict physical pain on anyone? Did she know or believe Billy would kill himself or hurt himself as a result? Did he have a history of past harm? Before McMurphy's arrival, did Nurse Ratched actually hurt anyone? I ask myself, who is sadistic- Mc Murphy or Ratched? 

McMurphy's Malady

First, however, we need to address the biting question: did McMurphy need to be in a mental institution? Was his presence helpful? No. McMurphy is an alcoholic, narcisstic and a misogynist, as seen in how he mounted his desires and compulsions high upon a pedestal, well over the needs and safety of others. As an educator, I feel he would be diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, simply because he seemed deeply in need of attention, challenging authority, and having ultimate control over his own environment at any cost. His presence in the institution actually made him more dangerous due to the strict rules in place, under which anyone with ODD would feel trapped and overreact. The film shows multiple scenes in which professionals are discussing his behavior, and many of them believe he doesn't belong in the institution but that he simply can't get along in society. Allow this to be an argument against the state of mental health facilities at the time, who grouped everyone with mental illness together to a point where their individual needs were lost and persons like McMurphy were able to throw a wrench in the gears of what was otherwise not inhumane, but simply boring and underresearched treatment for his individual needs. For all intents and purposes, McMurphy is "resistant to therapy".

I feel as if McMurphy knows that he instigated the events of the evening, and that he truly caused Billy's death. I also did not feel as if Billy was very comfortable with the idea of sleeping with a woman at first, and he took a lot of coercion, which was not appropriate in a modern lens. 

As someone who's probably even more radically anticapitalist than McMurphy, I don't wholly disagree with McMurphy's choices before entering the hospital, or for his difficulties adjusting to society's toxic and laborious expectations. But I do believe that we need to equally view McMurphy as a part of a system, a system of nihilistic men who inadvertently and neglectfully hurt others in search of achieving pleasure and acclaim, disguised as a rebel but equally an opportunist. McMurphy is a trope, the troubled, drinking, 30 something American man who thinks he has something to say, the vintage equivalent of today's small audience podcast host. 

Antecedent. Behavior. Consequence.

Do I feel that McMurphy deserved a lobotomy? No, however, I don't think a nurse can demand a lobotomy, so it's silly to say the lobotomy was her idea. Did he deserve to be in an institution? Yes, he assaulted a woman with intent to cause fatal harm. When McMurphy finally strangles Mildred to near death, it is then we see quite clearly who the true sadist is. McMurphy lost his marbles well before the lobotomy.*

Nurse Ratched has a relationship with popular culture now more than ever thanks to Ryan Murphy's Netflix series "Ratched" featuring a moving, sapphic love story and plenty of gory moments and dark secrets. Watching "Ratched" is like watching a lobotomy, and seeing the ice pick slip slowly behind the eye socket. It's all blood, guts, and incestuous backstory. As interesting as her narrative becomes, and as colorful are the surrounding characters, I ask myself why Murphy chose to create a history of this dark tone around the rather benign Mildred Ratched. Already unfairly revered as a somewhat villainous character from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the Mildred Ratched from Murphy's series is vastly far removed from the one we see in the film, and I ask, were all the other better characters taken? 

LEAVE MILDRED ALONE

*And most strangely, his vegetative state somehow inspires his selective mute roommate to "put him out of his misery" and then run away, hopefully to not kill anyone else. I have no idea why Chief was there in the first place, and is killing people a regular thing for him?