One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

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Patricia Wheat Gavin Harper EN106 July 6, 2010 The Battle Between the Sexes “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, is a screenplay adapted from a book written by Ken Kesey; an author and entrepreneur from the 1960’s psychedelic era in San Francisco. Kesey participated in government drug research programs using psychoactive, hallucinogens and from this got the idea to write the book. He actually went to work for a mental facility and interviewed the patients while under the influence of the hallucinogens. His book was made into an Academy award winning movie in 1975. Many people who were familiar with the book went to view it to see how well it followed the story in the book. Others went to see the performance of Jack Nicholson in his portrayal of the character McMurphy. The story took place in the 60’s and 70’s when the baby boomer generation was coming of age. This generation was all about individualism and creativity. This movie shows how the status quo dealt with non-conformity by the mores of the day. Some were also intrigued by the unique, egocentric patient named McMurphy and how, for a time, he created chaos and havoc in an otherwise orderly, methodical and systematic mental ward. To top it off, McMurphy wasn’t even a candidate to be a mental patient he was just able to feign symptoms which allowed him to undergo an evaluation to be admitted to a mental hospital instead of serving his sentence working on a prison farm. We can’t leave out the public’s interest in mental illnesses either. People are fascinated about what drives people to the brink of madness. They want to know what goes on inside an insane person’s mind but are usually too frightened to get too close to a person diagnosed with a mental disorder, so they turn to the media in order to learn about it. The media, therefore, can often persuade the public to believe unrealistic things
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