Compare And Contrast One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

The novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” written by Ken Kesey in 1962 touches on many controversial topics, including sexality, rebellion, racism and feminity. The novel gained attention worldwide, and was even included on Times Magazine’s “Top 100 English novels from 1923-2005” list. The novel was eventually adapted into a film in 1975 directed by Milõs Forman, and went on to win five Academy Awards. Although the film was highly praised, it failed to communicate the same themes depicted in the original novel. I am proposing the creation of a new film, in which major changes will be made on how characters are conveyed, the addition of a scene, and the use of imagery to help effectively communicate the same theme depicted in the novel. The

In the original novel, Kesey portrays the emasculation of the patients by having Nurse Ratched use a variety of different tactics to intimidate the men, and ultimately dominate them. Nurse Ratched is referred to in the novel as a “ball-cutter”, because she would make the men feel weak by emotionally hurting them in their most sensitive areas. Nurse Ratched manipulated the men by getting them to expose each other's weaknesses in their group therapy sessions, where the men were left in their most vulnerable state. However in the film, Nurse Ratched is not portrayed as such a dominating and emasculating figure. Nurse Ratched is depicted as a level headed figure who helps the men, rather than a short tempered damaging one as in the novel. In order to help depict the original imagery of Nurse Ratched being a emasculating dominant figure who had had a great deal of power over the patients on the ward, I would change how her character is conveyed. In the film, Nurse Ratched has very large bosoms and tries to cover them up because she believes that femininity is a sign

In the novel, although the men are negatively impacted by the power of the ward, it is McMurphy who helps the men realize their potential and gain self-confidence in fighting the power of the ward. McMurphy helps the men stand up to Nurse Ratched, and so much so that in the end, the majority of them end up signing themselves out of the ward. However in the film, the emotional strength developed by the men with the help of McMurphy is not conveyed. I would like to propose the addition of new scenes in the new film in order to properly communicate the emotional development of the characters. In the novel, the life story of Chief Bromden is explained, which helps the reader understand him as a character, and show his development back to the strong person he originally was and felt like he was earlier in his life. In the novel, it is a very important part that Chief Bromden eventually speaks in full on the ward, and lets everyone know he could speak and hear the whole time which shows how much strength he gained. However in the film, Chief Bromden only mutters a few words to McMurphy, which doesn't convey as much character development. In order to convey the message of the strength the patients gained with the help of McMurphy, I would like to add the addition of the scene where the patients check themselves out of the ward. By adding this