One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

The second film ever to receive all five major Academy Awards is not the top ten material that many seem to think it is. (In fact, none of the three films to so far do so really achieve that level of artistry and meaning. The Oscars aren’t that sort of event, after all.) Do not understand. It is technically competent, well acted, and a great story. It just has it failings, and this is not the first assertion of that fact.

As it stands, the story is trying to present a parable of the dangers of totalitarian ideologies. Specifically, communism is what the filmmakers had in mind here. Any system that attempts to control and rob humanity of its freedom is an evil system. People, while not perfect or even truly good, are not made better by outside force—they merely cease to be human.

The largest problem with Cuckoo's Nest is its protagonist. He is so flawed that today’s audience is hard pressed to get on board with his quest. Presumably in the 1970s, audiences were so fed up with authority that they would cheer on a reprobate child molester. Today’s sensibilities have a harder time rooting for a man who was so negative in free society (causing fights and having sex with a fifteen year old) that he was locked away.

In the end, we are clear on the negatives of the totalitarian system, but we do not see any hope that there could be a system that would help people to live in harmony and freedom. It is easy to complain but far harder to provide helpful ideas.