Cuckoo Not Funny

Milos Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) rightly deserves its status as the movie where as Randall Patrick McMurphy, Jack Nicholson unleashed his "Jack" persona on the world, all sneers and arched eyebrows, never to relinquish - or even deviate significantly from it - ever again. Except for maybe About Schmidt (2002), The Pledge (2001), and Ironweed (1987). I'll watch those again and post my impressions sometime next week.

But my point in this post is that I was watching Cuckoo with a group of friends recently, two of which were laughing uproariously. And I tried, I really did.

But other than the admittedly funny fishing trip on the commandeered bus, I couldn't find anything to bust a gut about.

And here's why. In 1975, and certainly in 1963 when the Broadway play based on the Ken Kesey novel first appeared, most people with mental challenges were in locked wards. They were a stigmatized section of society.

But today that stigma has disappeared. The person facing mental challenges may now be your friend, your neighbour, or the person serving you in a restaurant or movie theater. They have likely faced many obstacles to get where they are. And it's extremely likely that, at some point in their lives, they had experiences similar to the ones depicted in the film. Trust me, if they are watching the film with you, they will not appreciate you laughing uproariously. Or worse, the question ,"Hey, was that what it was REALLY like?".

They will prefer that you instead open yourself to the sadness and futility that they and others faced decades ago. Just as my laughing friends now do.

And for an up-to-date look at a similar situation, I wholeheartedly suggest you check out It's Kind of a Funny Story, starring Zach Galifianakis.

MTMG