so was McMurphy actually crazy? - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Discussion

Is society civilised? Was the ward?

Reality is the new fiction they say, truth is truer these days, truth is man-made

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[–] tyrexden 9 years ago

ok... i hear you.... His reaction was the result of being sane within a crazy environment. I can buy that.

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McMurphy wasn't crazy, he was faking the mental illness so he wouldn't be sent to a real prison, in fact the head of the mental institution mentions it in the first scene and in a second scene towards the end that he thinks he's been faking it.

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[–] tyrexden 8 years ago

i realize that happened in the movie but i also realize that he strangled Nurse Ratchet.

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[–] nutsberryfarm 8 years ago

he had a great sense of humor.

🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴

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[–] ddrummond-ayw 9 years ago

I didn't think so for a while, but then I thought "what not crazy person would do the things he would". This of course brings uo the argument of what is normal and what is crazy, but you know what I mean. The mans crazy.

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[–] PreachCaleb 9 years ago

He wasn't crazy because he was always of sound mind. He knew what he was doing.

Can't stop the signal.

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[–] 9 years ago

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[–] Stigler 9 years ago

Upon on repeat viewings I have come to believe that he really is crazy and only thinks that he's faking insanity.

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[–] 9 years ago

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[–] Stigler 9 years ago

Anyone who would attempt to fake being crazy IS crazy.

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[–] NikolajCostas1005 9 years ago

No. The only illness that came close to explaining his behavior was that he was a sociopath, but he exhibited too much genuine empathy for that to be the case.

See you in hell, candy boys!

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[–] HellboundHero 8 years ago

Yeah I don't think he's a sociopath, but not totally mentally sound either. A bit too wild at inappropriate times that it makes you think maybe he isn't totally in control of his impulses.

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[–] mountaindewslave 8 years ago

do you really think it's at all crazy for him to attempt to strangle her in that situation? she had just told a friend of his essentially that she was going to try and ruin his mental life by 'telling on him' to his mother

bear in mind this is a MENTAL INSTITUTION PATIENT she was speaking to who is known for past suicide attempts

the nurse was terrible and Mcmurphy attempting to strangle her was in anger not because he was crazy

if you watched this film in entirety and actually have to ask that then that's slightly concerning as the whole point of the film is that he's NOT crazy and that often the ones running institutions are more off in the head than their patients

If i go crazy will you still call me Superman?

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[–] ck1-5 8 years ago

No, he was not crazy; he was, however, the biggest threat to the Nurse's tyranny that she had ever had to deal with, due to the fact that he was not the sort of man who could be bullied into anything...and, while we're on the subject of what should go on in "civilized society", I don't believe that people who are put in charge of trying to help people who are mentally unstable are supposed to go out of their way to antagonize them instead.

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[–] somesunnyday 8 years ago

He certainly was not crazy. Nurse Ratched was working on him just liked she worked on everyone else (to paraphrase the Chief). She crossed the line with her manipulation of Billy and sent McMurphy over the edge. I'm with Taber on that one, you can see him egging Mack on and at that point in the film, so was I....

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[–] 8 years ago

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