MovieChat Forums > One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Discussion > Nurse Ratched is the only villain in the...

Nurse Ratched is the only villain in the history of cinema (or any media) that I actually hate


Every other villain is either interesting, hilariously evil, or actually just bad (as in badly written or something, not evil). But she is someone who I was actively rooting against throughout the movie, which I have never done with any other villain. So much so, that I had to skip the last section of the movie because I knew how it ended. It would've been at least okay if she had died, but then she has that fucking dog collar thingy in the end and that's too much.

I think the reason that I hate her so much is two things: She isn't interesting or entertainingly evil, and she's fucking up the lives of actually likable characters. Cuckoo's Nest has this really rare combination, where it's extremely well written and has characters that you're rooting for, while having a villain that isn't developed at all and is just there to piss you of. I can't think of any other movie of a similar calibre with this combination, which is probably why Ratched is the only villain that I hate.

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Eh, a dumb post in my opinion.

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aight

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Not at all. In fact, it is an astute reflection on this movie and villains in general. I felt the same way. I think her evil lies in her unspoken power she wields. Not a lot of dialogue from her. Her rigid demeanor. Her power grab to keep McMurphy in her institution for 'rehab'. Brilliant.

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I can see why you'd not want to watch the end. She is a villain who is completely evil. She doesn't care about her patients and manipulates them into thinking she's helping them when she is not helping them. That first group therapy scene where she allows everyone to just yell and argue with one another and doesn't even stop it. It's rather crazy she thinks this is perfectly okay. If anything she should be the one in the mental institution. Cause she is not mentally well.

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