(sub)TEXT: Bacchic Redemption in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) | The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast | A Philosophy Podcast and Blog (opens in new tab)

Nurse Ratched likes a rigged game, according to R.P. McMurphy. And it’s true that the game he is playing—lawless and hedonistic, but also vital and free-spirited—is unwinnable on her sandlot. As their conflict develops, we seem to be asked to compare the therapeutic value of McMurphy’s introduction of the Dionysian, to Ratched’s attempt to enforce an ordered calm within the psychiatric ward over which she is absolute ruler. What happens when the Godzilla of superegos takes on a libidinal King...