At 08:37 AM 12/3/2001 -0500, you wrote: >I assigned the Cuckoo's movie to my students and, as usual, asked them to >diagnose McMurphy, say whether he should be in hospital, prison, etc. This >time, though, I got carried away and included Nurse Ratched and the Chief >(before and after doing in McMurphy) as well. While I am spending the day >with DSM-IV, I thought it might be a good idea to seek second opinions also. >I would appreciate any thoughts. >
While not a direct response to your question, I want to take the opportunity to urge you to have the students read the book instead of watching the movie. I realize, of course, that the book takes more time, that it may take up too much time for the nature of the assignment, that you can make many of the same points by having them take two hours to see the movie, etc. But this is a case in which the book is so far superior to the movie (which I still think was very good and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it) that it would be worth the investment. Also, given the focus on Chief Bromden in the book (he's the narrator, and we get so much more insight into his character), it would suit your goals better for discussing his diagnosis. Also, in the book you can see how his character evolves and, indeed, comes out of his fog of mental illness (the precise metaphor used in the book) over the course of the story. Additional fodder for discussion. (BTW, Ken Kesey apparently never liked the movie (was that point brought out in the recent mini-discussion about him on TIPS?), precisely because it shifted the point of view from the Chief.) (BTW, too, I never have been entirely satisified with Jack Nicholson in the role of McMurphy. Kirk Douglas was cast as McMurphy in the original stage version of the book, that came out long before the movie, and I can't picture anyone but him in that role.) Cheers! Bob **************************************************************** Robert T. Herdegen III Elliott Professor of Psychology Department of Psychology Hampden-Sydney College Hampden-Sydney, VA 23943 434-223-6166 **************************************************************** --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
