Anna Loes

Pre-Midterm Culture Watch

10/18/2020

I am using a Netflix original show titled “Ratched” for my first culture watch. Released

in September 2020, this show is based on the fictional character Mildred Ratched from One Flew

Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and has become quite popular, racking up 48 million views in the first 4

weeks. It evaluates her life working inside Lucia State Hospital, a mental institution set in the

1940s-1950s. Part of the main plot is Lucia receiving a patient, Edmund Tolleson, who is on

death row for committing murder and other heinous acts against four priests. We find out in the

second episode that Edmund and Mildred are adoptive brother and sister and have suffered from

a troubled past. Mildred wants to save him from execution while also presenting herself as a

qualified nurse, so she plays both sides of the coin. Since this takes place in the 1940s, many

treatments and classifications are still widely accepted and different from how we see them

today, as procedures such as the lobotomy were hitting their peak. Due to the controversial

nature of some aspects included in the show, the significance of both the lead actress, Sarah

Paulson, and the director, Ryan Murphy, and the connection to such a widely read book, the

show has become quite popular throughout the world and continues to be talked about as more

people watch and eagerly await the second season.

Through my initial analysis after completing the show, Nurse Ratched acts almost as if

she is God throughout the series. She is only concerned about herself and wants her world to be

perfect and complete. She sets up a suicide for a patient who decided they no longer wanted to

live and was able to leave the scene to prevent herself from being associated with it. She then
helped the head of Lucia State Hospital burn the body to cover up the suicide, which isn’t the

only death in the hospital Mildred is responsible for that is covered up. She also performed an

unauthorized lobotomy on the only witness to the crimes Edmund Tolleson committed so he

would no longer be able to testify to what he saw, which allowed her to buy Edmund more time.

She continues to work tirelessly for the hospital but also fights for Edmund’s survival, which

ends up hurting her in the end. To connect this to class material, you could argue that, in a way,

Nurse Ratched suspends the ethical and jumps into the religious sphere but instead of submitting

to God, submits to herself. All the harm and death she causes to numerous characters throughout

the series doesn’t appear to phase her; she truly believes she is doing what is best for herself and

what will make her world complete.

Because this show takes place in a time where procedures like the lobotomy were deemed

successful and homosexuality was treated as an illness, the value of life was not something that

was considered past cultural norms. America had the mindset of attempting to fix people and

make them fit inside what was deemed acceptable instead of understanding that people were

created specifically to what God wanted them to be. The nature of the actions in the show of

essentially “scaring people straight” and using unethical practices to “fix” people hinder our

purpose on Earth- to love and build each other up. We are called to create the kingdom of heaven

here on Earth and to understand that God created each person uniquely, and this show

completely contradicts that, as doctors and nurses use treatments in an attempt to reconstruct

individuals to society's norms at the time. This concept makes the nature of the show

controversial to today’s culture, as we have progressed thoroughly on our thoughts towards

homosexuals and have reviewed the ethics behind practices such as lobotomy. Resurfacing these

issues provides some historical context but could also resurface a debate on the rights of
homosexuals, which shouldn’t be a debate. All humans are created uniquely and all human life is

sacred; we have no jurisdiction to go and change a part of someone because it doesn’t fit in the

“norms” of society.

This show implicitly goes against the belief in a God despite including some minor

religious aspects. Nurse Ratched is a prime example of the nature of this, as she pretends to be a

faithful Christian to gain the trust of the lone priest who witnessed Edmund Tolleson’s crimes

and then proceeds to ruin his life through an unauthorized lobotomy. As I mentioned previously,

she acts almost as if she is God by making decisions like this and attempting to decide the fate of

each character she encounters to not disrupt her “perfect world”. Feuerbach would find similar

issues with this, as he states that no such perfect world can exist because nothing suggests its

existence. Nurse Ratched can’t go and act as God and attempt to create a perfect world because it

is not only unethical but unachievable.

“Ratched” holds cultural significance because it not only exemplifies the contradictory

actions of the 1940s and decades after but also relates to today’s audience by casting one of the

most iconic actresses of this generation, Sarah Paulson. Because of her history in “American

Horror Story”, she is a perfect fit to bring Nurse Ratched to life. Her character goes against all

kinds of ethical issues in an attempt to create a perfect world for herself. The show also shows

the progress America has made on becoming an accepting nation of all humans no matter what

they identify as. While the show doesn’t align with much of what Catholics believe and follow, it

does create an addictive storyline filled with scandalous and controversial issues that draw

viewers in and keeps them guessing with each episode.