Do we like them?

Do we like Nurse Ratched?

A character from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962 (novel), 1975 ()

Our score: 1 out of 10. No. She hides behind routine and politeness while controlling and shaming vulnerable people. We wouldn't back her.

Nurse Ratched is the head nurse on a mental hospital ward. She is soft-spoken, composed and always in control. Patients follow a strict daily schedule, group therapy is run on her terms, and she rarely has to raise her voice. The story begins when the rebellious R.P. McMurphy arrives on the ward and starts to challenge her routine.

Her power comes from rules, medication and the patients' fear of her disapproval, not from open cruelty. She presents herself as caring while she works to keep people dependent and quiet. Her calm manner makes her harder to stand up to than a loud tyrant would be, and the American Film Institute ranked her the fifth greatest movie villain.

Her fight with McMurphy escalates until she uses the full force of her authority against him and the men around him. The cost to the patients is severe, and it shows she will protect her control over the ward at any price. That is why she scores so low.