The first time I caught a glimpse of the trailer for Ratched on Netflix it immediately caught my attention. Suspense, mental illness and lobotomies in a 1950’s psychiatric institution make for a binge-worthy show full of complex and alluring characters. Due to my mental health advocacy background, I hastily jumped to the inaccurate conclusion that this series was aiming to normalize mental illness and to raise awareness about the dark history of both stigmatization and treatment in a captivating and thought-provoking way. Unfortunately, my excitement was squashed once I watched the show.
More of a conversation starter, Ratched glamorizes and criminalizes mental illness without going much further. The new Netflix series is the origin story of the infamous character Nurse Ratched from the classic novel ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’. Mildred Ratched, played by Sarah Paulson, is a dark character with a sinister past who begins working in a psychiatric hospital. Without giving too much away, it is safe to say that the patients she interacts with are mostly portrayed as dangerous and to some extent fascinating for their insanity. In reality, most people who have psychological disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder are not a risk to others. However, entertainment, media, and even government platforms tend to depict people who suffer from mental illness as a danger to society. Instead, societies should be protecting these individuals the same way we care and protect those who have physical illnesses. Moreover, mental illness is debilitating and should not be glamorized. Individuals with mental illness during the 1950s were considered so ‘rare’ and ‘amusing’ that people would pay for entrance tickets to psychiatric hospitals to watch patients. Mental illness is not a thrilling condition that exists for our entertainment. Those with mental illness deserve the same care and dignity as everyone else; they should not be fetishized or stigmatized.
Even though I enjoyed the show, a little voice inside my head was telling me that this show needed to be called out for its misrepresentation of mental illness. TV shows and other forms of popular culture are usually excused based on the fact that they are ‘only for entertainment’. Well, be that as it may, shows that millions of people around the world watch on Netflix are bound to have an effect on how we understand mental illness. For instance, the disturbing depiction of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the movie adaptation for ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’ which came out in 1975 led to a significant decrease of ECT even after it was improved and recognized for its benefits.
Some may say that as an origin story for a book that was written in 1962, a time when there were many misconceptions about mental health, Ratched should be excluded from contemporary criticism. I beg to differ. Shows and movies are always being adapted to create more appealing and profit-making stories. So, why can’t Ratched be adapted to become an entertaining, provocative and yet informative show. Mental illness is a matter in which many hidden biases and stigmatization continue to exist and it is up to us to change that. Thus, I urge readers—both those who are planning on watching Ratched and those who already have—to reflect on the stereotypes the show abuses for entertainment purposes. Go a step further even, and become a mental health advocate and challenge these misconceptions because we all struggle and that’s okay.