Melissa Ann Goodwin

Melissa Ann Goodwin

Thursday, October 27, 2011

PART THREE: KILLER CHARACTERS BLOGFEST

This week I'm taking part in the
KILLER CHARACTERS BLOGFEST

It's the brainchild of delightful bloggers Deana Barnhart and E. R. King. You can pop on over to their blogs to get the list of other participants and read their posts.

Now THIS is the one I've been waiting for!
Our assignment today is to present our
 FAVORITE ANTAGONIST
from literature.


So let me introduce her ...
She's cold, calculating and controlling.
She's manipulative and mean,
but she disguises it beneath a smooth, poreless mask
of quiet, unruffled calm.

So here she is, ladies and gentlemen ...
Everybody's favorite sociopath ...
The woman voted
"Most Likely to Volunteer to be Dr. Mengele's Assistant " 

 

Nurse Rached
from
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
by
Ken Kesey (1962)


Nurse Rached is the head nurse at a mental institution in Salem, Oregon, where she maintains absolute control over the residents. She rewards total obedience and cruelly punishes any behavior that could threaten the perfect predicability of her realm. Nurse Rached is a quiet tyrant, a sick sociopath hidden behind glassy skin and a crisply-sprayed-to-perfection pageboy hairdo.

Enter Randle McMurphy, a relatively sane inmate with a rebellious streak. McMurphy tries to bring fun and humanity to the ward, and in doing so, threatens Nurse Rached's dictatorship. She retaliates with small punishments at first, but when McMurphy persists, Nurse Rached ups the ante. She gives McMurphy shock therapy to weaken him. But McMurphy is a fighter and his efforts have awakened rebellion in the other, previously docile inmates. Sensing that her enemy's strength is growing despite her efforts to diminish him, Nurse Rached uses the ultimate weapon in her arsenal - she has McMurphy lobotomized.

In the 1975 film, McMurphy was played by Jack Nicholsen. Nurse Rached was played by Louise Fletcher, who won the Oscar for Best Actress for her incredible portrayal of one of the biggest b#tches in literary history. Nurse Rached was voted the fifth worst villian in movie history by the American Film Institute.



21 comments:

  1. Perfect choice, and I loved your description. The photo alone makes me cringe! This fest has been so much fun. :)
    Have a great weekend!

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  2. Julie, I really loved this fest - it was totally FUN and a nice diversion. Plus not TOO many participants. I'm glad I saw it on your blog. Okay, coming by now to see who you picked.

    Mooderino - nice to see you again, thanks for coming by.

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  3. Oh my gosh! I think Nurse Rached is why I hate hospitals and fear nurses. I'm convinced that deep down one of the nurses treating me is like her. *shudders* Great pick! Thanks for participating!

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  4. E.R. - yes, she's so scary because there really are people like her...evil beings in human form.I find them SO much more frightening than make-believe monsters....

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  5. I've heard Nurse Rachet's name, yet never actually read, or watched this. She looks pretty killer though.

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  6. Great book, great movie, great villian. Because she's a real person who is very very very MEAN.

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  7. I think that's the best selection I've seen all day!

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  8. I've never seen this movie/read this book. She sounds absolutely atrocious!

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  9. J.A. She is the ultimate B#tch!

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  10. She is TERRIFYING!!! I think it is the misuse of power that freaks me out.

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  11. Oh Bravo! She really got to me in the movie and I found her so easy to hate in the book to. And the thing is, there truly are people like her.

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  12. She played the character of a cold menacing woman so wonderfully. It was also disturbing because she is such a pretty quiet woman...creepy!
    Blessings, Joanne

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  13. Is Louise Fletcher awesome or what?? Man, she nails that role. I just watched it for the first time the other day, thanks to this blogfest, and it is a fantastic movie. Excellent choice. :)

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  14. Angela, Jenny, Joanne and Pk,
    Pk - I'm so glad you watched it - it's a classic movie in every way! And yes, part of the CHILL of Nurse Rached is that calm, cold exterior....BRRRRR! Louise Fletcher took such a risk taking on such a hateful role, and she nailed it!
    Hugs to all - we need some after looking at those crazy eyes....

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  15. What a great choice. She's the stuff of nightmares!

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  16. Wow... Oh, she's a terror all right! GREAT choice, Melissa! She's probably even creepier because she *could* be real. Gotta rent that movie again....

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  17. Ugh, just that picture makes my blood run cold. This is a great one!

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  18. awesome choice! she epitomizes what everyone fears from an institution! excellent =)

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  19. She's some bad lady, that's for sure!

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