The Other Side - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One of the biggest sources of inspiration for my story idea is the book as well as the film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest written by Ken Kesey and directed by Milos Forman.

Billy Bibbit is an innocent and naive man who is a patient at a psychiatric ward. Although Billy’s background and circumstances are not explored in the film, Kesey goes into a lot more depth concerning Billy Bibbit in the novel. Billy is a nervous stutterer and has a complicated and abusive relationship with his mother. 

'Because of the virginity he retains until he is more than 30 years old, Bibbit is perhaps the most repressed member of the group. His mother employs Oedipal tactics to keep Bibbit attached to her. This woman also maintains a close relationship with Nurse Ratched.’ cliffsnotes.com

Billy’s mother is extremely protective and domineering of him and is not tolerant of many women in his life. In fact, Billy’s first attempt at suicide was triggered by his mother’s aggressive insistence that he break off his engagement with a woman he was in love with because of her social status.

The two scenes I have posted in this blog are crucial to Billy’s story. The first, establishes his personality as well as relationship with his mother and Nurse Ratched. It also exemplifies the cruel yet subtly sweet nature of the nurse. The second scene ultimately leads to a chain of heartbreaking events. Billy, completely petrified at the thought of his mother discovering his one night affair with a prostitute kills himself moments after Nurse Ratched heartlessly threatens him.

I named my character Billy before I saw the film for the second time but I believe I thought of it intuitively because I had read the book as well as seen the film a long time ago and Billy’s story in particular had a large emotional impact on me. Billy's agonising cry as he is dragged away inspired the same from my character in ‘The Other Side’. 

Most of the other characters from the novel and film had a part in my inspiration for Billy. They are all well intentioned and vulnerable. 

Bancini (upper left) is a committed patient who walks around all day proclaiming that he is tired. He is tall and has a long droopy nose with big droopy eyes at either side of it. 

The Chief (upper right) is also a massively tall man, although he is quite stoic. At the end of the movie, he lifts a wash basin that nobody else had the strength to and throws it out of the window to make his escape. 

Martini (bottom left) is an awkward and smiley little man who acts like a child. Not in an obnoxious way, but more in a curious way.

Cheswick (bottom right) is a very passionate and compassionate patient who stands up for his friends. His agony when he was dragged to electrotherapy also informed my animation. In the novel, Cheswick ultimately commits suicide by drowning himself in a pool.