Rebellion (Lies)

Since we startled reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, our discussions have circled around but barely touched on the impact of rebellion on society.  A lot of popular books and movies center on the act of rebellion, and we love the thrill of cheering on the underdogs and willing them to overtake the system and stick it to the man.

Examples:

1. Matilda, a children's movie that I watched, admittedly, too often in my youth, in which a girl with telekinetic powers overthrows her mean principal, the Trunchbull, leading her school into anarchy.  Obviously this movie is not realistic, but even if a psychic nine year old could take down an entire school, what benefits would come from it?  There would be a school run by children in which everyone napped and ate snacks and did arts and crafts.  Education at its finest.

2. Fight Club, one of my all time favorite books/movies, which centers on oppressed men trying to break free of the hold of society and rediscover life.  While I'd say that the characters have a high level of success, there are many repercussions, and in the end the rebellion grows into its own being.  I kind of hoped that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest would end up like this, since I drew some parallels between the characters of McMurphy and Tyler Durden, and now that I think about it, there are some strikingly similar themes... but in the end, I feel like the men of Fight Club  did it better.

3. 1984.  Apologies for bringing this book up again, but it was on my mind.  We cheer on Winston, the protagonist, as he slowly stumbles his way through rebellion, but his cause feels infinitely more hopeless, even more so than the plight of the men on Nurse Ratched's ward.

I could list more, but this post would be ridiculous and unnecessary.  All of these rebellions accomplish little in the grander scheme of the universes that their protagonists reside in, but to the viewer/reader, the act of rebelling and the threat of anarchy provides some deep sense of consolation.  We can't truly rebel in our own lives-- I don't think any one of us is going to overthrow Ms. Serensky and institute nap time instead of English class, or start a secret fight club in the basement of the school, or try to take down the government with a journal... hopefully-- but we can work out our frustrations through the characters who can.

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If you're interested, this is the song my title refers to.