There is more than meets the eye behind the walls of the Oregon State Hospital.
As an institution that houses “criminally insane” patients, the hospital—which served as the set for the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest—has been the object of controversy for nearly 30 years.
There is more than meets the eye behind the walls of the Oregon State Hospital.
As an institution that houses “criminally insane” patients, the hospital—which served as the set for the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest—has been the object of controversy for nearly 30 years.
Guilty Except for Insanity: Maddening Journeys Through an Asylum, a documentary directed by Portland State professor of psychology Dr. Jan Haaken, follows five patients through their daily lives and explores this maddening system and the need for more care and more freedom.
Haaken spoke with the Vanguard about the purpose of her film and her experiences as an accomplished filmmaker.
Vanguard: How long have you been making films?
Jan Haaken: I’ve been making documentary films for a little over a decade. My first project was called Diamonds, Guns, and Rice, which was shot in West Africa. It’s mainly about women’s perspectives on the Sierra Leonean Civil War and their analysis of the causes of the conflict and their understandings of the prospects for peace.
VG: Was there something in particular that drew you to filmmaking?
JH: As an activist and an academic, I’ve always been interested in psychological aspects of social change and the role of media in shaping understandings of the world. I had been critiquing films for decades, both in a course on psychoanalysis and film and through my work on KBOO radio. After critiquing films, I became interested in the process of actually producing alternative films; which, as it turns out, is a complex undertaking [laughs].
VG: In Guilty Except for Insanity, you focused on the patients within the Oregon State Hospital. Why did you choose that as a subject?
JH: Since about the ’70s, there have been perpetual crises at the hospital. There were problems getting in and problems getting out. In the course of carrying out research on these crises in my Gender and Madness course, we found that many people were frightened by patients who entered the state hospital, but people who worked at the hospital were also stigmatized by this kind of work. So I wanted to give these patients and workers a voice and position them as teachers, as educators. Even when mental patients are portrayed sympathetically in the press, they often come through as pathetic or are otherwise silenced. But many people who are locked in these marginalized and stigmatized places have interesting things to say.
VG: How long did you shoot for?
JH: About two years.
VG: How many patients did you follow during this time?
JH: Five patients, all of whom brought important insights to understanding the workings of the hospital and how it has been overtaken by the criminal justice system. So much of the process of making documentaries is a relationship of trust with the subjects. But it’s important to earn that trust as a filmmaker.
VG: Has there been a lot of support from the public surrounding the film?
JH: Well, that’s an interesting question [laughs]. Both. Mainly the patients and staff were very supportive. They saw rough cuts, and if they were uncomfortable with anything, we would discuss it. Everyone understood the nature of the project, and it generally has been quite positive. I wasn’t interested in making a film that simply villain-ized the hospital or anyone else, but rather in generating thoughtful discussion about systems. And most screenings have been successful in generating heated discussions.
VG: In a few words, what is the film about to you?
JH: Institutional madness.
VG: What are you planning to work on next?
JH: I just got back from Afghanistan, where I was shooting a documentary about psychologists working in the military, called Mind Zone: Therapists Behind the Front Lines. It looks at how the military uses psychology both to protect soldiers from battle fatigue and to keep the war going. It looks at this use of psychology behind-the-scenes in a war zone.
VG: Is that getting support from the public?
JH: It’s actually gotten the support of the army, but it will likely be a very controversial movie.
VG: Do you have any advice for aspiring filmmakers at PSU?
JH: You have to be willing to take a certain amount of heat because everyone is a film critic [laughs]. That’s part of what I love and hate about making films. The medium is much more democratic than other areas of academic work. But then you have to defend what you did, to explain the particular choices you made. You also have to have a love and passion for visual culture, and be willing to do the necessary background research to ethically and thoughtfully represent the subjects you’re working with. It’s the most intense, anxiety-provoking work I’ve undertaken in my career.
VG: Any closing thoughts?
JH: I want to recognize the hundreds of PSU students that have worked with me on my documentary projects over the past decade. Making documentaries is an exercise in group intelligence at all levels of the process, and it can be an enormously satisfying way of bridging academia and popular culture.
