[Eric in the Ozarks]

Mental illness was the background for the movie “Cuckoos Nest,” with Jack Nicholson. This single movie laid the groundwork for the dismantling of mental institutions in nearly every state.

[Dilbert San Diego]

How crazy, that a movie could have that impact.

I’ve heard similar things about that movie with Jane Fonda, The China Syndrome, which dealt with nuclear power. I’ve heard that movie, which coincidentally was in theaters at the time of the Three Mile Island incident, helped the anti-nuclear movement, so that development of nuclear power plants was just about stopped in its tracks.