Movie Review: A Clockwork Orange (in Relation to Pop Culture Theory)
Ever
since Anthony Burgess wrote the original novel and Stanley Kubrick later filmed
his own version, the story of A Clockwork
Orange has created much debate within society. A Clockwork Orange is the story of Alex and his journey through a
futuristic England, where he terrorizes anyone he can, including his own
friends but still enjoys the simple things in life, like Beethoven’s music.
Some feel that the violence depicted in the movie is senseless and degrading
with no morals or meaning. However, the violence has a point; the story
reflects many of society’s beliefs about evil, freedom of choice, and youthful
rebellion.
“There was me, that is Alex, and my
three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim…” (Kubrick, 1971). The story of A Clockwork Orange is presented from the point of view of the main
character, Alex, aged fifteen at the start of the story. Alex narrates the
story, allowing the viewer to learn more about his inner thoughts and fantasies
as the movie progresses. Because of this style of presentation, the movie feels
like a diary of Alex’s misdeeds and twisted fantasies. Allowing Alex to narrate
and tell the story from his point of view creates a link with the viewer; the
viewer, although shocked at the violent acts Alex commits also feels empathy
with the character at certain points; after his release from prison, Alex has
went from the victimizer to the victim.
Stanley Kubrick’s intention was to
portray a movie in which the main character proves that inherent bad behavior cannot
be falsely rehabilitated and that by taking
away the ability to make a choice between evil and good, creates a “creature
incapable of moral choice” (Kubrick, 1971), a human on the outside, but mechanical
inside, hence the title about a clockwork (mechanical) orange (human). Someone
that commits evil acts of their own free will is more human than someone that
cannot make their own decisions; if you remove their ability to make decisions
freely they are reduced to animalistic instincts. Alex is not fully rehabilitated
after his treatment; he still wants to commit acts of violence but cannot
because it makes him physically ill. After recovering from his suicide attempt,
not even the treatment works and Alex is free to continue on as he always has.
An unintentional side effect of the
movie is that the character of Alex has become a sort of anti-hero and a
pop-culture icon. The audience empathizes with the character unintentionally,
pitying Alex after he is kicked out of his home and beaten by the police that
were once his friends. Multiple bands have written songs related to A Clockwork Orange, such as Rob Zombie’s
“Never Gonna Stop”, as well as dressing as the characters portrayed in the
movie. Even Bart Simpson has dressed as the character on The Simpsons.
A
Clockwork Orange’s story is divided into three sections: the beginning, with
Alex committing his violent acts; the middle, where Alex spends his time in
jail and undergoes the Ludovico treatment; and ending with Alex’s release,
suicide attempt, and the reversal of his cure. Various scenes in the movie are
essential to the plot and the underlying morals. The earliest important scene
is the introduction of Alex and the following scenes of Alex and his ‘droogs’
beating an old drunkard and then getting into a violent brawl with a rival gang
for no reason. These beginning scenes set the tone for the movie. Another
important scene to the movie is the rape of the writer’s wife at ‘HOME’ while Alex
glibly sings “Singing in the Rain” during the couple’s beating. This scene
shows how little Alex is affected by the violent acts that he commits. The
scene in which Alex is made to ‘perform’ for an audience, showing off the cure
is also crucial to the story because it show how far the treatment has taken
Alex and contains the speech by the prison chaplain, objecting to the morality
of the treatment.
The idea of culturalism, the study of
popular culture that emphasizes human agency, or “the active production of
culture, rather than its passive consumption” (Storey, 2009) meaning that
individuals have their own ability to make choices and change society by their
own behavior is reflected in A Clockwork
Orange. After going through the Ludovico treatment, Alex can no longer take
an active part in society, governed by his own choices because his behaviors
are forced onto him now that he no longer has free will to decide. Within the
realm of culturalism, A Clockwork Orange
reflect multiple points of Hall and Whannel’s studies of youth, Hoggart’s
discussion of youth and ‘milk bars,’ and a general culture in decline, where
youth run wild and the police are often able to do little to prevent it.
Alex and his droogs differ from the
adults in the story though their behaviors, style of dress, and use of ‘Nadsat’
– a language made up from a mix of Russian, Cockney, baby talk and gibberish. This
a reflection of Hall and Whannel’s studies concerning popular culture and
deciding that the youth culture should be looked at separately from the adults
culture; the youth purposely do and invent things to distance themselves from
the older generation. The language of ‘Nadsat’ spoken throughtout the film
allows Alex and his droogs to talk in a way that the adults do not understand.
Hall and Whannel describe ways of dressing as a way of expressing “a strong
current of social nonconformity and rebelliousness” (Storey, 2009); Alex’s
gang’s form of dress sets them apart from adults, as well as from other gangs
and is just another form of rebellion against the norm
An interesting echo of Richard Hoggart’s
discussion about young boys, dressed in their own fashions and hanging around
the “new milk bars” (Storey, 2009) in A
Clockwork Orange is that Alex and his droogs visit the Korova Milk Bar
often, where they lounge about listening to music, plotting, and drinking milk
plus (milk with added drugs)(Kubrick, 1971). Hoggart says, “they have no
responsibilities, and little sense of responsibilities, to themselves or to
others” (Storey, 2009). This statement fits Alex and his droogs perfectly: they
are not held to any type of responsibility and Alex is not forced to attend
school or do anything other than what pleases him.
Kubrick’s social commentary throughout
the film about the various topics is what keeps the film together and allowed
critics to get past the violence. Alex and his droogs are a representation of
youthful rebellion, full of aimless decisions and random brutality and their
distinction from the adult culture by way of dress and language allow them to
remain a mystery to most adults. After Alex’s arrest and treatment, the
audience is forced to question whether it is better to allow someone the
ability to do evil and have a choice or to remove their ability to choose so
that they are not a threat to society. Another thought is whether the
government should take such involvement in a person’s free will and whether
such extreme measures are worth it; after all, Alex’s rehabilitation fails and
all of the treatments were for nothing.
Another film reflecting youth in revolt
is the film Trainspotting. While Trainspotting is more based on the drug
world and less so on the ability to make moral choices, it is also a reflection
of youth in rebellion. The main characters in Trainspotting act out their rebellion in ways that are similar to A Clockwork Orange, such as violent
behaviors and drug use, they differ because their drug use is more hardcore and
they are only made unable to make proper decisions because of addictions, not
experimental techniques.
The novel Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut is similar to A Clockwork Orange in that they are both
about free will. Vonnegut’s main character, Billy Pilgrim, has no free will in his life
because he is forced to re-live various events in his life at random, never
knowing what event will come next. The entire story is based off the idea that
humanity has no free will and that they only do what they do because they have
to, not because they want to.
The film A
Clockwork Orange is reflection of societal concerns that are still relevant
today. Stanley Kubrick approached these concerns from an artistic point,
creating a character that the viewer feels disgust but also pity towards as the
story progresses. Kubrick filmed the story with a set vision of what themes he
wanted to portray, how he wanted to portray them, and how these themes mirror
the decline of popular culture, an interesting point because some critics felt
that the movie A Clockwork Orange was
in itself part of the cultural decline.
References
Kubrick, S. (Director)
(1971). A clockwork orange [DVD].
(Kubrick, 1971)
Storey,
J. (2009). Cultural
Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction (5th ed). London:
Pearson.
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