Category: A Clockwork Orange

The most remarkable changes in humans’ collective exposure have been the introduction of mass media. The introduction of media has been an increasingly and rapid form of communication between human beings. The uses of radio, television, film, video games et cetera, has become an ever so present thing in humans’ lives and holds a great value in all aspects of societies across the globe. Although these forms of media were not created to cause harm to others, through the mutilation of others the use of violence has been an increasingly problem particularly in film.

The presence of violence in film has been highly present since its infancy. It has caused huge controversy streaming since the movies of the 1930s of gangster gunplay, to the slow-motion shootouts of Arthur Penn’s landmark 1967 film ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ to the rivers of blood flowing in Quentin Tarantino’s movies. The depiction of violence in film has long polarized critics and audiences in which the debate continues today.

The human species are evidently violent creatures, from domestic violence within households to the countless globe-spanning wars. Humans have an everlasting habit of acting on aggression. Violence is part of human evolution, it is the by-product of the thousands of years of adapting to new environments, fighting for food or shelter, etc. Evolutionary psychologists believe that violence is built into the human species, adding that the violent past of ‘humans’ can be seen in the archaeological remains of traditional societies, our primate cousins, and human anatomy. The hallmarks of our ancestral history of violence are literally written on our bones. Skeletal remains, unearthed from archaeological excavations of ancient human societies, provide direct evidence of injuries suffered by a violent transgressor (Goetz, A., 2010). From the conclusion of this statement, violence is deeper than meets the eye. For this reason, it is extremely ingrained in human’s DNA which has been passed down from their ancestors, the likely hood of violence being around humans’ everyday lives is evidencable.

Film is the projection of real life; it is although the viewer is looking through glass of another world and seeing chaos, when it is just a reflection of what is truly happening around them. From the beginning of film, violence has had a major impact Edwin S. Porter’s famous western showcased a man being bludgeoned to death by a piece of coal and close-ups of a gun being fired at the camera (as thought the viewer is being killed themselves), which audiences thought the gun sequence to be extremely realistic that they believed they were in fact going to be gunned down themselves to Stanley Kubrick’s X-rated best picture Oscar nominee film ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971), which featured extreme violence and a graphic rape. Its deeply disturbing images and message made it a cause celebrate around the world. Which Kubrick would eventually withdraw the film from distribution in the United Kingdom because of copyright crimes.

The violence in the media, pacifically film, is believed to be a potential contributor to the growth of antisocial behavior in children and youth. As they absorbed what is happening around them, it is evidencable that children and the youth are going to pick up on those actions that are showcased in the media. A study, conducted by the international schools in Kuala, studied two hundred and sixteen middle schoolboys to research the effects of watching violence movies and the attitudes concerning aggression among them and how it can have an impact on their future and future actions. The data was collected using four instruments: the demographic questionnaire, the media viewing habit questionnaire, the affection toward movie violence scale, and the attitudes concerning aggression scale. The results indicated that adolescent boys spent a significant amount of time watching movies which contained high levels of violence. Further results showed that there is a significant difference between heavy and light viewers of film violence in any dimension of their attitudes about aggression. Adolescents with ‘violent’ movies preferred, however were significantly more supportive of the attitude that aggression is acceptable and warranted, as compared to those who prefer movies with little or no violence. Additional results demonstrated that the ‘aggression acceptable’ attitude was significantly related to a set of variables. This study can go hand in hand with the plethora of research that looks into aggression and violence within the male population. Though the production of testosterone the higher the levels of this hormone the increased amount of violence that is inflicted. As teenagerhood is a crucial time for young people this can have a result in what they seek to look at while watching films. Although, to point out this does not only have an effect on boys but also on girls. Nevertheless, to say girls can still display the effects of violence within media. Although it is extremely complex, the hormones that are produced do play a crucial part: “Hormonal differences between the sexes may precipitate differences in aggression or nurturance behavior and these provide the building blocks for evolutionary development” (Curran, J. Smith, A. and Wingate, P., 202). As the case maybe, this might be the reason why many cases of violence that are committed in real life and have a connection surrounding around a particular film are committed by men due to their biological imposes. Young girls on the other hand can still show signs of this aggressive behavior, but especially around the age of 11 to 12, when they are exposed to the influence of mass media on their role in society and have behaviors that can shape and change their view of the world and how they will respond to certain situations.

Another study, conducted by Wilson, B. J., looked at media violence and aggression in youth and what effect short term and long-term exposer has on those individuals. This study found the media messages differ in their strength or potency for encouraging youth aggression. Children and teenagers differ in their susceptibility to the messages produced on screen but what consigned with the violence and aggression that was produced by them was their own personality, cognitive functioning and environmental situation. This could mean the violence in the media only brings out what could potently be there already rather than creating the violence altogether. With more access to film this could increase the amount of young people that are not only expressed to the violence but how they could potently act them out.

The studies into how violence in the media can have the ability to influence people has been an increasingly documented, especially in young people. Studies have been conducted on a multitude of occasions, it is a common debate within the science and even the media industry. In 1998, The Guardian released a story featuring a headlining ‘Film Violence Link to Teenage Crime’ and the subhead line read ‘Vulnerable Young People May Be Influenced by Screen Killings’. Other publications such as The Times and Daily Telegraph started as their headlines: ‘Research Fails to Link Crime with Video Violence’ (The Times) and ‘Research Fails to Link Crime with Video Violence’ (Daily Telegraph). To contradict those claims the Daily Express realized a heading stating ‘Violent Videos Are Linked to Real Life Brutality’. This claim was later backed up with a report commissioned by the Home Office in 1995 from Kevin Browne and Amanda Pennell, who was a part of the Forensic Psychology Group at the University of Birmingham intended to do more research into these findings after the wake of the possible influence of violent video has on the two schoolboy who murdered toddler James Bulger in 1993. The research that was conducted centered around this case only focused on the videos in which the young criminals sort out to watch. This study was viewed as a misleading as it didn’t truly focus on the effects of video violence on young offenders as the headline presupposed. This does not in fact dismiss the claim that violence does have an effect on people’s emotions or reactions.

Referring to the statement made ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971) is a prime example of the ill effects of watching violence due to the cases of copyright crimes that stemmed from the viewing of the film. The name of the film itself refers to a person who has the appearance of an organism lovely with color and juice, but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil. Throughout history God, religion, good and evil has been the foundation of many acts of violence. So, the name of this film can put forth the outcome of the narrative.

As stated by The Telegraph, it follows the story of a deranged gang leader Alex and his gang of ‘thugs’ that committed ‘ultra-violence’ in their community and beyond, and his ever-going battle of incarceration and rehabilitation through aversion therapy.

The key themes of the film being fate and free will, morality and ethics, manipulation, good vs evil, power transformation and evidently violence. All in which can have/ has had an impact on the viewers who have watched the film. Within the first 30 minutes of the film the audience is introduced to the main protagonist performing criminal acts such as robbing, doing drugs, gang fighting, reckless driving, vandalism, rape and murder. Inevitably having an impact especially on the film’s young viewers.

The consequence of all of these negative and violent effects in one film made the viewers of the film see it in such a way that it became deeply disturbing but thought provoking. Many audience members may have not been exposed to that kind of content which made it later be seen as a cinematic masterpiece because of the ‘raw’ content. On the other hand, during its initial realize it causal huge controversy due to the copycat crimes that were committed, which in turned made the film get banned. ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971) was withdrawn from circulation in the UK which was requested by the director Stanley Kubrick. The film was not shown to mass audiences up until Kubrick’s death in 1999, according to The Telegraph.

Although the film was shown to be disturbing it wasn’t until a year after its release that copycat crimes were reported and seemed to be connected to the film. As the crimes and some of the scenes in the film were so closely linked it was seen as inevitable that the violence in ‘A Clockwork Orange’ made some of the viewers react in the same sort of fashion. Some of these violent copycat crimes involved a group of men from the north west of England assault a 17-year-old girl while playing ‘Singing in the Rain’, which was a copy-cat take of the brutal scene at the beginning of the film. Another crime saw a 16-year-old boy kill an elderly homeless man, the reason behind the killing according to young man was due to a scene in the movie. The alliance between the film and the copycat crimes gave Kubrick a sense of distress due to the fact it had made individuals commit those heinous crimes based on the acts that were in the film. The film enlivened the debate behind the societal influence of violence in film and how it can have an impact on audiences. Kubrick initially didn’t believe that the film was responsible for the alleged copycat crimes. He maintained the belief that there was always a form of violence in all the history of art and literature. Examples being from the Bible, Greek myths and Shakespeare. He did not accept that people can be influenced by the media/ film which could create people to commit crimes through their own fantasy.

Although it contradicted with Stanley Kubrick’s views on how violent films can truly impact viewers of film, he decided to withdrawn ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971) from being shown in the UK in acknowledgement of the apparent rise in violent crime centered around the film. As claimed by The Telegraph, Kubrick never spoke on his decision and up until the day he passed he was devoted to the idea that his art did not produce violence.

Nevertheless, the frenzy that centered around ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971) made the film all the more popular. A particular number of the crimes that were allegedly taken directly from the film’s contents, the perpetrators had not seen the film. They had just merely heard of the acts that were produced in the film and decided to commit those crimes. The outrageous behavior of those crimes was seen to be far more treacherous than the actions that were committed in the movie itself. ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971) hit UK screens in 2000, a year after Stanley Kubrick’s death.

In spite of the fact that it could be argued ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971) did not directly have a link to the alleged copycat crimes, but it did spark up a conversation around violence in film. It was one of the first times where a film has been pulled out from the box office by its own director due to the reason of the amount of violence it contained. Some may have thought this was a start of cracking down on the use of violence in film but this was only just the beginning. The effects violence in films has had over the generations has grown. The only way to crack down on these effects is to not produce films that contain high levels of violence.

The violence in the media especially film will not be slowing down. As the further development within the film industry expands, the increasingly threat and exposure of violence that mankind will be settable to will be unstoppable. Although, there has been many studies that agree with the statement that violence in film has an effect on people there are also studies that contradict these claims. The debate whether these claims are true or not is down to the individuals own research. But due to the outstanding number of documented examples of the impact of violence on humans, it is increasingly believed that it has a negative effect. It would be advised to those watching violence content to not expose it to young children as they are increasingly susceptible to picking up the content shown and dramatizing those actions into real life. For a personals mental state of mind, it would be beneficial to decrease the amount of violence they take in by watching the content.

American film director, Stanley Kubrick, is one of the most influential directors in the history of cinema. His films have not left viewers indifferent for many years. In this essay, I am going to discuss how the famous film director represented women in his iconic films.

In ‘Spartacus’ (1960), Kubrick used women in a way in which they portray how they were treated in 73 BC, in ancient Rome. For example, when we meet Varinia (Jean Simmons) she is literally given to Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) as a motivational pill, for sex and his pleasure. The women slaves are used by the elite for sex whether they want it or not, for example, Gracchus (Charles Laughton) who has sexual relations with multiple slaves. However, in contrast to this when we meet the rich women they are constantly sexualizing and objectifying Spartacus and Draba (Woody Strode). Which is contrasted with the way that men treat women in Kubrick’s movies. Spartacus is filled with the male gaze as women are objectified throughout but it also shows women objectifying men. For example, when Spartacus and Draba are battling in the arena they are treated like pieces of meat. This movie reflects the time that it was made by showing how women were treated as sexual objects. In contrast to this, it also challenges the conventions of the time as it shows the male protagonist to be objectified for his body and looks.

‘Lolita’ (1962) directed by Stanley Kubrick, is known for its controversial narrative regarding pedophilia, as a middle-aged man named Humbert (James Mason) becomes infatuated with a 14-year-old girl named Lolita (Sue Lyon). ‘Lolita’ (1962) is told through the narration of Humbert which gives the story a subjective point of view by completely locking Lolita outside of her own narrative. As well as this, Lolita’s diminutive name is Dolly which could imply that Lolita is referred to as a doll which is an inanimate body with which to have an animate and illicit sexual activity. Making Lolita seem like a mannequin similar to Lady Lyndon from Kubrick’s film ‘Barry Lyndon’ (1975) as in some scenes she looks like a porcelain doll, ‘Killer Kiss’ (1955) with the mannequins in the fight scene, the erotic statues in ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971) and the mannequin-like people in ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ (1999). This all links into the idea of women being treated as objects like mannequins which are just there to model clothes and are known for having an ‘ideal figure’. In relation to the objectification of women, it is important to discuss Laura Mulvey’s (1975) theory of the male gaze, where she suggests that women on screen are subject to the desire and visual pleasure of a man. This can be seen in the scene where Humbert first meets Lolita, where she is laid on the grass sunbathing with minimal amounts of clothing, where the camera uses mid-shots and close-ups of her lips, thighs and stomach in order to sexualize her. Although the movie is in black and white, the color red is often interpretation on Lolita’s lips and nails this color symbolizes passion and lust which again is used to sexualize the young girl. Confirming the idea that Kubrick objectified this character to show the life of Humbert.

Women in science fiction has changed throughout the years but more recently in films like ‘Alien’ (1979) females are presented as a heroic protagonist but remain similar to their gender politics by containing women in a sexualized and controlling masculine gaze. However, women in Kubrick’s movies tend to be dominated by the patriarchal world like in his science fiction movie ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968), where we see women working alongside men; this is shown through the stewardess characters who are portrayed as being docile in comparison to the men around them. When Kubrick was asked why there aren’t many women in the film, he stated that “women didn’t seem to have a lot to do with it” (Cocks, 2010). Kubrick then went on to say that it’s interesting to see how “the crew will deal with their sexual urges”, this implies that in Kubrick’s eyes this is the main purpose of a woman.

And the last movie that will be discussed in this essay is ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971). In this movie women are portrayed as objects and entertainment for characters such as Alex DeLarge (Malcolm Macdowell) this is shown by them being abused and raped as well as being objectified purely for pleasure. Kubrick stated that Alex “represents man the way he would be if society did not impose civilization upon him” (White, 1985: 24). This reinforces the idea that ‘A Clockwork Orange’ is based around a man’s world making the women disposable throughout the movie by banal acts. When women are being raped and murdered in the film it is not seen as being as serious as when Alex is fighting with Billy’s Boys or when Alex is having a disagreement with other droogs emphasizing the worthlessness of women in the narrative. Encounters like rape, the record store, and the finale are portrayed as less erotically cathected than Alex fighting or post-Ludovico beatings (DeRosia, 2003: 64). This aspect of the film shows how women are treated as being inferior to men as when serious things are happening to them it is not as hyped up with action and music as when Alex is fighting with Billy’s Boys. Proving that women are seen as sexual objects that the men in this movie desire, this can also be seen at the beginning of the movie in the milk bar ‘Korova’, where the furniture is naked female mannequins in sexual poses as decoration similar to the rest of the women in the film.

In summary, Stanley Kubrick’s films are filled with the so-called male view of women. Women in his works are usually presented as sexual objects, as those who exist exclusively to satisfy all the passions of men. Men in films despise women, show violence to them, and by their actions emphasize the worthlessness of women. Women in Stanley Kubrick’s films are portrayed as inferior to men.

Alex from A Clockwork Orange seems to be two different people living within the same body. As an extremely horrible human during the night raping and committing acts of ultra-violence. Where as during the day he is depicted as a more elegant man. This is shown through his words, his clothing and his overall attitude.

Alex doesn’t seem to show any real interest in being close to anyone in the film. He does interact with the boys in his gang but still it isn’t in the way of a male to male friendship but more of similar interests. Society seems to be against him due to his nightly activities. The only thing he seems to show any love for is his pet snake. Freud’s analyzation for a man’s closeness to a snake is that the person involved may be questioning his love towards women or maybe even questioning his sexuality. It seems he feels a certain closeness to his snake that makes him feel more like a man.

Throughout the film Alex finds himself in many situations where he is surrounded by graphic sexual scenes or some sort of phallic reference. One night after committing an act of ultra-violence he finds himself in the Karova Milk Bar. The bar is littered with sculptures and images of naked women in various sexual encounters. Many of which have fluffy and colorful hair. I feel this corresponds with Harlow’s experiments with monkey babies finding comfort in soft items when distressed.

I feel Alex finds comfort in the fluffy hair and soft environment the bar portrays. When he commits an act that puts him in distress he retreats to Karova to bring him comfort and satisfaction.

I believe Alex grew up in a broken home. Freud believed that the self-image of a man is shaped in his first five years of life. In the film it seems Alex’s parents show little to no interest in him and it seems they could have caused distress to him in his early life. It’s safe to assume Alex didn’t retrieve much love from his parents growing up. Freud also believed that if a child doesn’t receive the proper love from their mother they will find other means to replace the comfort the mother would have provided. I found that Alex’s comfort was the pleasure committing acts of ultra violence brought after a night on the town with his “Droogs”.

I believe that as a child Alex witnessed either his mother being beat by his father or vise versa or even his parents beating on him numerous times. I feel this is a big reason Alex behaved the way he does throughout the film. Because according to Bandura’s finding a child imitates the action they view and believes it to be natural. Alex’s aggressive behavior against society is in direct result of this trauma and this trauma makes him believe all of the things he does in the world is a natural thing.

In a Freudian aspect this could explain why he commits most if not all of his aggressive acts. His actions directly relates to his hatred for his parents or his hatred for one more than the other.

Music seemed to be his salvation. The sounds of Ludwig Van Beethovan were used in a psuedo-Pavlov experiment to eliminate Alex’s love for chaos and violence. In the experiment Alex ingested a serum that induced a deathlike paralized state. While the serum was beginning to kick in he was bombarded by sights of ultra-violence and the sounds of Beethovan. This experiment left an impression on his psyche.

Alex’s trauma could also be referred to as an approach to a Skinner approach to treatment. Skinner’s approach was that one could condition a response by giving the person positive or negative reinforcement. In Skinner’s experiment a mouse was put in a cage with nothing but a pressable button and a light. When the bar was depressed the light flashed and food was delivered into the cage. The conditioned response was to hit the lever when hungry. The reinforcement was the food that was provided by completing said response. In the case of Alex the reinforcement was the mental satisfaction of not committing acts when he was subject to surroundings that urged his violent tendencies

In conclusion Alex from A Clockwork Orange is a classic example of many famous psychologists’ case studies and could be analyzed differently by each. At the end of the day it seems he could be that of a psychopath and a serial killer but as the film progresses he goes through treatments to eradicate this behavior. It seems to have worked but in the very last scene it seems he is going back to his old ways and could eventually go back to the way he used to be meaning the treatment was only temporary.

“It is as inhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally evil” (Burgess Xiii).

Life could not exist without evil. ‘A Clockwork Orange’ by Anthony Burgess describes the exploits and behaviors of Alex. The author depicts him as a violent and sociopathic adolescent who strives to become a constructive member of the community. Based on the story, a film adaption directed by Stanley Kubrick came out in 1971. Both the movie and novel versions of the work have had a significant impact on popular culture. However, the film adaptation omits certain sections found in the novel version. The modified film version reflects a dystopian England society. More fundamentally, it excludes the 21st chapter of the novel. Therefore, one can conclude that ‘A Clockwork Orange’ differs from its literary source. Despite the slight differences, the movie and literary versions have areas of convergence. Both the movie and the novel demonstrate the effect of ultra-violence perpetrated by Alex. However, the film director is determined to create a much-darker quality of the criminal acts of ‘thuggish’ Alex, hence removing the sympathy often portrayed in the novel.

The film version of ‘A Clockwork Orange’ downplays the criminal acts of Alex. It provides the story from his point of view. According to Snively, the movie is unable to depict the violence in a non-graphic way, thereby giving Alex a much darker quality. As such, this removes any element of sympathy that the viewers might have towards Alex. For instance, the novel portrays a razor as Alex’s primary weapon. However, in the movie, one can observe that the weapon is a hidden knife. From the omission of a razor in his book, one can clearly see that the director is keen on creating a much-darker quality of Alex’s behavior. Despite this and other disparities, the two versions of the movie have areas of agreement.

In both the movie and the novel, Alex is portrayed as a gang member that engages in acts of criminality. As illustrated by Snively, “He is a violent gang member who assaults, robs, and rapes people purely for enjoyment” (Snively, 1). Both the movie and the book contain scenes where he terrorizes people, including authority figures, friends, and innocent strangers. In both instances, Alex is portrayed as a pervert hell-bent on assaulting women and forcefully engaging them in sex. In explaining a rape incident where Alex had his brutality by saying, “forcing down a woman who was crying hysterically” (Burgess, 23). The film version also remains keen to demonstrate the violent scenes. The novel is brutal and explains Alex’s behavior from an outsider’s point of view. However, the movie provides the story from Alex’s point of view.

The ending of the movie also plays a significant role in the overall direction of the story. Kubrick’s film removes the happy ending that Burgess attempts to put in his story. Burgess attempts to restore social order in his story by rehabilitating the character of Alex. The author portrays a changed Alex willing to start a life with his wife and son. However, the film version ends in a bad note. The director takes a retributive approach against Alex. According to him, evil should be punished, and justice restored in society. He does not allow him to change or make amends for his character and shows no ‘optimism’ for Alex. Therefore, from the onset, the film director is determined to create a much darker quality of the criminal acts of Alex hence removing the sympathy often portrayed in the novel.

With this being said, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ is a classic nonetheless. The book tries to have the reader sympathize with Alex, and show he is changing for the better. The movie portrays Alex as a demon and someone that does not belong in society. This could be for the audience’s entertainment, removing any sympathy for Alex. Both the movie and the novel demonstrate the effect of ultra-violence perpetrated by Alex.

Works Cited

1. Kubrick, Stanley, and Anthony Burgess. A Clockwork Orange. Los Angeles: Warner Bros, 1971.
2. Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange: Restored Edition. Penguin UK, 2013.
3. Snively, Ben. Cured All Right: The Differing Messages of the Literary and Cinematic Versions of ‘A Clockwork Orange’. https://medium.com/@bensnively/the-differing-messages-in-the-literary-and-cinematic-versions-of-a-clockwork-orange-7d817de9d8b1
4. Farrell, Thomas B. Introduction. Norms of Rhetorical Culture, by Farrell, Yale UP, 1993, pp.1-13.