April 16 – A Clockwork Orange (1971)

As a psychology major and a fan of mystery/thriller novels, movies dubbed psychological thrillers appeal to me. In forums and general areas of discussion of movies, I’ve read about the cult following this movie has garnered up to this day. Reviews are generally favorable and considered it one of the best films of the 70’s.

A Clockwork Orange was adapted from a 1962 novel of the same name written by Anthony Burgess. The film adaptation was made by the legendary Stanley Kubrick. The story is about a young delinquent, Alex (played by Malcom McDowell), with his group of friends, as they terrorize the cities of Britain. He gets sentenced to jail with the crime of murder and undergoes a new potentially dangerous behavioral modification treatment to reduce his aggressive urges. After being “cured” and released, he is left to face his old enemies and being psychologically unable to fight back.

I’ve read a lot about the artistic style of Kubrick in movie forums. He tends to adapt unusual stories rather than create his own. His also known for his perfectionist attention to detail, all the while adding his own creative mark. The first half of the movie was shrouded with an eerie comedic feel. I didn’t know if I should laugh or feel disturbed with the sex and violence scenes. Usually in the midst of the violence, the gang sings and dances to the tunes of Beethoven, and in one particular assault, the song Singing in the Rain from the musical. It’s quite hard to take the scenes seriously as it was presented in a weird graceful way.

Seeing the psychological procedure done on Alex to scientifically suppress his violence, I realized the theme and beauty of the movie. Coming from studying theories of psychology for years, I know that theories on behavioral modification were made popular by radical behaviorists BF Skinner and John Watson around the time the story was written. Their theories were met with numerous criticism because they renounced the notion of free will, saying they can scientifically condition anyone to do anything under the right circumstances. Naturally, people do not like hearing that they are not free, especially religious enthusiasts. This was portrayed in the movie when the jail priest showed his disapproval of the method saying there’s no morality if there’s no choice. This tackling of such a social scientific issue married along the lines of a psychological thriller movie and resulting to a large following, showed the magnitude of the radical behaviorist controversy.

In a bigger picture, a big reason why radical behaviorism was met with negative press was due to the English’s hatred for totalitarianism. From knowledge of the books I’ve read in the past written around that time, it did usually tackle the subject of totalitarianism. Some of the famous books I’ve read on this topic are 1984 (1949) and Animal Farm (1945) by George Orwell, Atlas Shrugged (1957) by Ayn Rand , and to some extent Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Goulding. Some other similar recommendations are appreciated. This was a pretty big issue back in the 50’s-70’s in Britain. Perhaps this kind of allergy towards totalitarianism or fascism was a result of the recently concluded World War II. As a result, new laws on human rights, most of which we still have today, were made in accordance to the new thinking of protecting one’s freedom at all costs. This issue incorporated in the movie resonated positively to the viewers of the time and even today.

The way A Clockwork Orange tackled the big sociopolitical issues of the time is a testament to the movie’s cultural relevance even until today. I’ve wondered why this movies was considered so good by critics. I’ve always thought the story just contained senseless violence and sex. Fortunately, I was emphatically proven otherwise. Believe it or not, Kubrick had a creative way of portraying violence in a graceful nonchalant way to the point that it’s almost comedic. In the end, the audience are left in confusion whether to see Alex as the villain, in response to the normal human nature of viewing murderers in a negative light, or see as the victim due to the public’s negative reaction towards radical behaviorism and totalitarianism of the time. This dilemma was a huge credit to the movie’s success.