A Clockwork Orange (1971)

I've loved Stanley Kubrick's work pretty much ever since I first saw 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) when I was... about 10 I think. Yeah, I had a pretty kick ass attention span for a kid when it came to sci-fi movies at least. I even remember enjoying Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) (accurately nicknamed Star Trek: The Slowmotion Picture). Of course it wasn't until much later that I saw some of Kubrick's other movies like The Shining (1980) and today's film A Clockwork Orange. The film has very strong themes of sexual and state violence so inevitably I will be discussing such concepts. If these topics are especially distressing to you it might be a good idea to skip this post.

The most obvious point of discussion A Clockwork Orange demands its viewers consider and discuss is violence in relation to social decay. On that note what I find most surprising about rewatching A Clockwork Orange (probably for about the 5th time) is the kind of violence I most strongly react to. The first half of the film, that shows us the vile acts Alex and his Droogs commit, is horrible and hard to watch, but for me, even harder to watch is the state sanctioned violence enacted upon Alex. In a lot of ways A Clockwork Orange is more interested in condemning state sanctioned violence both physical and psychological than the violence of civilians. The Ludovico technique is a form of torture that leaves long lasting indelible effects that not coincidentally makes the subject more susceptible to state violence. Alex is no longer able to defend himself when assaulted by fellow citizens or his Droogs turned police. This susceptibility to state violence is in my mind most shockingly demonstrated in the demonstration of Alex's reformed state for the politicians judging the Ludovico technique's efficacy. Alex is made to literally lick the boot of a violent oppressor for the obvious pleasure of the monied and powerful crowd. The conclusion one must draw from this is that state violence has the capability to make make it's subject more vulnerable to all types of violence, whereas violence enacted between citizens has no such power and is therefore less "complete". I don't think the film intends to suggest that individual violence between citizens is harmless of course. The behavior of one of Alex's victims, Mr. Alexander, in the second half demonstrates that his victimization has had massive long term negative effects on his mental and physical health. As he requires the use of a wheelchair and seems to be, to some extent, mentally broken. However, the violence visited upon him hasn't, as state violence has done to Alex, rendered him unable to fight back. This, I think cuts to the core of the anti-fascist, anti-authoritarian themes of A Clockwork Orange. The film states strongly that state violence has the capability to and indeed inevitably does completely eradicate it's victim's ability to fight back.

Something that seems less often discussed regarding A Clockwork Orange is the ways it depicts sexuality, especially homosexuality. Throughout the film sexuality is used exclusively as a form of violence. Alex and his fellows have little issue raping their female victims, and even some of the non-sexual violence is depicted with strong sexual imagery as is seen when Alex beats a woman to death with a penis statue. However, what stuck out to me on this particular viewing of the film was various depictions of homosexuality. Given that this film was made in the early 70's it's unsurprising that these depictions aren't quite flattering. There are three depictions of homosexuality that I saw in the film. The earliest being Mr. Deltoid, Alex's probation officer. In the scene introducing the character he has a chat with Alex while Alex is clad only in his underwear. During this chat Mr. Deltoid gets increasingly handsy with Alex finishing their discussion of his bad behavior by clapping his hand hard on Alex's crotch causing visible pain. I hope I don't need to explain how this not only plays into the conflation of homosexuality and pedophilia but also depicts homosexuality as violent and predatory. Furthermore given Mr. Deltoid's position of state authority there is a connection drawn between violent homosexual behaviors and state violence. Next, A Clockwork Orange has a far tamer and more expected reference to homosexuality when its told to us in the narration that Alex has concerns over being sexually assaulted in prison. Reference to prison rape is common in films, and is a worryingly pervasive real world problem. It is still distressing however, that the film still utilizes this, even at the time, tired cliche to motivate Alex to get out of prison. A Clockwork Orange  would have lost nothing if the reference were to be removed. Finally, and perhaps more complexly is Mr. Alexander in Julian. When Alex returns to Mr. Alexander's home seeking shelter, we are introduced to Mr. Alexander's... manservant? Julian. Julian is first seen in a tracking shot that is identical to how Mr. Alexander's wife was introduced and under nearly identical circumstances. This creates an association in the viewers mind between Julian and Mr. Alexander's wife that they serve the same purpose for Mr. Alexander; suggesting a homosexual relationship. This on it's own isn't bad, but given the movie's implication, through Mr. Alexander's behavior, that he is somehow psychologically damaged the movie seems to draw connections between mental illness, violence and homosexuality. This is all mediated by the fact that all sexuality in the movie is violent, but Mr. Deltoid's pedophilia and Mr. Alexander's erratic behavior suggest an unchallenged support of harmful homosexual stereotypes. 

A Clockwork Orange is always a fun movie to dig into and despite my grievances with its treatment of sexuality it remains a fantastic film by one of the absolute masters of the craft. Coming next Tuseday is as film based (loosely) off a rather fine musical that I've been fortunate enough to see in person recently: Cabaret (1972).