{"id":588,"date":"2016-05-06T09:19:50","date_gmt":"2016-05-06T13:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/?p=588"},"modified":"2016-05-06T09:24:15","modified_gmt":"2016-05-06T13:24:15","slug":"a-clockwork-orange-shows-the-dark-side-of-human-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/a-clockwork-orange-shows-the-dark-side-of-human-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"A Clockwork Orange Shows the Dark Side of Human Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Luke Parker, staff writer<\/em><\/p>\n

Stanley Kubrick\u2019s A Clockwork Orange is, like so many of Kubrick\u2019s films, a warning; it throws a mirror in the audience\u2019s face and says \u201cThis is what our society is coming to! Unless you find a way to change it.\u201d\u00a0 A deeply ideological, visually stunning work of art, Clockwork Orange is set in the near future, and attempts to warn the world of an oncoming doom. A doom that takes the form of our \u201chumble narrator,\u201d Alex.<\/p>\n

After a series of disturbingly ultraviolent shenanigans with his droogs (friends), Alex is betrayed and is arrested for murder.\u00a0 With a couple years of hard time under his belt and many more to come, Alex has his eyes set on leaving anyway he can.\u00a0 When a new experiment, which would exempt him of his jail time, shows up, Alex doesn\u2019t hesitate to volunteer.\u00a0 And after rigorous tests, Alex is sent back into the dystopian society, with the shadow of his past life still following him.<\/p>\n

Alex\u2019s character is one of darkness and complexity.\u00a0 He is the type of guy you\u2019d create space between when walking past him on the sidewalk, and refuse to look back at him in fear that he is staring back at you.\u00a0 And yet, he admires Beethoven and the power of classical music.\u00a0 For the first half of the film, he is pure evil; he\u2019s a killer, a rapist, a villain. Later, he is converted to purified evil, forced to conform to the society that created him.\u00a0 But if he were physically able to continue his sadistic behavior, he would. And somehow, Malcolm McDowell\u2019s portrayal of Alex leaves the viewer with an uncontrollable feeling of pity.\u00a0 Pity that no rapist deserves.<\/p>\n

The film is incredibly dark. Based on the novel by Anthony Burgess, it places a large emphasis on the more disturbing aspects of society.\u00a0 It\u2019s focus on crime, corruption, and irony makes for an upsetting series of realizations.\u00a0 And ever since it\u2019s release with an X rating, A Clockwork Orange has been subject to controversy.<\/p>\n

A Clockwork Orange is also exceedingly graphic, and its sense of realism is unmatched by most other films.\u00a0 But it\u2019s not as if Kubrick stemmed the movie\u2019s more unsettling sequences from his own mind; rapes, murders, and inhumane experiments all happen in the real world, and I commend the film\u2019s bravery for sticking to the truth.<\/p>\n

Another point of praise is the way Clockwork Orange is filmed.\u00a0 It\u2019s unique use of music, fast cuts, and wide-angle lens create a futuristic-feeling on the screen.\u00a0 And in near-future science fiction, it is important that the audience can see that the story is set in the future.\u00a0 Even from the opening shot of Alex\u2019s face slowly panning back to reveal the Korova Milk Bar, there is a sense of separation between Alex\u2019s world and the viewer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

A Clockwork Orange is undoubtedly not only a Kubrick classic, but a cinematic classic.\u00a0 If you are able to look past the film\u2019s vulgar and disturbing scenes, and understand its messages, Alex and his story will stand out in your mind as a complicated and mesmerizing marvel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Luke Parker, staff writer Stanley Kubrick\u2019s A Clockwork Orange is, like so many of Kubrick\u2019s films, a warning; it throws a mirror in the audience\u2019s face and says \u201cThis is what our society is coming to! Unless you find a way to change it.\u201d\u00a0 A deeply ideological, visually stunning work of art, Clockwork Orange…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[252,251],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/dd42a29b73f1614c9538160fa82e73dd.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":590,"href":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588\/revisions\/590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}