The Real Horrorshow: How Kubrick Uncovers the Killer in You Part of the satisfaction we experience when watching a horror film is the relief that comes from knowing what we see is purely vicarious. As a culture, Hollywood has been able to push the boundary of “acceptable” in horrors and thrillers over the years as viewers, directors, and actors grow desensitized to the subject matter. The fainting and terror experienced in the first screenings of Nosferatu are no more; the 1971 film, A Clockwork Orange, as directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on a novel by Anthony Burgess, features gruesome scenes of gang violence, murder, rape, drug use, betrayal, experimental psychiatry, police violence, and an overall theme of moral incorrectness. Such inhumane
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Instead, such as with the case of A Clockwork Orange, it can function as a tool or medium through which the story is told. When the audience witnesses grotesque acts of inhumanity depicted as fun with contradicting music and camera angles, the cognitive dissonance they experience creates the line between reality and fantasy. Nether the author, director, or actors truly felt desire to act out the scenes they portrayed in their real lives. Instead, they artfully gave an inside tour of the mind of Alex DeLarge. When society finds itself asking “why, oh why?” when a travesty of any sort strikes, longing to understand the criminal mind, the viewing experience this movie presents creates opportunity for it to consider the experiences of others. Understanding does not constitute forgiveness. While Alex was a relatable and entertaining character, no matter how “cured” he was, he remained a sociopath through until the end. Kubrick’s direction gave viewers a look at the world as Alex did. Perhaps it is not the fetishization of “ultraviolence” that critics cannot handle, but having been forced to see things from a forbidden perspective
Instead, such as with the case of A Clockwork Orange, it can function as a tool or medium through which the story is told. When the audience witnesses grotesque acts of inhumanity depicted as fun with contradicting music and camera angles, the cognitive dissonance they experience creates the line between reality and fantasy. Nether the author, director, or actors truly felt desire to act out the scenes they portrayed in their real lives. Instead, they artfully gave an inside tour of the mind of Alex DeLarge. When society finds itself asking “why, oh why?” when a travesty of any sort strikes, longing to understand the criminal mind, the viewing experience this movie presents creates opportunity for it to consider the experiences of others. Understanding does not constitute forgiveness. While Alex was a relatable and entertaining character, no matter how “cured” he was, he remained a sociopath through until the end. Kubrick’s direction gave viewers a look at the world as Alex did. Perhaps it is not the fetishization of “ultraviolence” that critics cannot handle, but having been forced to see things from a forbidden perspective