Film Analysis: A Clockwork Orange

The film opens with a close up shot of Alex dressed in white with gray suspenders showcasing his false eyelashes on his right eye and with the brim of his pork pie hat tilted slightly downward. His ominous blue eyes peering right through you as if you did not even exist. Slowly the camera pulls back as Alex takes a sip of drug laced milk revealing the type of company he keeps. His “droogs” as Alex called them were seated next to him on a bench in the Korova Milk Bar. The Korova Milk Bar was decorated with nude figures of women posed as if they had fallen backwards and they attempted to catch themselves by putting their arms behind them. The flats of their stomachs doubled as a table where glasses of milk could be placed. Other nude statues
doubled as the tap where the drug laden milk was dispensed from their breasts (Kubrick). During this scene we are first introduced to the concept of classical conditioning.
Classical conditioning is an idea that Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov developed during the 1890’s. Pavlov proposed that that many of the responses animals and humans provided were learned responses and he devised an experiment that proved his theory. Pavlov conditioned dogs to salivate when a bell was rung with the expectation of food. Over time the bell would be rung and no food would be provided, but the dogs would still salivate because they have associated the bell with being fed. Though Alex does not salivate, he does display several learned responses as related to classical conditioning throughout the film.
Alex has multiple triggers that elicit his violent responses throughout A Clockwork Orange.
One of his biggest triggers is the milk from the Korova Milk Bar. His drink of choice, milk plus, by his own admission “will sharpen you up and make you ready for the ultra-violence” has a detrimental effect on Alex and his thought process. Once consumed, as various other drugs Alex’s self-control is lost deep inside his mind and the conditioned response of violence comes to the forefront in dramatic fashion. Alex’s has conditioned himself through his consumption of milk plus to act out his violent impulses. It is plausible that his conditioning is a direct reaction to the socialistic society that shows very little respect to the disenfranchised youth during that time period. The ultra-violent outbursts Alex displays could be a statement on his struggles against the oppressive society he is a part of. Alex and his droogs’ ultimate goal are to make the victims of their crimes appear to be the lowlifes of society and that they are being punished for their role in perpetuating the socialist agenda. Moreover, Alex has convinced himself of the delusion that he is a freedom fighter or the savior of a pre-socialist society
(Kael).
This idea rings true when Alex and his gang stumble upon a secluded house deep in the country. Their disdain toward the home owners is evident once they gain entry to the house and the assault begins. The gang wastes no time in tying up the residents and brutally assaulting be husband while preparing the wife to be viciously assaulted and raped in front of her husband. The brutality of this scene, as disturbing as it is, shows that the gang has a total lack of respect for human life. The manner in which the crimes committed aims to dehumanize the victims and boost the deranged thought that Alex is free from any type of legal or political control by the oppressive socialist government (Sumner). Alex himself argues “the not-self cannot have the bad, meaning they of the government and the judges and the schools cannot allow the bad because they cannot allow the self. And is not our modern history, my brothers, the story of brave malenky selves fighting these big machines? (Burgess)”
Regrettably, these thoughts and actions have been programmed as a conditioned response to the milk plus that the gang drinks regularly at the Korova Milk Bar. The conditioned responses also raise the questions of free will and man’s ability to choose the moral path and the inherent evil within mankind. Quite obviously, Alex does not have the mental capability to resist his pre-programmed responses; similar to how Pavlov’s dogs started salivating once they heard the bell ring. The conditioned response Alex is experiencing is greater than man meaning he has absolutely no control over the response that is given. Moreover, Alex cannot only not control the responses he has no idea why they are happening to him in the first place. He understands that he received a trigger and now disparaging things are going to happen and this brings pleasure to him.
While it may not be a conditioned response, Alex derives additional pleasures for classical music, specifically Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. There is a deep connection associated to this symphony as different parts of it are used throughout the film mainly accenting the ultra-violent scenes. This symphony and Alex’s love for it, play a pivotal role during the movie. The Ninth Symphony has been connected to violence and violent people since it was composed, but most notably Adolf Hitler and his highly racist Third Reich (Hoyng). Annually the Ninth Symphony was played for Hitler during his birthday celebration. It was also performed in 2000 during a memorial concert in Austria’s main concentration camp (Hoyng). This presumably kind gesture horrified many of the attendees reopening the wounds of Germany’s racist and elitist past. Kubrick’s intentions behind the symphony may not have been as sinister as the usage by Hitler; it’s deliberately intended to evoke an emotional response from Alex and the viewer.
Historically, classical music has been considered to have a significantly higher value than other forms of music. This is primarily due to the level of complexity associated with classical music. Composers spend many years honing their craft and obsessing over the placement of every note and the meaning it will have within the context of the song. Classical music has been associated with wealth, stature, refinement, and the highly educated (Dibben). It is associated with calm and passive action and the idea of classical music does not encompass the vile actions of violence and rape. Socioeconomic status has been determined by the collection and understanding of classical music, which it is so surprising that a juvenile delinquent such as Alex derives so much pleasure from it. By all accounts, Alex does not fit into any of these criteria yet he is still drawn to the music. Ultimately, Alex’s love for Beethoven’s Ninth will be his down fall mentally.
Classical conditioning by every sense of the meaning, become very evident during the last part of the movie. Alex and his gang after drinking large quantities of milk plus at the Korova decide to rob a woman’s house that has shut her business down for a vacation. It is believed that the house contains a large amount of gold, silver, and jewelry. Alex, being the first one in stumbles upon the woman who has just hung up the phone with the police he attempted to gain entry through the front door by way of a false story regarding a bleeding friend in the road. The room is decorated with pictures of nude women posed in a provocative manner, a large ceramic penis on a table by the door and a bust of Ludwig Van Beethoven on her desk. With the Ninth Symphony is playing in the back ground Alex enters the room to the woman’s shock and the argument ensues. Alex begins fondling the ceramic penis and the woman informs him that the penis is a “very important work of art” (Kubrick). After her demands for Alex to leave the house the woman picks up the bust of Beethoven and attempts to chase Alex out of the house. He promptly picks up the ceramic penis and hits her in the head ultimately killing her. Alex rushes to the front door to let the rest of the gang in when is assaulted by one of his gang members leaving him bruised and bloodied. As the rest of the gang runs off the police arrive and arrest Alex and take him to jail.
After serving two years of a fourteen year sentence Alex is selected to take part in a new experimental treatment. The Ludovico technique is designed to rehabilitate violent criminals such as Alex. Over several weeks Alex is subjected to horrible violence shown to him on films with the background score being Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. He has devices that hold his eyes open, his head is strapped in place so he cannot divert his attention. The entire process becomes very troublesome to Alex, who starts to break down mentally. The treatment works a planned, whenever Alex is confronted with a choice to commit a violent or sexual act the reaction that arises is one of sickness, nausea, and headaches; he is unable to proceed with the thought that has crossed his mind. Released back into the world, Alex finds himself defenseless to the world’s cruelties. The ground breaking treatment he has received reduces Alex to a man who is incapable of defending himself in the face of a violent world. This inability to defend himself almost gets him killed.
Alex was conditioned to react in a passive manner when confronted with any action that could be considered ultra-violence.
Classical conditioning experiments have been performed on humans with a large degree of success. One of the most notable and most controversial classical conditioning experiments done on humans was Watson’s “Little Albert” experiment. This experiment was conducted to test the fear response in humans. The experiment started off by introducing Albert to several animals, a white rat, monkey, bunny and a dog (Creelan). When Albert started to play with the rat, Watson banged a hammer on a metal pipe scaring Albert causing him to cry. Over time the sight of the rat without the banging of the hammer caused Albert to cry. Albert associated the loud scary noise to touching the rat, thus being successfully conditioned to fear the rat. By today’s standards, this experiment would never be allowed due to the ethical standards set forth by the American Psychological Association
(Creelan).
Behavioral therapies have been used to help modify a myriad of social conditions at a very successful rate. Aversion therapy as portrayed in A Clockwork Orange is used to encourage an individual to relinquish undesirable habits by causing them to associate the habit to an unpleasant side effect. In Alex’s case, his undesirable habits were violence, rape and murder. The treatment he received successfully corrected his behavior by associating these negative and violent habits with nausea, headaches, and stomach cramps. The excruciating pain induced by his conditioning reinforced the idea that the habit he was about to act upon was wrong and ultimately caused him to rethink his course of action. Aversion therapy and classical conditioning is not a long term corrective measures as Alex demonstrated at the end of the film where he day dreams of a sexual encounter with a beautiful woman without any side effects. Conditioned responses are only intended to provide a method to weaken the association to the destructive habit, not cure it.
Today, classical conditioning is used on a grand scale weather we realize it or not. Unlike the experiments preformed on Alex, we as consumers respond to marketing on a daily basis that has its roots firmly planted in classical conditioning without the negative reactions. Marketing firms and major corporations learned that carefully tailored ad campaigns can elicit a response that boosts sales of their product greatly. Primarily, this form of conditioning is used in low impart products, meaning that the consumer is not actively searching for the product. Since the consumer is not actively searching the advertising needs to be repetitive and frequent for it to work properly. Advertisers have determined that another key aspect to this form of conditioning is to have an emotional connection with the viewer (Del L Hawkins). Classical conditioning is a form of passive learning and is best utilized when the recipient does not realize that they are being conditioned for a response. This is why the advertisements need to be repetitive, frequent and draw on the emotions of the viewer.
The McDonalds Corporation has admitted to focusing their ad campaigns to viewers as young as three years of age. They understand that if they imbed their brand into every aspect of this child’s life through cute toys and funny characters that whine this child is old enough to make decisions on their won they will return to the chain as a young adult and as an adult for nostalgic reasons (Schlosser). While not as extreme as the treatment Alex was administered classical conditioning still produces a favorable response for the company.