A CLOCKWORK ORANGE made us question our morals | Movies That Changed Us #12

[@delanib1701]

I watched this movie as a teenager (and a girl! horrors!). And yeah, the violence was hard to take...but the movie was much tamer than the book. The author said he purposefully made the dialect hard to decipher, so that it created some "space" between you and the absolutely awful things the narrator does. And Kubrick actually softened some of it. The scene with the girls he picks up from the record store, in particular.

[@cainmayberry]

I’m also a giant fan of kubrick’s films. This film is the strangest but the most beautiful, I’m happy you guys did a podcast episode on this.

[@robling1937]

You guys nailed it. Really challenging movie to watch, but I think it is so fantastic.

[@cjpolett2055]

I wish I could have joined you guys for this conversation. My first exposure to ACO as a kid was bizarre - it was actually the Mad Magazine parody of it, that was how I first understood the plot as a wee lad 😂

[@StoryTimewithMissAnna]

I can't wait to watch this later! This movie is one of my favorite films that I can never watch. At a certain point my brain just is unable to accept it. I still listen to the soundtrack, but the movie itself is not something I can sit through anymore. Which makes me sad because the cinematography is stunning. All of it is. I can't wait to see what you guys think of it! This is one of Kubrick's most powerful films.

[@delanib1701]

This movie, I think, is what kind of typecast Malcolm McDowell as the psychopath bad guy.

[@ondrejvasak1054]

Do you not get philosophy in the US in middle or high school? It felt really weird how you talk about Kant at 35:04, like he requied explanation, while to me it's like explaining who Nietzsche or Marx was. It would really surprise me if he was not part of curriculum, I remember we spent a lot of time on him.

[@StoryTimewithMissAnna]

Oh! I forgot to add something, the book has a whole glossary of the terms used throughout the text, and a little bit in the movie. Because I had read the book, I feel like I got a whole extra layer of understanding from the movie. Which was pretty neat. I have forgotten most of it now😅

[@thegoatchild3545]

Great discussion, guys. This is a powerful, thought-provoking, and disturbing movie that definitely stays with you. One of Kubrick's best, but then again, you could say that about all of them.😜 I would love to hear your thoughts about Dr. Strangelove.🍺🍺

[@MoviesThatChangedUs]

Thank you! Dr Strangelove would be fun to talk about in the future

[@thegoatchild3545]

@@MoviesThatChangedUs for sure, it's frighteningly relevant in these crazy times.

[@_FH.]

Two thumbs up on the intro 👍👍

[@MoviesThatChangedUs]

Much appreciated 😂

[@oneopinion6806]

It has been just over 20 years since I have seen Clockwork Orange so my impression is affected by time and youth (I was probably just over 18 when I saw it.) I do agree with the Goodfellas analogy in that if folks only watch part they might think what is being depicted is being celebrated. In a way it is for the characters at the time, and there is a subversive, dark urge that is being courted--for men, my now wife HATED watching it at the time and I can completely understand why. As an American teenage male it is a bit easier to be both hardened to depictions of violence and especially that of a sexual nature as it is most often not the male shown to be the victim. From what I still remember of the film, I feel like the intention was to show the criminal youth perhaps as despicable, but through the prison treatment, the experimenting and outcome that there was a broader ill also at play in what is otherwise seen as justice. The droogs are savage and base, but the establishment is shown to have it's own form of savagery dressed up as institution. I should really give it a fresh watch, though I think I won't be able to get through the violence in the same way as 18 year old me could. As a side note beyond the heady topics, can we bask in the soundtrack using Wendy Carlos's (as of creation she was Walter, but transitioned to Wendy later) excellent work on the Moog synthesizer? She also did The Shining. As a kid my dad loved her music and Switched-On Bach (from '68) was on our record player often.

[@MoviesThatChangedUs]

Great analysis! And yes, we should’ve shouted out the music more. It’s a huge part of what makes the movie stay in your head

[@venomsnigle44]

Can't help but love this movie after how many times I've seen it, but I totally understand why most people would be turned off by it. That being said I watched it at 13 or 14 something like that, I understood that what they were doing was wrong but I just enjoyed the movie and then I would watch it on repeat for some time while I played video games. I wouldn't recommend it but you do come out an interesting individual so

[@adamdarmstaedter1256]

The first time I did LSD, I tried to watch this movie. I only made it to the part where they bust into the old man's house. Their laughter was too insane and I had to turn it off. I listened to Pink Floyd with a blacklight on for the rest of the night. It's awesome to watch on DXM though.

[@cainmayberry]

YOU GUYS HAVE TO WATCH STANLEY KUBRICK FILMS

[@savos2229]

This film perfectly reflects the unsustainability of sociological theories that are imposed in today's society. A society in which everyone does what comes to mind, and which is trivially justified by some kind of civil "liberties", it will inevitably happen that those who are unscrupulous and prone to violence will make life impossible for ordinary people. On the other hand, a society that suppresses natural aggression at all costs, without the possibility of constructive decompression, is even worse, because such a society is ruled by cowards. There is nothing worse than a coward getting a position of authority. A perfect example of this is the former and current communist countries, where the whole society is organized in that way, but it is a frequent phenomenon in large systems under capitalism as well.

[@spencerarnold669]

Interestingly enough, talking of the need to show evil to comment on evil . I saw a thing about goodfellas and the level of violence. Apparently there was a tv edit which pulled back on some of the scenes, for instance the part where Ray Liotta pistol-whips the guy, was cut down to a couple of strikes. Due to this the film actually lost its message and seemed to purely glorify gangsters. Say with this one scene alone, it made the Ray liota seem measured and somewhat justified where as the original cut pushed the audiences past their comfort level and question if we should be on board with our protagonist