A profound look at human nature

Rating: 10/10 (16 March 2006)

Kubrick analyzes the Human Condition, and has a very Darwinistic point of view. This film is amazing. Its statement is profound, true, and not so easy to swallow if one hasn't thought about it before.
The beginning of "2001 - a space odyssey" recounts that we have evolved from apes and cavemen into a species of great technological finesse. In comparison with other lifeforms on this planet, we possess great intelligence, and high powers of mental abstraction.
However, much of these mental powers were, are, and will be used for the development of weapons needed to satisfy that part in us which is still monkey and caveman. On our evolutionary path, we are not as far from our primitive origins as we would like to believe. Our societies are still pretty barbaric - we haven't overcome violence; we have only succeeded in containing violence by organized force and violence through our governments.
"A clockwork orange" makes the statement that stealing a person's brutality is inhuman. In doing that, one steals an integral part of what makes us human. No matter how obscene and extreme the violent part of a person is, eliminating the ability of being violent it is deeply immoral.
We humans tend to believe that animals are very far below us on the evolutionary ladder. However, the fact is that an integral part of us has remained completely primitive and barbarian. Human history has not only given us opportunity, but has forced us to learn how to channel our aggressions into more civilized activities (competitive sports, career, etc), and in civilized times, we tend to forget about our potential for utter violence.
However, in times of chaos, political and otherwise, our innate brutality is allowed to erupt without inhibition. Usually, humans will then immerse themselves passionately into genocide and murder, as is well recorded in human history. The moralists try to think deeply about it, and ask: What went wrong ? The answer given in this film is: Nothing went wrong - we are a violent breed, it is our nature. Only the mechanisms containing our violence have broken down.
Alex in "a clockwork orange" is that brutal, raging monkey buried inside of us by the nature of our genes, in some deeper than in others. The bottom line is that society, civilization, morals, ethics, and religion all serve as tentative mechanisms to contain the destructive, sadistic devil inside us without which we wouldn't be human.