Deeper Analysis

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2004)

Clockwork Orange, directed and written by Stanley Kubrick, is a film about a young man named Alex. He is a cheerful but sadistic boy who enjoys rape, violence and classical music. During the nights, Alex spends time with his three `droogs,' terrorizing those he encounters. One night, after killing a woman, Alex's gang turns on him and allows him to be caught by the police. Alex winds up in prison with a sentence of 14 years for the murder. However, he hears about a free ticket out of his sentence. Being a guinea pig for a scientific experiment which will `cure' Alex allows him to return to society.
The feminine roles in this film are largely diminutive to males. Women are externalized as sexual objects, and not human beings. In one of the opening scenes, a gang is raping a young girl. Alex and his gang spend their nights raping a pillaging the homes they visit. Women become naked idols, not representing their true beauty. Kubrick develops females as part of the panoptical regime through the forced effusion of objectification.
Clockwork Orange places characters into categorical extrema. There are the ultra-conservatives who refuse to believe in a problematic society (Alex's parents). There are the women and men who become victims of brutality (rape and beaten victims). And finally exists the stereotypical sexually aggressive, libido-driven males who wreak havoc on society (the gangs). These stereotypical extrema exaggerate society in a way which critiques the behavior of individuals. Deriving from these specifics is a theme of predator-prey between males and females. Females appear only in powerless situations, which they have no control and no resolve. Women become a backdrop to the film, casting their importance away in society.