"A Clockwork Orange" is one of Kubrick's most famous works in the 20th century, but it was once banned by many countries in the world because of the large number of sexual and violent plots in the film. So far, the controversy over the "bad movie" with the halo over the head has never ceased. But it is the most perfect movie in my mind, not one of them. This film not only has metaphorical value for politics and society, but also has inextricable connections with psychology. Critics are keen to use Freud's psychoanalytic theory to explain the ubiquitous sexual cues and the symbolic meaning of the scenery in the film. The content of the film even involves psychotherapy processes such as antisocial personality disorder, subject projection technology, and aversion therapy. In the handling of details, the use of psychological elements can also be seen everywhere. More importantly, in the film, the relationship among the four of people's knowledge (cognition), emotion (emotion), will (will), and behavior (behavior) is deeply revealed. It brings endless details to the audience. Human nature thinking is also very similar to the dialectics of human nature views adopted by several schools of psychotherapy. [Analysis of the protagonist's personality] The film begins with a close-up of a face, a handsome white teenager with false eyelashes under his right eye and a scornful and evil grin on his face. Afterwards, the camera was zoomed out, revealing the whole body of the boy and three partners beside him in white shirts similar to medieval court costumes. This is our villain little protagonist Alex and his three buddies, Peter, George and Dim. They were sitting in a strangely decorated place called Kolova Milk Bar, tasting milk mixed with medicines, while plotting to entertain themselves at night. All the objects in this place are composed of white nude women with different postures. The chest is the table top, the limbs are the table legs, and the murals and decorations on the wall are also very futuristic with exaggeration and deformation. At the beginning of such a film, one can not help but reminiscent of the symbolic hints in psychoanalysis, and at the same time it also established the metaphorical tone of the film's postmodernism. This is a group of problem teenagers who do no evil and do evil. The outstanding feature is that there is no guilt after indiscriminate violence and damage to social norms and the interests of others. In the first half of the film, the director used an absurd narrative to show these four young teenagers with playful accents and strange clothes drinking milk containing psychedelics, attacking university professors, beggars beggars, rushing to houses at night, fighting in groups, fighting each other, Playing truant, robbery, rape of women and a series of evil deeds. Different from the crime movies shown by the underworld elements, the anti-social behavior of these boys is not for the purpose of anti-social itself. All their motives seem to be just to satisfy individual desires. They know well the great principles of social education and often ridicule their faults in the voice of a vindicator. However, these "heretics in the age of rationality" are for these young people "even if they understand what is right, and take it Praise, but do what is wrong.” The condemnation of social ethics does not give them the slightest sense of guilt and anxiety. In addition, they have clear thinking, stable emotions, and no obvious spiritual problems. These demon kings are just a group of people who understand the secrets of the adult world, but are not morally socialized, carefree, unplanned, and purposeless in life. Little troublemaker with no sense of responsibility and no sense of obligation. When dealing with scenes full of violence and pornography, Kubrick did his best with the aesthetics of movie language. Not only did he create avant-garde visual effects, but he also pioneered the integration of auditory elements, classical symphony, violence and sex. The matching of the lens produces a wonderful audio-visual experience. From the beginning to the end, the film is shining with shocking ideas. From the language of the lens and the soundtrack to the film, no matter the setting or the use of colors, the master demeanor is everywhere. In the field of clinical psychology, this abnormal behavior and personality pattern possessed by Alex is called "antisocial personality disorder". Of course, sometimes the identification of abnormal behavior is difficult in real life. At present, the main criterion is to see whether this behavior pattern is compatible with the social environment in which he lives. Alex has a good family, his parents are kind, and his teachers are also responsible. In addition, his academic performance is excellent. He is even a holy and noble classical music lover. All of this brings the audience of the film to Confused about the origin of evil. However, the current level of psychological development is not enough to figure out where the evil comes from. For antisocial personality disorder, it is generally believed that on the basis of innate quality, through the interaction between the individual and the growth environment, it gradually reverses and develops at a slow speed. Psychoanalysis believes that human nature is inherently evil. The reason why people with antisocial personality disorder start purely from self-satisfaction, know that they do not want to repent and have no shame, is a typical manifestation of the "superego" in charge of virtue has not been established. . Behaviorism stubbornly does not care about whether human nature is inherently good or inherently evil. The theory of this school believes that the behavior patterns of people with antisocial personality disorder may be caused by the failure of parents to receive appropriate rewards and punishments for good and bad behaviors in childhood. . Although different schools have different speculations about the causes of personality disorders, these speculations are still one-sided and simple and unable to provide systematic evidence. People with antisocial personality disorder rarely seek medical treatment actively and rarely receive treatment. Even if they are treated, they seem to have "immunity" to various treatment strategies, and the treatment is often prolonged but with little effect. Therefore, in the field of psychotherapy, antisocial personality disorder is still a chronic disease with "unclear etiology and difficult to cure". [What does "A Clockwork Orange" mean? 】 "Sweet orange" in English is called orange, but orange in Malay means "person" (the original author of the novel once lived in Malaysia). The film's name "A Clockwork Orange" actually refers to "a man running rampant under mechanical control." The original author of the film's novel explained that "A Clockwork Orange"-it signifies the application of mechanistic morality to sweet and juicy living organisms. The symbolic meaning of the relationship between "clockwork" and "orange" in "The Clockwork Orange" may be interpreted from three dimensions, but on the whole, they are all about the contradictory relationship between "free will" and "social restriction" Dialectical thinking. 1. A person who is dominated by his innate savage primitive instinct. The lack of conscience and conscience displayed by little Alex and his companions can be explained by the "original sin" proclaimed in Christianity, and it is also in line with the "violence and sex" referred to by the "death instinct" in Freud's theory. The part coincides with each other. Psychoanalytic theory believes that biological humans are essentially opposed to social humans. From the perspective of human personality structure, biological humans refer to the "self" that contains all the primitive impulses and instinctive desires of the individual. The id is the source of psychological energy, acting on the "happiness principle", the most important components of which are sexual desire and aggressive desire. The social person refers to the "superego" part that is established by internalizing social norms and moral requirements in the process of individual growth. The superego acts in accordance with "moral principles", which represents society's view of right and wrong. The "ego" in the psychological structure was developed for the balanced war between the "id" and the "superego". Based on the principle of "reality", the "ego" helps the id to satisfy its desires in a way that does not violate social norms. And needs. Alexs, young people who want to go their own way, are full of animal habits in their youth. It's like a small clockwork machine with a spring inside and a clockwork knob on the outside. It's just that these rambling little machines, walking along, will finally hit a wall one day, hitting their heads and bleeding. 2. After the government uses medical experiments to transform people who are dominated by intensified stimulus. For the film, critics and viewers are more arguing about whether the government's method of dealing with problem teenagers is appropriate. In the film, the government corrects little Alex's evil method is to break his past mood enhancer-the original connection between the wonderful Beethoven and violence, sex, etc., and re-establish the connection between violent behavior and nausea and nausea. From then on, let alone the use of violence, even if it is being violent by others or listening to classical music that will bring pleasure in the past, Alex will be in pain. In the original Zhongyuan words of the novel, it means "fighting happiness." It becomes a feeling of dying". This method is actually a disgust therapy under the typical behaviorist school. Its principle is to link misbehavior (this behavior is reinforced by a certain pleasant experience reaction) with a disgust reaction, so that people give up or avoid the problem. behavior. Generally speaking, because aversion stimulus (emetics are commonly used aversion stimuli) may cause certain dangers and side effects, aversion therapy needs to be selected when other interventions are ineffective and the client is willing. (Also: In the process of correcting Alex, the doctor used the way of presenting images to let him experience violence and fornication. This is similar to what Kubrick did to each of us at the beginning of the film. No wonder many viewers. It means that I almost vomited or just can't stand it. "The colors of the real world only appear real when they are seen on the screen." When watching a scary movie for the first time, little Alec The monologue said. Do you feel it?) The mainstream view is consistent with the view of Anthony Burgess, the original author of "A Clockwork Orange"-"Man is given free will in the definition, which can be derived from Choose good and evil. People who can only do good, or can only do evil, become a clockwork orange-an organism on the outside, which seems to have lovely colors and juices, but is actually just a clockwork toy, driven by God, the devil or The omnipotent country plays with it.” The government’s approach only focuses on corrective effects and does not pay attention to whether the individual is truly good from the heart. This kind of transformation that deprives people of the right to moral choice is inhumane. In fact, similar criticisms are not only seen in the comments on the film performance itself, the behaviorist therapy genre has also been subjected to such moral condemnation during its development in reality. Critics point out that behavior therapy aims at behavior change, does not talk about internal variables such as personality, self, motivation, etc., does not care about the reasons behind symptoms, and ignores people's values and subjective initiative. The treatment process is more similar to the manipulation and manipulation of people's behavior. control. Some people even think that behaviorist treatment is against humanity and is no different from brainwashing and torture.
In response, the behavioral therapist’s response is: treatment is inherently humane. All psychotherapy is to control behavior. The control of other therapies is nothing more than concealment and indirectness. People will use a less irritating term for this. --"Influence". Therefore, the question is not whether treatment is control, but whether such control is beneficial to the visitor and society. Of course, this kind of controversy immediately fell into a circular sophistry of "what is really beneficial?" However, in terms of implementation, behavioral therapy is a concise, clear and relatively effective therapy. It has objectivity and accuracy. In the past few decades, behavioral therapy has added a cognitive component. The cognitive behavioral approach has become a highly complex and generally accepted approach to therapy, applied to a wide range of individual disorders and social affairs. 3. There is also a view that "A Clockwork Orange" expresses concerns about the possible harm to human nature caused by the semi-democratic and semi-autocratic post-industrial civilization. Specifically, it refers to the confusion of subject and object identity that may be brought about by the prevalence of consumerism in modern society. The various rooms in the film are decorated by various symbolic symbols, weird conceptual sets, avant-garde space-like families, cartoonized parents, and Alex’s mother. The colorful wigs and dresses symbolize the human body. The ritualistic costumes of the organs, the strange vocabulary and intonation, the relationship between the phony greetings and pretentious expressions between people. All of this is presented in the director's deliberate arrangement in a real posture, showing a future society that is assembled by various symbols, bright colors, but emotions and consciousness are superficial and false. This society is similar to the future world lost to freedom due to pleasure in the dystopian political fable novel "Brave New World" by the British writer Adols Huxley. With the entertainment and shallowness of the media, children hate books and nature, hate being alone, hate family, hate religion and art, love consumption, and love promiscuity. People are locked up by the large amount of information they receive, fall into self-centeredness, and are controlled by "happiness first" and sensory stimulation, indulging, entertaining, and entertaining to death. Kubrick's works often have a strong anti-modernity color, and this one is no exception. Perhaps we can borrow Foucault’s "Crazy and Civilization" sentence to express: A Clockwork Orange is a modern victim. [Personal Violence or Social Violence] The debate between social restrictions and free will is an eternal proposition. The biggest question brought by "A Clockwork Orange" is "What does God want? Does God want to be good, or does he choose to be good?" Yes, when a person can't choose, he is no longer a person." Said the priest in charge of moral education in prison in the film. However, after years of studying psychology, what I learned, what I saw, and what I heard gradually made me understand that the degree of abnormality that humans can achieve is beyond personal imagination. Just as the doctor who performed the treatment in the movie said: " Setting boundaries is always difficult. The world is one, and life is one. The sweetest and most beautiful activities also involve a certain degree of violence, such as sex." "Kindness comes from the heart, and kindness is the initiative of a person to choose. When a person can't choose, he is no longer a person." Said the pastor in charge of moral education in prison in the film. However, after years of studying psychology, what I learned, what I saw, and what I heard gradually made me understand that the degree of abnormality that humans can achieve is beyond personal imagination. Just as the doctor who performed the treatment in the movie said: " Setting boundaries is always difficult. The world is one, and life is one. The sweetest and most beautiful activities also involve a certain degree of violence, such as sex." "Kindness comes from the heart, and kindness is the initiative of a person to choose. When a person can't choose, he is no longer a person." Said the pastor in charge of moral education in prison in the film. However, after years of studying psychology, what I learned, what I saw, and what I heard gradually made me understand that the degree of abnormality that humans can achieve is beyond my imagination. Just as the doctor who performed the treatment in the movie said: " Setting boundaries is always difficult. The world is one, and life is one. The sweetest and most beautiful activities also involve a certain degree of violence, such as sex."
People have the right to enjoy freedom, but if this right is premised on the freedom to harm more people, should this kind of free will still exist reasonably? If your heart is unwilling to accept, can you at least let your body learn-violence is a terrible thing? The priest and the doctor in the film provide two classic perspectives on the issue of "personal violence and social violence", but the director does not show any bias towards any of them. The task of the film is to show, and the right to choose opinions is returned. audience. I personally prefer to agree with the doctor's statement. In fact, as long as it is a creature characterized by sociality, mutual control is inevitable. A history of human civilization is a history of mutual control. From the perspective of social stability, once an individual's behavior has caused serious harm to society, he should be reformed. When moral enlightenment seems pale and weak, using coercive force to force you to no longer harm society, this coercion is the last humane choice. However, the politicians in the film are obviously not based on such noble considerations. What they care about is not criminal motives or ethical norms, but only to reduce criminal achievements. The method of "punishing crimes with concentrated crimes" is not only costly but also ineffective. (The facts are also true. After our little protagonist Alex enters the prison, whether it is facing stormy violence Punishment, or the gentle religious teachings, could not make him the slightest repentance. He read the "Birth of Christ" in the "Bible", but the naked Virgin Mary appeared in his mind; he read "The Passion of Christ" ", but imagined himself as an ancient Roman executioner in fashionable clothes. Even when he was injecting "spitrootine" in the reform experiment, he still thought about re-assembling the gang after going out, and continuing the joy of beating, smashing, looting and burning. Day.) Politicians began to try to reform prison administration through new means. “Except for political prisoners, it’s enough for other prisoners to stifle criminal reflexes.” As for those gangsters who are provoking and provoking social instability all day long, they are included. Go to the police force. These methods may have their scientific research background, but at least in the film, we find that the government's efforts to solve juvenile crime have endless troubles for the criminals and the society.
In Kubrick films, the irony of political meaning is often very deep, but the criticality of this film is hidden, even a little noncommittal. This deliberate reduction of the intention behind the "emphasis on enlightenment" in the original work is also quite intriguing. Regarding the recovery of Alex's free behavior, the film narrates it lightly. Maybe it was related to the damage and repair of Alex's brain after falling from the building, or maybe the psychologist desensitized him systematically under hypnosis. In short, when Alex woke up, the results of the card projection test of the sweet-smiling female nurse in the hospital explained everything-between "first cure" and "second cure", it was easily taken away by the government's superb transformation technology. "Xing Malizhi" was returned intact again. After watching the film, I unconsciously think of the 2009 Yang Yongxin electric shock treatment of Internet addiction teenagers. Before being criticized by netizens on a large scale, a report in the mainstream media described Yang Yongxin, an "Internet quit expert" and his "behavior correction therapy": ---------------- -------------------------------------------------- - For those troublesome children, many parents have tried various methods, including beating and scolding, looking for a psychiatrist, and looking for other online ring centers... It is said that they are not as good as the original "Xing Nao" electric shock therapy by Yang Yongxin. Ring center. ………… The key to Yang Yongxin's treatment is the place called "No. 13"-the behavior correction treatment room (electric shock treatment). Yang Yongxin told reporters that this place has been inspected and cared by leaders from all walks of life, and the leaders are very surprised to see that the Net Cadence Center transforms the stubborn Internet addicted children into angel-like youths. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------- Excellent literary works have the value of alerting and awakening the world. The "A Clockwork Orange" filmed forty years ago proves this again. [Twenty-one chapters deleted by the movie] The movie uses Alex’s sentence "I was cured all" (I was cured all right) The curtain call, and the author of the original book still has a story to tell. Kubrick cut off the 21st chapters with enlightening significance in the original book, so that the story that ended in a "reunion" ended in an allegorical and satirical way. The ending of the film satirically foretells the revival of the violent will of the villain boy. Although he has experienced many incidents, he is still a typical example of perseverance. There is no power to repent in human nature, and morality and character still cannot be good. Variety. The ending after Kubrick's creation of the second dimension seems to show his negative view of human nature: people are born with an irrational and unfavorable life attitude toward survival and development. In many cases, human beings tend to self-destruct. The ending in the original work looks more like a testament to the humanistic view of human nature: the belief that people have "good roots" and have great potential to develop in a good, strong, and perfect direction. The author explains his position in this way: "A novel is an art based on the principles of life change. Unless it can be shown that the protagonist or character has the possibility of moral transformation and intellectual growth, the meaning of creating a novel is actually not great." What happened to our little protagonist Alex in the deleted chapter 21? To put it simply, the protagonist meets the only old man who is not an enemy. The other party is tired of violence and has already established a family. Inspired by the experience of "good buddies", this evil little protagonist suddenly realized that he also wanted to get married and have children to have a happy and stable life. He finally realized that life should be accomplished instead of blindly violently destroying himself. The murder, looting, and vicious past is quite ashamed, and he is looking forward to a revolutionary future. If the logic at the end of the novel has the possibility of occurrence in reality, I personally think that it is more than simply "everything will be fine, and the operation of God is mysterious." The embodied experience is inseparable. Some time ago, the deeds of Luanke, a German volunteer teaching volunteer, were widely circulated on the Internet. Luanke's own education is based on the core concept of giving full play to children's nature, respecting children's free development space, weakening preaching, and emphasizing experience. This is similar to an attitude of Morita therapy in psychotherapy. Morita therapy believes that because only action can mobilize all human mental activities, in action can we obtain insights that cannot be obtained by pure thinking or knowledge understanding. Action is not only an expression of character, it can also transform a person's character. Therefore, the therapy does not care about cognitive changes, that is, it does not focus on preaching, and the focus of therapeutic changes is placed on emotions and actions. According to this point of view, perhaps we can speculate that the reason why Alex was able to gain moral renewal in the last chapter of the original book is actually because his previous experience of being forced to do good has subtly changed his internal understanding of good and evil. Cognition also gradually affected his choice of will and reshaped his personality. Excluding the development and changes of the protagonist Alex’s "knowledge", "feeling", "meaning" and "action", in the film structure that echoes from the beginning to the end, the mental models and relationships of other characters are also worth thinking about. Alex His parents, an old lady who lives alone with cats, reactionaries, old beggars, and Dimm and Peter in a small group all show something that is not so ideal in human nature. There is a lack of deep feelings between parents and children, between buddies and friends, between teachers and students, between men and women, and between the government and the people. Each role is selfish but pretends, and the hypocrisy of social relations is obvious. The film’s narrative is extremely rigorous, with clear logic and compact plot. The dialogue design mostly follows the original novel, which is rich in language and art, and has an ironic tone, which greatly increases the audience's peculiar feelings. The use of music and image aesthetics make you feel incredible. "A Clockwork Orange" is a masterpiece filmed in the early 1970s. Its image expressiveness far surpasses the limitations of the film technology and social background of that era. Even 40 years later, it still looks like today. Will be amazed by its avant-garde and shocked by its artistic charm. "A Clockwork Orange" is the kind of movie that will linger in your mind for a long time after watching this, lingering, making you a little confused and thinking. Even you will recall its plot and pictures inadvertently, and you can't help but want to watch it again. This is the beauty of a great thing, which prompts you to suck and chew again and again, with endless aftertastes. The juicy and delicious big oranges of human beings are too complicated, and the human society formed by the connection between big oranges and big oranges is even more incomparable. The humanity that movies can show is only a little bit and always confusing, but good movies always have a common quality, they can always refresh human beings' understanding of their own and social possibilities.
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