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[Early Access] Are We Supposed to Identify with Alex? - A Clockwork Orange (1971) | Screenwriting (Patreon)

Published:
2019-01-19 22:46:57
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Hi everybody! Here is your early access for the last video in the series on the screenwriting of A Clockwork Orange— Are We Supposed to Identify With Alex? I’m very interested to see how this video is received by people who are not necessarily obsessed with A Clockwork Orange or Kubrick. A Clockwork Orange is a movie that is somewhat unique in how it treats its audience. I often wonder what it was like to see it when it came out. It’s a movie that tries to get the audience to sympathize and identify with someone they don’t want to. There is a very delicate balance that Kubrick achieved with the movie that really does (or should) make the audience feel conflicted and provides the audience with a question and feeling that they couldn’t get outside of the realm of storytelling. Anyway, I’m excited to see what you think!

Thanks so much for your continued support!

Files

Are We Supposed to Identify with Alex? - A Clockwork Orange (1971) | Screenwriting

**Very light spoiler for Goodfellas. I say where Henry Hill ends up, but this is common historical knowledge. I do not spoil any plot points.** Support this channel on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cinematyler Cutting things Alex does in the novel for transgressive or even practical purposes removes misdeeds that Alex could have committed, thus potentially making him less evil. This creates very tough questions to consider. Should we sympathize with Alex? Perhaps a more important question is: do we sympathize with Alex regardless of whether or not we should? And, is making Alex more tame in the movie a bad thing?  #Kubrick #Screenwriting #AClockworkOrange Twitter: http://twitter.com/cinematyler Facebook: http://facebook.com/cinematyler Tumblr: http://cinematyler.tumblr.com This video essay was written, edited, and narrated by Tyler Knudsen. Kubrick: "Certainly one thing which relates to the story is the question of how authority can cope with problems of law and order without becoming too oppressive and, more particularly, in relation to the ever-increasing view that politics are irrelevant to the solution of social problems, that there's no time for political and legal solutions, that social issues have to be solved immediately even if this means going outside law and politics. What solutions authority may evolve certainly concerns me, and is one of the great unanswered social problems." Sources: Cinephilia & Beyond - ‘A Clockwork Orange’: Kubrick and Burgess’ Vision of the Modern World - https://bit.ly/2CAfI0o Eyes on Cinema: Kubrick interview clip https://youtu.be/74JFYlGcPmE The Old Ultra-Violence: A Clockwork Orange - January 30, 2018 Vincent LoBrutto Bluray Commentary Mind’s Eye: A Clockwork Orange - John Hofsess 1971 Kubrick Archives - Alison Castle A Clockwork Orange (1971) - Turning Like Clockwork Interviews About Stanley Kubrick, 1970s - Film 31534 GREAT BOLSHY YARBLOCKOS! Making A Clockwork Orange - Gary Leva My Droog Hell by Gareth Grundy Kubrick Exhibit Book Masks of Violence by Marisa Buovolo Kubrick New Perspectives Excerpts From Rare Kubrick Interview By Siskel In 1972 - March 08, 1999 Interview with Stanley Kubrick regarding A Clockwork Orange by Philip Strick & Penelope Houston Anthony Burgess and Malcom McDowell analysis Clockwork Orange - James MacAndrew - https://youtu.be/HcdhqWs2Uwg Clips: The Killing (1956 dir. Stanley Kubrick) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964 dir. Stanley Kubrick) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968 dir. Stanley Kubrick) A Clockwork Orange (1971 dir. Stanley Kubrick) Barry Lyndon (1975 dir. Stanley Kubrick) The Shining (1980 dir. Stanley Kubrick) Full Metal Jacket (1987 dir. Stanley Kubrick) Eyes Wide Shut (1999 dir. Stanley Kubrick) American Psycho (2000 dir. Mary Harron) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1989 dir. John McNaughton) Richard III (1955 dir. Laurence Olivier) Goodfellas (1990 dir. Martin Scorsese) The Ox-Bow Incident (1943 dir. William A. Wellman) Music: Epidemic Sound

Comments

Giant Sparkplug

How much of our (yours and mine) identification and acceptance of Alex is affected by being male? Do women potentially identify with him? I definitely agree with your video (and Kubrick's ideas about the fascination of evil), but I'm wondering at what point (if ever) I could introduce my daughters to this film. Any thoughts?

CinemaTyler

That’s a great question. My wife and female friends have seen and enjoyed the movie, but I expect that there are aspects of the movie that they perceive in a different way than I do. Most of us who are male have grown up without feeling the need to protect ourselves from rape. It’s not something that most of us think about or worry about. I’m not totally sure about other American men, but I feel like I’ve been constantly exposed to the idea that I, as a man, need to protect myself from becoming an aggressor/criminal. In this way, I imagine that females might have a more difficult way in or simply get something else out of the story. I wonder if I might be better able to sympathize with Alex because I can see him as my own life going wrong, in a way. It’s very interesting watching this movie today because it really feels like it has taken on a new meaning. I’m assuming that the delicate balance that Kubrick achieved with Alex is a little more off-kilter now. I can totally see a large number of people today saying, “why should we care about Alex? He’s a terrible rapist/murderer. Feed him to the dogs.” I mean, they’re not wrong, but it removes the nuance that makes the movie worth exploring. I think you should certainly show your daughters the movie. Aside from it being a well-crafted and interesting story, the discussion it would invite on the treatment of criminals to the somewhat updated theme of toxic masculinity would be worthwhile in my opinion.