Galima, Jowelyn Jade Q.

Psychology
Ms. Sheila Avila Ethics

This movie review (or essay rather) is purely based on my opinion so please don’t judge

me (I’m only human) because some of the scene are very blur to me to understand. A Clockwork

Orange (1971) is an example of a very violent and felonious movie that will make you cringe it

is because of some sexual scenes, but at the same time it will make you think that the character

and the story itself is like portraying what is really happening in real life in modern time and

make you see the side of the criminal or the culprit in the crime.

The story is about Alex and his three droogs (companions) they’re committing ultra-

violence such as beating, snatching, raping and some other such very bad thing. These acts are

largely fueled by drug use. In addition, Alex is a lover of music, especially that of Ludwig van

Beethoven, which, when he listens to it during these acts, intensifies his pleasure, and in turn

inspires him to commit further such acts. After raping two ladies, one of his friends (named

Georgie I guess) make a plan to have a ‘new way’ for their group – he and Dim want to abandon

their usual itinerary of petty thievery for a bigger scam. Alex is not pleased with the threat to his

power, and while the droogs walk along the marina he throws Dim and Georgie into the water

and beats them. Later, after reasserting his leadership, Alex asks Georgie about his plan for the

night. They’re going to enter to Cat lady’s health farm they trying to trick her but the lady

refuses to let them in, the old lady calls to the police. They sneaked into the window and start a

fight with cat lady, but the sirens of the police alarm them, and Alex commanded them to flee but

his friends betray him and leave him behind the crime scene and eventually cat lady died and

arrest Alex as a murderer then sentenced him to 14 years in prison. While in the prison Alex

befriend to the person who reads bible and he do so just to be an ideal prisoner and have a short
span sentence. The Minister of the Interior comes to visit the prison, and singles Alex out for the

experimental Ludovico technique - a treatment that supposedly cures criminals. It only takes a

few days and guarantees Alex’s freedom.

The treatment called ‘Ludovico technique’ consists of injecting drugs, then strapping

down to a chair and eyes lids clipped open. The person is forced to watch horrible films and all

kinds of sordid imaginary, while the drugs injected make the person violently ill. The aversion

therapy is supposed to teach the person’s body to become critically ill whenever he thinks about

criminal or sexual acts. However, one of the films- a montage of Nazi atrocities- is screened with

Beethoven’s 9th Symphony as its background song. It is only during this film that Alex screams

for the treatment to stop, knowing that he will start feeling violently ill every time he hears

Beethoven’s 9th, but the psychiatrist does not heed his pleas. After the therapy Alex can’t commit

a crime so the ministry let him out.

Maybe, the movie shows that whether it is better for a person to decide to be bad than to

be forced to be good and if forcibly suppressing free will is acceptable. And ethics is about what

is wrong and what is right it is also about what you have the right to do and what is right to do

that’s why human should know what the ethical thinking is should be and we are teach by older

and we adapt what is the norm in terms of ethics. For me based on the movie we don’t have

freedom at all because I’d seen the other side of people like Alex who we called in real life

‘criminals’ he choose to be violent and freedom is about choosing what you really want and who

really are you but in his case he couldn’t be a bad ass and the ministry turns him forcedly to be

the person he is not really is just to prevent him to do his former acts because the society didn’t

accept criminal. But what the ministry do is right and that is what the ethics should be.