SOC 325 FINAL

The film A Clockwork Orange explores the themes of individual free will, prescribed reform, and order in society. The main character, Alex, undergoes a medical experiment in prison to reform violent criminals. However, this experiment strips him of his free will and replaces it with artificial good behavior. The film raises questions about the importance of crime and deviance in society, the desire for power, and the loss of humanity when deprived of freedom of choice. Reviews of the film were mixed, with some critics emphasizing its disturbing nature while others recognized its underlying message. The sociological perspectives of functionalism and conflict theory are applied to analyze the film. The film's social issue of free will and order in society reflects real-world debates about the limitations of individual freedoms for the sake of public safety. Sociological theory allows for a better understanding of social issues and helps to approach them with an open mind. I chose the film A Clockwork Orange. I was aware of the controversial nature of the film, but did not necessarily know why or what it was about. I just knew it was disturbing to watch. This curiosity led me to believe that there must have been an underlying message that was not necessarily understood because of how disturbing the film was to watch. The main character, Alex, commits a series of horrible crimes that end with him being sent to prison. While in prison, he runs across an opportunity that may allow him to get out earlier if he were to go through with a medical experiment for reforming prisoners. This experiment made violent criminals physically ill from violence to reform them. This proved harrowing for Alex because as he re-entered society as a successful reform case, he was subjected to violence with no end. The major social issue in the film is the idea of individual free will, prescribed reform, and order in society. Alex's good behavior was not necessarily learned because it was artificial. The state was willing to protect society by stripping away Alex's free will and replacing it with artificial good behavior on behalf of society's safety and stability, but not of its own. I feel that a sociological analysis will help illuminate the need for individual free will in an already broken society and how there are better ways to effectively reform behavior so that it is beneficial for both society and the perpetrator. The questions I am interested in for this film examination are the following. How does this film allow us to consider crime and deviance's importance to society? What does A Clockwork Orange show us about the desire for power and the fear of being powerless? Do we lose our sense of humanity when we are deprived of freedom of choice? The preconceived biases are just as you would have imagined, they are mixed. I sourced three reviews of this film, Roger Ebert, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, and Simon Bronde of Empire Essays. Nowadays, I hear reviews on certain films all the time, whether I ask for them or not. I have received plenty of mixed reviews on A Clockwork Orange, how it was highly disturbing or how it conveyed an underlying message that I, quote unquote, just wouldn't understand. And I am not going to lie, I did not want to watch because of the mixed reviews. There were too many people that were my age, way too young at the time, watching that film and acting like they knew what it was about. Roger Ebert had truly nothing good to say about the film and only rated it two stars. He criticized Kubrick's ideas throughout the film and made fun of it. Peter Bradshaw rated it four stars, saying it was a compelling thought experiment, whether it was a flawed film or not. Simon Bronde rated the film five stars, with statements supporting the actual message of the film. Gradually, through reading the reviews, you see where a sociological perspective was used when watching the film and evaluating its core. Roger Ebert, the professional critic, was critiquing the film and Kubrick's message in and of itself, which is fine, considering he may not be looking for any sort of underlying message in a dark and disturbing film. Very few people are. I argue Peter Bradshaw did not necessarily have a lens to look through himself. He was more interested in the obscene nature of the film in a Kubrick fan way. As for Simon Bronde, his review did acknowledge the importance of the message and the social issue he focused on. The experiment robbed Alex of humanity, and his newfound behavior was simply a physical illness that he was not choosing to be good. The theories I applied when watching the film were the functionalist and conflict perspective. I admit the first viewing caught me by an uncomfortable surprise. Yet the application of functionalist perspective made me recognize the importance of free will and crime and deviance in society. As well, conflict perspective helped me to understand the role society played versus the state in the reform experiment. The application of theory when watching films, especially like this, helps us to analyze the message it conveys. The film was adapted based on the writings of Fergus, A Clockwork Orange, where the message may be conveyed a little bit differently. As for my future career, this application may play a role. I want a future in the criminal justice system, specifically in law or victim advocacy, if it were to ever happen. I'm sure in my future career I can apply sociological theory to cases I'm working on where it may matter most and allow me to understand the situation better. The application of theory has allowed me to understand the importance of using sociological perspective in my future career and research goals. I would argue that sociological perspectives allow you to remain open minded and expand on situations not everyone may find important. Especially when it comes to my career, I do not want to be biased or be closed off mentally. I want to be willing to learn new things and allow for open conversations in this field. The social issue I chose to highlight was free will, freedom of choice, and order in society. As a recap, the freedom of individuals to make choices may be problematic when those choices can undermine the safety and stability of society. In A Clockwork Orange, the state is willing to protect society at the lengths of stripping an individual of their freedom of choice and replacing it with good prescribed behavior. In Alex's world, both the power of the individual and the power of the state is seen as dangerous. Alex steals, he rapes, and he murders merely because, to him, it feels good. Although, when those impulses are taken away from him, the result is just as dangerous because a fundamental element of humanity has been stripped away, against his own free will. Social phenomena that I noticed influenced the social issues were gangs that developed during the writings of the novel itself. Also, I would argue state regulation plays a significant role within the social issues of the film because of its heavy emphasis in the middle of the film, during the experimentation, and towards the end when Alex is seen in the hospital. The key theoretical perspective I noticed throughout the film was functionalist perspective as it labels the importance of free will today. Stripping away a fundamental right does not rid society of the entirety of crime and deviance, but to some degree, it keeps society functioning. The classical and contemporary theories I noted were conflict theory and poststructuralism. Conflict theory was significant in addressing the dynamic of the individual versus the state. In my own research, poststructuralism, which is an extension or critique of structuralism, was noted as there were notions towards the uncertainty of state regulation and its stability. The two articles I had selected, The Clockwork Universe is Free Will and Illusion, from The Guardian, and Why the Classical Argument Against Free Will is a Failure, argue determinism, which is a doctrine that argues all events, even human action, are determined by causes external to the will, in two different senses. The first article I selected suggests the question that what if free will is predetermined? What if it's an illusion, an idea? And how is it, how it is based on our environment? The second article suggests a more scientific approach to the idea that we cannot argue free will with determinism as that is just an assumption and not fact. I would argue the first article is supported by functionalism or conflict theory because of the notions that our sense of quote-unquote free will is a product of whether our environment was necessarily good or not and that the illusion plays a function in society. Meanwhile, the second article, I would argue, is supported by positivism because of the deeper look into the more scientific notions of free will and the argument against determinism. With those identified social patterns, the differing opinions, and supportive theories, there is no clear representation on the meaning of free will and what it means for us. It seems to be based on what your interpretation of free will is. The social issue of order in society versus free will, to an extent, exists in the real world in varying degrees. To maintain order in society today, in multiple different countries, our free will, our freedoms, and liberties only last to a certain extent depending on how countries may pursue their laws. I would say that conflict theory and post-structuralist theories are still applicable in the real world today. In the film, conflict theory was significant addressing the dynamic of individual versus state and how the state is stripping away vital internal resources in the guise of public safety. While Alex was harmful to individuals, his change alone did not guarantee public safety in a society that was already harmful. For post-structuralism, there are criticisms and notions that are blasted towards the uncertainty of state regulation and its stability in an already harmful society. It asks the question, is this state regulation safe for individuals or will it strip a sort of freedom that we don't necessarily understand? These criticisms and notions, in the book alone, are nodding towards the changes in England that were happening around the time Burgess was alive, as well as an attack that was made on his wife by American soldiers in 1944 during the war. The use of sociological theory allows us to understand and approach a situation or social issue with a quote-unquote new set of eyes or a unique perspective. This helps us to gain knowledge that we may not have considered before due to bias. An example of this could be the poverty crisis in America and how conflict theory could be applied to have a better understanding of such an important issue. Conflict theory helps with my interest in research most. This has a lot to do with my future in criminal justice. Conflict theory will help me to analyze questions I have as to what plays a significant role in the reason people turn to criminal behavior and it will help me find certain answers. As mentioned, the application of theory will help my research in my future due to the questions that must be asked. Does environment play a role in criminality or is it in someone's nature? If it is an environment, in what ways can the government help to hold these types of situations? This process did help to see the value of using a sociological perspective and how this may further my career. I am hoping that the use of different sociological perspectives will help me to analyze current issues that tie into criminal justice to prevent further crime. Conflict theory and the opinion that free will should not be stripped for social stability and order is what I more so align myself with. These issues are rather important to me and always have been and I have used conflict theory unknowingly to analyze and understand the issues I have cared deeply about in the past. In my view, after watching the film and delving into this research, the film validates the social stereotypes different theories hold towards government and social classes, especially in the eyes of conflict theory. And I quote, Alex's mother and father are examples of the exploited class. She fills up shelves in a state mart. He rabbits in the dye works. Both parents illustrate Marxist ideas of alienation and victimization. Importantly, Alex, the novel's protagonist, rebels against the prevailing system, suggesting that Burgess welcomes the undermining of repressive regimes. When researching the film, you may acknowledge that many negative reviews it has had from movie critics who are simply watching the film. You may notice the many articles highlighting the disturbing nature of the film and how young criminals are replicating the actions in the movie. And you may also come across the positive reviews of the film and the understanding of why it was made to be disturbing. In my opinion, I don't necessarily believe that the film had a positive or negative impact on society because of the mixed understanding. The film itself is a message, the same way the book was, just with a different and disturbing ending. The film shares the idea that prescribing good behavior does no good for an already harmful society and the subject. I believe that when we do not acknowledge the information given to us simply because we are uncomfortable, there is not an impact made either positive or negative.