A Clockwork Orange - Dystopias and Apocalypses - Extra Sci Fi

A Clockwork Orange reflects a cultural fear of society's moral decay in the 1960s. Its usage of a mashup slang language known as "nadsat" illustrates the complexities of rebellious youth culture. Ultimately, Anthony Burgess's work asks us to think about if or when free will should ever be suppressed, but the major differences between the book and the film version of this story present contrasting takeaways.
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♪ Music: "Hypothetical" by Surasshu

[extrahistory]

Where the dystopias of Brave New World and 1984 warned against the easy slide into totalitarianism,
and painted for us worlds in which freedom is nearly a forgotten thing… A Clockwork Orange presents us with a protagonist who has almost an excess of freedom, and in doing so it shows us the shift in societal fears.

[LordOwenTheThird]

I remember being so confused by this book's slang when I first picked it up, but within the first three chapters it became super easy to pick up. There's something so natural about the book's strange invented language and use of slang and I highly appreciate it.

[bmoney]

I love that that Nadsat subconsciously acts as a form of "conditioning", which is super appropriate for the overall theme of this story.

[biliminsrlar]

"Horror after horror gets shown in the screen."
*Shows the Sonic Movie*

[TitansTracks]

"He's got a job, he drinks chai and he thinks about his future"

Finally a character I can relate to! 💎

[AJ]

The ending of the movie was also supposed to be up for interpretation, whether or not Alex's "cure" was for the better or worse. That's what I admire about how Kubrick ends his movies

[katiestait]

"Is it better for a man to have chosen evil than to have good imposed upon him?"

[Tundra-ecii]

I thought this was going to be a video about an orange based mechanism for keeping time. On that point, I was disappointed. However, what I received was rather good.
3.5 / 5 stars.

[Bluecho]

You SAY we "have" to give up the most selfish aspects of our youth. But if you've ever seen a grown adult berating a service industry employee for things said employee can't change, unwilling to listen to reason, you'd know what not all adults have actually grown up. (I, myself, am certainly not immune to this either).

Maturity is not a function of age or integration into societal norms, but of self-reflection and self-mastery. In that way, there may, indeed, be far fewer "adults" in the world than one might realize.

[keah]

Whelp, that's definitely the most optimistic, glass-half-full analysis of A Clockwork Orange I've ever listened to. I'll admit I did read the original printing, and I have never seen the movie, so maybe that makes a difference...

[Crosis]

I still maintain that Kubrick’s point with the movie is very much in the cure. Not the lutovigo technique but in the fact that we are presented with a horrible, horrible human being in Alex DeLarge. We are repulsed, horrified, and well we should be. But through watching the movie and watching the adventures and seeing the aftermath of the societal cure we think Alex has been wronged. And when Alex has the process reversed and he says “I was cured, my brothers! I was cured!” We we are cheering Alex being able to rape and murder again....and we should be appalled that we think that is justice.
I always think of Alex when I read Starship Troopers and the moral philosophy teacher asks “is it moral to raise a puppy, and never give it any boundaries, and then, when it passes and arbitrary age and because a dog, shoot it because it peed on the rug? No. So why do we do this with children?”

[josephskiles]

In the end it always felt the prison chaplain was about the closest we got to a good character but even he had his flaws. Thank you for covering one of my favorite books!

[isaacschmitt]

As someone that loves and appreciates not only language, but communication in all its forms, I really love the poetic feel of Nadsat. Its seemingly nonsense that, once you take the time to follow along and listen, makes absolute sense.

[synthetic]

Thank you for talking about the 21st chapter. Among other things, there's divine symbolism in the book being broken up into 3 sets of 7 that's lost with the publisher's omission of the final chapter. It's so much more interesting and thoughtful when that chapter is included, so read the 21 chapter version if you have the chance!

[marcomunro]

One great dystopia work that seems to becoming increasingly relevant is Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, you guys should do an episode on it

[almeisam]

I read the book around 1973 to 1974, my senior year in high school. I was also taking Russian as a foreign language. The main characters use of Russian was cringe worthy for me. I always did get a laugh out of "horrorshow", anglicized version of "хорошо".

[Triviata]

Thank you so much for mentioning the final chapter and how important it is! It totally changed the entire experience of the book for me, and made it so much more powerful. PS - Listen to the audiobook, it's amazing how used to hearing the Nadsat you get, and how quickly it all makes sense to you!

[TheJackMouse]

Drinking Game:
Take a sip of water every time you see a bloody bat on screen. Stay healthy my dudes.

[maxbites]

0:44 that's the most disturbing part of this video haha

[TheCreepypro]

wow this was eye opening didn't know the movie was based on a book let alone that last bit about the final chapter man you guys are getting me interested in reading more than I ever have been before in my life