The Reality of Fiction

Joe Steigerwald
American Sci Fi Film
05/15/09

The Reality of Fiction
Science fiction film is often a response to fears or aspirations of contemporary technology, and is adaptive to a rapidly changing technological environment. One of the first films to characterize the science fiction genre, George Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon (1902), depicted ballistics, or cannon projectile technology as a way to launch a crew into space, instead of a rocket propelled spaceship or teleportation, which would be based off of later technologies and depicted in later films. In so doing he drew from the technology of the day to depict the future. This is consistent with the lack of iconography and spirit of science fiction as described by Vivian Sobchack in “Images of Wonder: The Look of Science Fiction Film. “It is the very plasticity of objects and setting in SF films which help define them as science fiction, and not their consistency.”(Sobchack) Later films such as A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick, 1971), The Manchurian Candidate (George Axelrod, 1962), and THX1138( Lucas,1971) all express fears of the science of mind control that were becoming decreasingly far fetched at the time of the films creation. Especially during the 1950’s and 60’s, mind control research and implementation was done by both sides of the Cold War and was a common characterization of the threat of communism among capitalist societies.
Psychiatrist and author Robert Jay Lifton, wrote a book that came out in 1956, detailing is experiences in a Chinese and North Korean POW camp. He describes communist mind control tactics that were implemented on him, such as the control of information, appeal to core beliefs, demeaning of the individual over society as a whole, and force feeding of ideology. Much of this was new and scary information to the public, and added to communist paranoia. Also the capabilities of hypnosis and the use of drugs as mind control was also being developed around this time. LSD research, and eventual widespread recreational use, was taking place as well. Project MKULTRA was a program that began in the 1950’s by the CIA in which many drugs such as heroin, morphine, temazepam, amphetamines, barbiturates, marijuana, and even alcohol were researched for their mind control capabilities.
The Manchurian Candidate, THX1138, and A Clockwork Orange refer to these developing tactics and use them to project a future world where an overbearing government has exploited these technologies to subvert basic human functions such as free will. In The Manchurian Candidate, the mind control process resembles a psychosis induced by hypnotism and drug use. This comes at a time of increased research in the field of hypnosis, as well as increased recognition of its medical uses. During the 1950’s the American and British Medical Associations (respectively) both approved its medical uses. It was widely used during World War II and the Korean War as a treatment of post traumatic stress disorder. However there was also a palpable fear of hypnosis at the time, exemplified by laws such as British Hypnotism Act of 1952, which limited hypnosis as a form of entertainment. Also the Roman Catholic Church lifted its ban on hypnosis in 1956, but also issued a stern warning of its adverse capabilities.
In the film a group of American soldiers get captured by the Soviets during the Korean War and are brought to Manchuria in communist China. They are implanted with false memories and given a trigger on which to act as part of a plan to overthrow the US government. It is not particularly heavy on special effects but one famous scene in the film depicts a room full of communist officials as they tout the drowsy and complacent Americans while they are under the influence of the mind control. The American soldiers believe they are attending a meeting of the “Ladies Garden Committee.” They are placed in the middle and the point of view keeps switching from what the soldiers see to what is actually happening. The surroundings change back and forth as the camera pans from a garden to a war room. At some points a communist official sounds like a woman from the committee and vise versa. This scene does an effective job of instilling a fear of mind control, and also encourages questioning appearances and warns of the negative effects of complacency. It is indicative of a suspicious and paranoid society that existed during this time in America and other capitalist societies.
THX1138 is reminiscent of that same fear of totalitarian government and the potential misuse of technology to subvert and control an entire population. The level of control achieved by the government in THX1138 has not been accomplished in reality, but the film seems to be a response to fears of a communist agenda where the value of the individual is diminished. In the film the entire population is controlled by information manipulation, electronic thought monitors, as well as a forced drug regiment. It is only when the main character’s female counterpart, LUH 3417, takes away 1138’s drugs that he is able to have emotions and sexual desires. The use of drugs as mind control is interesting material for a film of this time period because it is in the midst of the hippie revolution, were taking hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD, Psilocybin, and other psychedelics began to be widespread among American and European youth. These are the very drugs that were researched since the 1930’s for there mind control potential and it is probably not a coincidence that mind control in the film is implemented through the use of drugs. The film is in line with a conservative mindset that expresses a fear of government control, a complacent society, as well as illegal drug use. It certainly portrays use of mind control technologies in a negative light, while recognizing the challenges and responsibilities of freedom. Michael Ryan and Douglas Kellner remark in their article, “Technophobia”, “The libertarian basis of the films value system cuts both ways politically- liberally in that recorded messages allude to the McCarthyite repression of dissidents; and conservatively, in that they also refer negatively to socialism (Blessings of the State, blessings of the masses. We are created in the image of the masses, by the masses, for the masses.)”
One special effect that the film uses to illustrate the destruction of the individual that is essential to successful mind control is use of the all white background against the plain white clothing. This creates a world that is without boundaries but also a world without direction. Without direction there is no freedom, as there is no direction to choose. The all white environment even suggests a lack of all around existence, as though representing a void that envelops the members of the society. As the film goes on and 1139 begins to escape from the world he has grown up in his outline becomes more and more apparent as the white background diminishes. He also begins to fine direction, exemplified by a lengthy chase scene along an underground highway(illustrated above). Eventually he escapes from the underground world and his figure is silhouetted against a giant sun, seemingly signifying the threat of independence and nature as well as the beauty and necessity of freedom, and the conquering of the individual over mass conformity.
The use of electronic equipment to monitor/control thoughts is also an undeveloped technology that is depicted in the dystopian world of A Clockwork Orange. The difference is that the main character, Alex, undergoes its effects voluntarily, in an attempt to protect himself from himself. The Ludovico treatment, as it is called in the film, is a electronic device that forces open the eyes of its subject and physically manipulates the brain to become incapable of committing a “bad” deed or thought without causing the body to become violently ill. The subject is forced to watch Nazi propaganda films while their favorite music, in this case Beethoven, is played. It is likely that the Ludovico treatment idea came from real scientific experiments carried out by the US Navy in the 1950’s. Andy Smith describes these experiments in his article “Mind Control, LSD, the CIA and the American People, What the Government Does Not Want You to Know,”
“Lt. Commander Thomas Narut of the US Naval Hospital said that recruits in Naples, Florida underwent Clockwork Orange style BeMod(behavior modification) sessions. Martin Cannon, an independent researcher, reports that "Trainees would be strapped into chairs with their eyelids clamped open while watching films of industrial accidents and African circumcision ceremonies.”
The actual story of A Clockwork Orange was written in 1962, during a time of rebellious youth, fear of communism and the destruction of civil liberties. The use of electronic equipment to control or read the mind was not at the time a real technology, but perhaps it also had roots in the x-ray machine, or even the story of Frankenstein, where electricity is used to stimulate the brain into a state of consciousness. Interestingly, only three years after the film’s creation, computer technology was actually able to scan brain waves and allow the subject to control the movement of an onscreen dot purely through thought.
In terms of narrative, A Clockwork Orange depicts the Ludovico treatment as a blatantly painful affair, but it also portrays Alex as a vindictive menace to himself and society. It is not clear throughout the movie if the treatment is actually a good or bad thing for Alex and society. It does become apparent however, initiated by a comment from the prison chaplain, that Alex has lost his humanity by loosing his free will. Even after Alex’s treatment is reversed the society’s sentiment (perhaps somewhat naively) is apologetic towards Alex for the government subjecting him to the treatment and tweaking with his free will.
While we have moved on from the idea of using a cannon to put people on the moon, we as a society still look upon real technologies and imagine a future where they are more fully manifested. In reference to the three films, the technology of mind control through electronic surveillance, hypnosis, and drugs has only become more and more advanced. The Manchurian Candidate also has been remade, which is indicative of its continuing relevance. A recent Newsweek article details the latest computer technology that can tell with 78% accuracy whether a subject is thinking of a hammer or pliers. As these technologies continue to develop, science fiction film will continue to use them to create a more and more viable and complex view of the future or even the past.







Works Cited



Sobchack, Vivian, “Images of Wonder: The Look of Science Fiction Film.” “Liquid Metal, the Science Fiction Film Reader,”
Editor: Redmond, Sean, Wallflower Press, 2004

Ryan, Micheal and Kellner, Douglas “Technophobia,” “Alien Zone: Cultural Theory and Contemporary Science Fiction Cinema”
Editor: Kuhn, Annette, Verso, 2000

Lifton, Robert J “Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China.” University of North Carolina Press 1989(reprint)


Andy Smith, “Mind Control, LSD, the CIA and the American People, What the Government Does Not Want You to Know” 1998-11-23
http://www.mindcontrolforums.com/lsd-mc-cia.htm


“Mind Reading Computer” TIME Magazine, Time Inc. Jul 1, 1974
found online at: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942916-1,00.html


Begley, Sharon, “Mind Control is now Possible” Newsweek Magazine/On Science
Jan 21, 2008

Beware the Medium

Joe Steigerwald

Science Fiction 319

Visual essay 2

                                     Beware the Medium

   The use of time/speed manipulation in A Clockwork Orange(1970, Stanly Kubrick, Great Britain) is used to create a “fantastic” and future world that is separate from the “real” world but at the same time reflective of it. The use of the technique in the film is self-reflexive, as if to point out the capabilities of the technology of film editing to influence the way people view a reality. It is a “look what I can do” statement by the film while implying that this very media technology has influenced the world of the future. Scott Bukatman mentions “the meaning of science fiction film is often to be found in their visual organization and in the inevitable attention to the act of seeing, and this is where the special effects begin to take on a particular importance.” (1)

  Some instances in the film where time is manipulated are when violent scenes are presented in slow motion, such as when the main character, Alex, gets beaten by policemen, and when he beats his “drogues” to assert his role as their leader. However, during a sex orgy the speed of the film is increased. The film is actually pointing out the capabilities of film editing and special effect technologies to create an intimacy with violence and a loss of intimacy or callousness towards sex. This would be an example of film technology’s ability to cause a deviation or perversion of basic humanity. Ideally violence should not be something one embraces or is familiar with, and sex is meant to be a moment of intimacy and expression of human love, and not emotionally detached. This obvious clash is meant to make the point of the special effects apparent.

 This brings up the question: how is the depiction of sex and violence in A Clockwork Orange different from a film that revels in the two as a means of entertainment? Stanley Kubrick brings attention to the sex and violence by juxtaposing sounds and images such as the beating and raping of a woman over the song “singing in the rain,” and through the speed manipulations used to present sex and violence. He portrays them in a manner that is synonymous with enjoyment, but purposefully creates a conscious feeling of enjoyment where there shouldn’t be, a use of the uncanny. The speed manipulation techniques as well as sound image juxtaposition present sex and violence in a way that imply enjoyment but also detachment in that through the very emphasis on sex and violence we are told to be wary of how we view sex and violence through the film medium. He is bringing to our attention the way in which humanity can interact with film technology and be influenced and even perverted by it. The film uses speed effects to present an intimacy with violence and detachment from love, but through this very presentation reminds us it should be the other way around. That is were the difference lies from films that use sex and violence as a form of mindless entertainment. 

   The film contains a scene were Alex is receiving the Levitico treatment, which causes him to be repulsed by violence and sexual perversion, and also takes his free will. While strapped into a machine he is forced to watch a projected film of Nazi propaganda over the sound of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Eric Faden points out this phenomena of the “old as new” motif common in 20th century media technologies:

       “In the 1930’s Walter Benjamin noted that new technologies always emerge in the form of old technologies and asked ‘when and how will the worlds of form that have arisen in mechanics, in film, machine construction, and the new physics…make what is natural in them clear to us.’” (2) 

    Kubrick seems aware of this trend and this sequence is a direct reference to it and reference to the way he presents the time altered scenes: with a clash between enjoyment and repulsiveness, ultimately leading to a heightened conciseness of the way the images are perceived. It also is a reference to the capability of the film medium to “brainwash” and therefore alter ones humanity through film and sound technology. The film tells us to be aware of the way perversion is packaged as entertainment, reveals the ugliness of what is often seen as entertainment while being aware of its attraction, and illustrates humanity’s vulnerability to it’s effects. 

(1) Bukatman, Scott “Zooming Out: The End of Offscreen Space.” The New American Cinema. Edited by Jon Lewis. Duke University Press (1998): 248-272.

(2) Faden, Eric  “Chronophotography and the Digital Image: Whoa...Déjá Vu!” Arret Sur Image  (Francois Alberta, Andre Gaudreault, and Marta Braun, eds. 

Lausanne Switzerland: Payot, 2002) 335- 345 

Don’t Mess with the Alpha Dog

Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange(1971), and George Lucas’ THX 1138(1970) use the non-human to threaten the traditional sexual role of alpha male; when deprived of these roles, the main characters in the films do not retain their full humanity. In both films, alpha male identities are portrayed as being essential to the humanity of the characters. Technically neither film actually deals with alien intrusion, however the "alien other" can be seen as the human mind as controlled by artificial, technological means.
In THX 1138 the characters resemble humans, however elements of their humanity are missing. They all dress the same, their emotions, including sexual desires, are suppressed, there heads are shaved, they are under the control of the state, and they are in a physical world created by and dominated by technology. "The lack of differentiation between individuals is suggested by the limitless quality of space: everything lacks boundaries, from the self to the city."(1) There is no sunset, greenery, or wildlife; only concrete infrastructure. However, at the end of the film, the main character, THX 1138, breaks free of this underworld and is shown silhouetted against a giant sun, instead of a white background. Although he is physically the same, he has asserted his freedom and individuality, and therefore gained his humanity. However the film does not allow 1138 to restore his humanity without assigning him the sexual role of alpha male.
Interestingly enough it is the audacity of LUH 3471(his female roommate) who unlocks 1138’s potential to fulfill this role. She substitutes his mind control pills without his knowledge, and he has his first taste of the joy and fear of freedom, which is also the moment he makes love to her. By fulfilling this role as a male in a heterosexual relationship, he symbolizes the beginning of his precarious journey towards restoring his full humanity (represented by his entry to the surface). Also he starts fulfilling the alpha male role of protector, which in the end he fails at, (LUH 3417’s identity is reassigned) nevertheless not without trying. And finally he adopts the alpha male image of someone who takes charge in the face of adversity and who is a leader.
Although he does not defend his role from other males, THX 1138 still attempts to assert his role against the state, simply by having illegal intercourse. In this case the state takes the place of a rival male, as it is capable of reproduction and impregnation, which in the film takes place outside of the human body and without the necessity of intercourse. The film resonates fear of government-funded research in the science of reproduction, and the potential threat to the traditional role of gender in the human scheme. It is expressing a fear of the potential of technology to allow a governing party to wield extreme and complete control over the masses, which is nearly what is happening in the film. A similar technological threat to gender roles is also manifested in the earlier science fiction such as Invaders from Mars (1953), "A the center of Invaders is the Martian, who represents humans evolved beyond the need for the body or sexuality and which, through its asexuality, references postwar anxieties that radiation contamination will result in the lack of sexual difference."(4)
In A Clockwork Orange, Alex also defends his role as alpha male, often through the use of physical and sexual dominance. Alex lacks a certain sense of morality and chivalry that 1138 comparatively possessed, nevertheless the role of alpha male is a key element to his identity as a human, as it is with 1138’s. While he constantly dominates over the women he comes in contact with, he never fulfills 1138’s role of a protector of women, (or a woman). Deanna Madden brings attention to Alex’s misogyny "in a true patriarchal fashion,"(2). Nevertheless Alex still carries the image of protector among his peers, none of whom are women. Alex leads a band of "droogs," or gang members, who operate in a pack mentality, as a pseudo family, cajoled by the threats and clout of their leader, as well as his ability to protect them.
Eventually in the film Alex is arrested, charged with murder, and imprisoned. He then willingly participates in a new government "aversion therapy" program which renders him physically incapable of violence and sexual promiscuity, if not all capability. During an exhibition Alex is confronted by an actor who tries to provoke him into physical violence, and a woman who tries to seduce him into sexual impurity. He becomes physically ill when attempting to act on these temptations and the voice of a prison chaplain in the crowd remarks "he has lost his free will." It is then apparent then that he has lost a key element of his humanity, even if his humanity has an evil aspect to it. Stanley Kubrick hints this in an interview with Michel Ciment, "The central idea of the film has to do with the question of free-will. Do we lose our humanity if we are deprived of the choice between good and evil?" Kubrick uses Alex’s sexual role as a way of asserting this freedom of choice in the film, therefore as a way of living out part of what it means for Alex to be human. He also provides an insight into the real life fears presented in the film, "Recent experiments in conditioning and mind control on volunteer prisoners in America have taken this question out of the realm of science-fiction."(3)
Despite his rebelliousness, and perverted view of what is "good," Alex still had a taste for Beethoven, a sign of cultured taste beyond what might be expected of him. However, the aversion therapy also takes away his ability to enjoy this music, a further sign that he has been stripped of what ever exactly it was that made him human.
Alex then tries to commit suicide, during which his aversion therapy is accidentally reversed. The first signs that it has been reversed are when he is able to enjoy the classical music, but also when he discovers he has no adverse reaction to sexual pleasure. It is at this moment that his confident smirk returns, as well as his role of alpha male and the evil that was evidently part of his humanity. With the return of his ability to enact his gender role, his humanity, as presented by the film, is now restored as well.
While the two films do not precisely define what it means to be human, they clearly portray what the filmmakers believe to be essential elements of it; namely freedom (to do good or bad), individuality, and fulfilling of gender identity. Both films choose to focus on the heterosexual, alpha male identity, as opposed to the roles of women or homosexuals. Perhaps this is inadvertent or maybe they are trying to expose sexism in the psychology of the alpha male. A disparity, however, especially in A Clockwork Orange, is given to the importance of women and homosexual roles as opposed to heterosexual male roles. All in all, a key emphasis of both films is that gender identity is part of what makes us human, and both films express a fear of what happens when these identities are tampered with.

(1) Kellner, Douglas and Ryan, Micheal, Camera Politica "Technophobia" Published by Indiana University Press, 1988
(2) Madden, Deanna "Women In Dystopia: Misogyny in Brave New World, 1984, and A Clockwork Orange," in Misogyny in Literature: An Essay Collection, edited by Katherine Anne Ackley, Garland Publishing, 1992, pp. 302.
(3) http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/interview.aco.html, interview with Stanley Kubrick by Micheal Ciment. 1981.
(4) Hendershot, Cydy, "The Invaded Body: Parania and Radiation Anxiety in Invaders from Mars, It Came from Outer Space, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Extrapolation, Vol 39, 1998 by the Kent State University Press.

Hypothetical Reality

Stanly Kubrick’s film A Clockwork Orange(1971, UK), does not offer an explanation for youth violence other that that it is a result of the choice between good and evil. It explores the conflict between the rebellious youth and established society and depicts the strife between the two forces. Anthony Burgess’s novel A Clock Work Orange was written in 1961, not long after an attitude of destructiveness and rebellion was taking hold in many kids around the world. Films such as Rebel Without a Cause(1955, Nicholas Ray, US) and The Wild One(1953, Laslo Benedek, US) epitomized this often violent attitude and lack of explanation for it.
The film meets the generic criteria of science fiction because it takes place at a time other than the present and helps us consider the nature of humanity as a result of a technology or science that threatens the view of humanity we hold today. In the film, society is crumbling9as expressed in the dilapedated commons area in the still image) and it seems to be a situation where the rebellious attitude of the youth which was prevalent in the 1950’s has gotten out of control. The government, growing more and more desperate, has developed a machine (pictured here)that can make its subject physically incapable of doing a bad deed. The character, who does not have an explanation for his bad behavior, but who has decided he wants to be “good,” then goes out into the world and we see that he has been stripped of his humanity by being stripped of his ability to choose between good and evil. However, at the end of the film, when the effects of the machine are reversed, it is hinted that he has immediately returned to his old ways. It seems as though the film is stating that there is no explanation for the clash between the youth and society, just that it is a confrontation between two forces that feel threatened by the other. As long as there is the choice between good and evil, evil will likely be there, as well as conflict.
The film was made in 1971, ten years after the book, at a time when a new wave of disconnect was happening between the youth and established society, A similar situation was still occurring, however the tables had turned to where the youth were not advocating violence and the established society was. Perhaps Kubrick is commenting on the interchangeability and uncertainty of societal roles by having the gang members become police men and the teenagers wearing bowler hats or military garb as part of their style. This tweaking of classical style is often inherent in the mise en scene of A Clockwork Orange and creates a new meaning separate from the icon or the past. Vivien Sobcheck says in her article “Images of Wonder, The Look of Science Fiction”, “It is the very plasticity of objects and settings in SF films which help define them s science fiction, and not their consistency.”
Stanley Kubrick has directed other science fiction films such as Dr. Strangelove(1954,US) and 2001: a Space Odyssey(1968,US). He also made non-science fiction such as the historical epic Barry Lyndon(1975, US), the horror film, The Shining(1980, US), and the war film Full Metal Jacket(1988, US). Dr. Strangelove is a comedic look at the lunacy of the Cold War and the people in charge, and the threat of the nuclear bomb. 2001 is a high budget film showcasing the filmmaking technology that was available as well as a glimpse at what life might be like in the future. A Clockwork Orange is low budget, due to a lack of available funding, and is more character and plot driven. The vastly different qualities of Kubrick’s films show his versatility and skill as a filmmaker. Other science fiction films of the time such a La Jetee(Chris Marker, France, 1962) and The Time Machine(1960, US, George Pal) dealt with such issues at alien invasion, nuclear warfare, time travel, and censorship. “Thus, the writer and legendary pulp editor John W. Campbell Jr. instructed that science fiction should be ‘an effort to predict the future on the basis of known facts , culled largely from present day laboratories. ’” Like many science fiction films of the time, A Clockwork Orange took a technology that was not yet developed, as well as a environment that had not yet developed, and made it a visual reality, all the while commenting on the present society as well as the nature of humanity as a whole.

Sobcheck, Vivien “Images of Wonder, The Look of Science Fiction” CR
Telotte, JP “Introduction: The World of Science Fiction Film” CR