If there’s one lesson I learned from Stanley Kubrick's classic movie A Clockwork Orange, it is that man is created to be free and not meant to be a mechanical being, as the movie’s title suggests. I saw the movie upon the recommendation of a professor who considers Anthony Burgess’s novel of the same title one of the best works of literature of all time.
The film is about Alex DeLarge, the head of a notorious gang who randomly commit assault, rape and murder. He is sent to prison and voluntarily participates in a prisoner reform program that involves drugs, repeated sounds and watching of violent films. He is released from prison as a “cured” man but is welcomed by society with abuse and inhuman treatment. It would be natural to him to respond violently to the rejection but he is unable to do so because of the brainwashing received in prison, making him a “clockwork orange.”
I heard that the book is a better version because it has a redemptive ending. Film producers decided to omit the final chapter of the book because they wanted a tragic conclusion for the American audience.
“All movies have Christian worldview potential,” Robert Johnston, author of Reel Spirituality, has said. Even disturbing films like this one, controversial for its shocking images of sex and violence, have a moral message you and I can learn from. A Clockwork Orange shows a poignant picture of human sin and man’s failure to free or redeem himself from his shortcomings. It’s a clear contrast with us believers, whose freedom and redemption is not a clockwork orange but a willful submission to Christ. One viewer, Allen Dodge, wrote, “A Clockwork Orange does not glorify violence. It shows violence in a violent society, and shows an attempt to deal with it. It is a powerful movie, with powerful messages.”
The level of violence displayed in A Clockwork Orange is significantly less, and no less mindless, than that displayed in films such as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. In addition, A Clockwork Orange contains a moral and ethical question, which many other films with similar levels of violence do not.
A Clockwork Orange teaches us that man isn’t made to be a mechanical being, but was made to be free, and for believers in Christ that freedom comes from knowing and fellowshipping with Jesus Christ. What more should we ask for?
(Editor’s note: Although Jason is probably correct that A Clockwork Orange contains no more violence than many other films, many people have found the way that violence is depicted in this film, including sexual violence, especially unsettling. Anyone who wants to see the film should read a thorough description first, such as this one or this one. --GRD)
The Washington Post is getting a lot of buzz from its story "Transgender at five," about a little girl who was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a form of gender identity disorder. For now, her parents are letting her live as a boy. In the future, they have some deeply disturbing options, such as puberty blockers and hormone treatments that, among other things, would render their child sterile.
It seems to me, from my reading of the article, that the medical community has put more time and effort into encouraging families to embrace and encourage the symptoms of this disorder than into trying to find genuine treatments for it. Is there any other disorder on earth that we treat this way? The very word disorder suggests that something has gone wrong, that something is, literally, out of order. Wouldn't you think that the patients would be better off if their doctors were genuinely interested in finding ways to restore that order? READ FULL ARTICLE »
Grammatical giveaway
By: Gina Dalfonzo|Published: May 21, 2012 10:32 AM
Bill Maher went after Liberty University late last week (language alert). Among other things, he said: "When you confuse a church with a school, it mixes up the things you believe -- religion -- with the things we know -- education."
As Nancy Pearcey pointed out on Facebook: "The fact/value split in action: belief pitted against knowledge. Notice the shift in pronouns: You believe, but we know." READ FULL ARTICLE »
We need to speak out against the latest attempt to muzzle free speech. While Representative Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) has good intentions, his proposal would spell the end of freedom.
If you missed Chuck's memorial service, you can still see it here, at least for now. (I'm not certain how long it will be available online.) Also, you can read WORLD magazine's writeup here. READ FULL ARTICLE »
The Obama website has a page about "The Life of Julia," supposedly a representative American woman. Over at Her.meneutics, I have a piece about why Julia is a remarkably poor representative for many of us. READ FULL ARTICLE »
When writing, I try to keep exclamation points to a minimum, however, for this blog I might use more than one. You will forgive me the excitement when you find out that we've just celebrated Gina's 10th anniversary with the ministry.
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I heard about the new TIME magazine cover on my way to work this morning. It's a startling picture, really: A three-year-old boy is standing on a chair suckling at his mother's breast.
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He’s supposed be against bullying, but that’s exactly what he did. From the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, I’m John Stonestreet with the Point.
