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Demystifying the Orange

It's strange watching a movie with someone who's watching it for a completely different purpose. I watched A Clockwork Orange without knowing anything about it, except that it was a classic. It didn't help - I was slightly confused, and extremely disappointed. I didn't realize then, but part of the reason was that we kept being interrupted, all three of us. It's all right if you're interrupted, but not if someone else is. I don't still understand why. All I know is that I kept being bothered by the term 'Orange' everytime someone came in and asked what we were watching - and there was a lot of them. To one of my friends, it was just a classic: it couldn't be wrong, even if it felt wrong to him. It wasn't just a movie, it was an item on a list: things to be done, songs to be downloaded, things to be struck off. I was just watching a movie after a long, long time.

I watched it again at home, alone, with headphones on, my chair comfortable and my interruptions my own. It seemed more comic this time and less violent, more purposeful and less an assault on people's sensibility. I usually end up searching for what I don't understand , but this is an exception: I don't want to search, I don't want to know. I have my own theory on what the Orange stands for. I have my own idea on how it relates to the clockwork, my own take on the movie's morality. Maybe it's because I was so disappointed the first time. Maybe it's just that it made more sense the next time. I don't exactly understand why.

And I still don't know what the Orange is.

Comments

Batool said…
There are these films I want to watch: Magnolia, Colours of Paradise, A clockwork Orange. But I won't watch them because they really do feel like items being struck off a list. They won't mean anything for all the interruptions, the preoccupation. Books are much more discrete, flexible easier to manage. You can slip them in your bag and take them everywhere. But yes, you're making me long to see these films.

Thair jao baita, I'll post about a book and make you want to read it too :)
11:17 PM
Anonymous said…
interesting observation, about the classic bit and being interrupted i mean. However, dont you do exactly the same thing when you tell me to watch this movie or that, its great? Maybe its cause i've never really watched movies that make you think, and so havent really had the opportunity to actually try and interpret a movie's meaning.
You know who this is, dont you.. :P
3:54 AM
VassagO said…
Hey. Interesting, i dont know whether you liked or disliked the movie or not, i dont really think that was the point - but i would definately suggest reading the book (i myself have only read the book) -
In the book, half of the language used is from a completely fictional type of slang (and if you get a really good copy there will be an appendix of explanations) for example the term "cancer" used to describe smokes. But the books all about brainwashing, and mind control - and i dont know if it happened in the movie, but by the end of the book your fluent in this completely fictional slang - i.e. author making point - your mind is fical enough that words on a page can even change your thought process - beware.

Just a random thought brought about by reading your post...
1:10 PM
decaf said…
The movie's also all about brainwashing, but Kubrick wrote his own scripts and therefore Anthony Burgess is rarely mentioned when the movie is being talked about. Kubrick sticks to the story of the book, I guess, but his movie is more peppered with dark humour.

I understand the idea about words making such a strong impact. The point is made several times during the movie as well - specially if you count the analogous use of Beethoven's 9th symphony.

I'd like to read the book, though. I'll look for it the next time I'm book-hunting.
6:21 PM
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