User blog:Looperreallyreallysucks/Pure Evil Proposal: Alex (A Clockwork Orange)

Gonna do a controversial one here: Alex from A Clockwork Orange. Please note that this is the FILM version of the character that I’m proposing. The novel version grew bored of violence and reformed at the end of the book, so that version doesn’t count.

What's The Work
A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian film directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is about a criminal called Alex who gets captured by the government and subjected against violence (or “ultra-violence”, as the story calls it) via a treatment called the “Ludovico technique”. After that, Alex faces the retribution of all the people he attacked/assaulted as a criminal, and because of the treatment, he can’t even defend himself. But by the end of the movie, the effects of the treatment wear off, and Alex reverts back to his violent, psychopathic self.

Who is the Candidate/What Have They Done?
Alex is the main protagonist villain of the movie. He is a “droog” who goes around committing atrocious crimes for kicks. In the first act of the movie, he and his droogs sadistically beat a helpless old man to a pulp. He also tricks a woman into letting him and his droogs into her house. When she lets them in, he beats her husband crippled and forces him to watch as he strips the woman and rapes her, all while dancing and singing “Singin’ in the Rain” without a care in the world. As if he wasn’t already bad enough, Alex abuses and dominates his own droogs. His final crime before his arrest consists of him breaking into a cat lady’s house in an attempt to rob her. He gets into a fight with the lady and beats her to death.

At the end of the movie, after the effects of the “Ludovico technique” wear off, Alex begins to contemplate sex and violence.

Freudian Excuse/Mitigating Factors
No Freudian Excuse. Alex is a psychopath who merely commits crimes because he enjoys it. As for mitigating factors... while he doesn’t genuinely love anyone, and he feels no remorse for his actions, the third act of the movie (after Alex is subjected against violence) seems to paint him in a sympathetic light. He has to endure being beaten and attacked by all the people he hurt before he was arrested, and he eventually tries to kill himself because of that. However, this comes off as shallow, as all of this is just Alex getting what he deserves. As a criminal, he is never played for sympathy, and the entire first act consists of him torturing, raping, and murdering people. We can’t expect him to get away with all that, right? So in the end, I don’t think there’s anything about him that’s actually disqualifying. And again, this is the film version that I’m proposing, so here, he doesn’t grow bored of violence, and all implications show that he goes back to being a criminal in the end.

Heinous Standard
Multiple people in the story enjoy violence and abuse, as the movie is set in a dystopian setting. However, we actually see Alex’s atrocities, and he stands out enough out of everyone else, so he sets it.

Final Verdict
You decide.