Youth Repellent, Repellent Youth

Singing this song as Alex kicked the man nearly to death was an on-the-set inspiration and improvisation by Malcom McDowell himself; Kubrick approved enthusiastically.

The end titles of "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) feature Gene Kelly's original rendition from the 1952 musical "Singing in the Rain." People who love Hollywood movie musicals nearly all cite "Singing in the Rain" as Hollywood's greatest achievement in the genre, and Kelly's performance of this song as the genre's perfect moment, a celebration of joy, happiness, romantic innocence, innocent fun.

McDowell and Kubrick instantly and forever flipped the meaning of that song, moment, context into an indelible, horrific association with ultra-violent psychopathy. Kelly is in the first blush of falling in love. Alex the Beethoven-loving thrill-killer is kicking a defenseless man almost to death. They're singing the same song, and they both love the song and their feelings while they sing it.

Alex's authentic love of and joy at great music are one of the most disturbing aspects of the novel and the motion picture. We tend to make the assumption that an authentic and learned passion for great music can only reside in a spiritually positive personality; or that the more we absorb great music, whether classical or pop, the more we learn about it and respond to it, the more spiritually advanced we must become.

Another particularly distressing counterexample is Arthur Miller's screenplay "Playing for Time," the true story of the inmate orchestra at Auschwitz, whose purpose was to play classical music to calm the other inmates as they were herded toward their deaths.

Recently, another very distressing abuse and violation of great, beautiful music has begun to be discussed here and there among lovers of classical music. Mozart in particular has for some years been systematically piped through the speakers at large American shopping malls -- because (it's in the public domain -- free, and) it makes very effective "Youth Repellent." Rappers, punks, goths, juvies, etc., can't stand it, and it drives them out of malls where they tend to gather. Older shoppers don't mind it or find it fairly easy to ignore.

Anthony Burgess was a classical music composer and symphony conductor. A legend about him has it that he was diagnosed with a "one year to live" disease, and asked himself what he'd really wanted to do -- so he decided to write a novel, and wrote "A Clockwork Orange." Some time later it turned out the doctor had misread or mixed up Burgess' X-rays; he wasn't suffering from a fatal disease.

There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.

Happy Thanksgiving Thursday 24 November everyone! On Internet Relay Chat, I'm

Droog4

============================

Singing in the Rain

music by Nacio Herb Brown
lyrics by Arthur Freed

I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feeling
I'm happy again

I'm laughing at clouds
So dark up above
'Cause the sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love

Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face

I'll walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
'Cause I'm singing
Just singing in the rain.

I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feeling
I'm happy again

I'm laughing at clouds
So dark up above
'Cause the sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love

Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face

I'll walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
'Cause I'm singing
Just singing in the rain.

> [Original Message]
> From: P*** S****
> To:
> Date: 11/22/2005 2:41:48 PM
> Subject: RE: [D******] Is acid back?
>
> Oh, those were the days! I had several friends quit taking acid after
> getting their minds blown on Windowpane. One guy thought he was being
> kidnapped by Martians, another thought his autonomic nervous system had
> failed and he would quit breathing if he didn't consciously make himself
> inhale and exhale. I, on the other hand, dropped a hit and watched
> "Clockwork Orange." Absolutely terrifying, but, man, did that movie imprint
> on me!
>