Ludovico technique

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This article refers to the psychological conditioning technique from A Clockwork Orange. For information regarding the art and video production firm of the same name, please see Ludovico Technique LLC.

The Ludovico technique is a fictitious drug-assisted aversion therapy from the novel and film A Clockwork Orange. It involves the patient being forced to watch violent images for long periods of time, while under the effect of drugs that cause a near death experience. The idea is that if the patient is forced to watch the horribly graphic rapes, assaults and other acts of violence while suffering from the drug effects, the patient will assimilate the sensations and then become incapacitated or very ill either attempting to perform or even just witnessing said acts of violence.

The Ludovico technique is an artistic semblance of the psychological phenomenon known as classical conditioning which is a form of associative learning that was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov . The typical procedure for inducing classical conditioning involves presentations of a neutral stimulus along with a stimulus of some significance. The neutral stimulus could be any event that does not result in an overt behavioral response from the organism under investigation. In the story of A Clockwork Orange, when the protagonist Alex DeLarge is made the subject of the Ludovico technique, he is conditioned to associate his illness with violence.

In the process of creating both the novel and film adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, original author Anthony Burgess and film director Stanley Kubrick both went to painstaking effort to incorporate a plethora of symbols for the context of the story.

[edit] Social background

Much of the film reflects the fears, and logical extrapolations, of the time in which it was made: Massive unemployment, moral decay, and the various liberal and conservative approaches to the resultant crime. The main character Alex, a hedonist, sadist and sociopath, reflects the end result of such a future dystopia. The fictional Ludovico technique plays a crucial role as both a plot device and social commentary.

After his capture and incarceration for murder (the conservative approach to crime) he volunteers for the Ludovico Technique (a technocratic approach to crime) in hopes of early release, not having any idea what the treatment entails. One crucial plot device is that while being forced to watch scenes of violence and cruelty, he is also forced to watch old newsreels and propaganda of violent regimes in an attempt to cure him of every conceivable social aberration. One such film repeatedly shown was Triumph of the Will. Unfortunately the original scores were also played with these newsreels, many of which were his one socially acceptable vice; his love for the music of Ludwig Van Beethoven. (The irony of this is emphasized by the name Burgess chose for the fictional technique: "Ludovico" is an Italian form of "Ludwig".) Thus while being 'cured' of violence and social aberration, he is also forever denied the music of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. It is this 'flaw' in the treatment that allows Alex to eventually undo his treatment, and after surviving an attempt on his life by one of his former victims, the film ends with him being made a political pawn in the crime debate, as he begins to once again imagine doing all the sociopathic things he did before.

Kubrick based the movie on the American edition of the novel, which omitted the last chapter in which Alex outgrows his sociopathy.

[edit] In popular culture

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This treatment is parodied in The Simpsons, in the episode "Dog of Death". When Mr. Burns tries to convert Santa's Little Helper into a vicious hound, the dog is tied up, his eyes are kept open and he is forced to watch violent images including a nuclear explosion and dogs' mistreatment, while Beethoven's Ninth Symphony plays. This is the opposite of the Ludovico technique, namely producing aggression and lack of empathy in a subject that was previously sociable and well behaved; in this respect, it bears some resemblance to the film The Parallax View.

The treatment is also parodied in the Drawn Together episode "Clum Babies". When it is discovered that Wooldoor Sockbat produces sperm with magical healing powers, some of the characters form a business selling his Clum Babies to heal the sick. In a parody of the stem cell controversy, Princess Clara, a Fundamentalist Christian, objects to the use of Wooldoor's sperm to save lives, and uses scare tactics to make Wooldoor swear off masturbation forever. However, when Clara becomes ill with tuberculosis, the other housemates make Wooldoor produce another Clum Baby to heal her by using a parody of the Ludovico technique; they strap him in a chair with his eyes clamped open, and then force him to watch pornography.

The same treatment is used in Undercover Brother, where he learned about white people.

The scene in Zoolander with Derek Zoolander's brainwashing by Mugatu while listening to Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax" parodies the Ludovico technique.

In the British program, Star Stories, which parodies famous celebrities, one episode has Michael Douglas suffering from an addiction to sex. His rehabilitation involves him being forced to watch a sexual scene (to the sound of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony) whilst being physically beaten.

The treatment is mimicked in the "Not in Portland" episode of ABC's Lost.

The treatment is also spoofed in each opening segment of Robot Chicken where a chicken is strapped to a chair, eyelids pried open, and forced to watch a wall filled with TV screens showing Robot Chicken videos.

In the Invader Zim episode Parent Teacher Night, the technique Zim uses to teach his Robo-Parents how to be normal earth parents is the Ludovico technique.

The treatment was carried out by the television program MythBusters, by Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage to examine the feasibility of the technique.

The Ludovico technique was also used to cure Jeb of his intelligence in an episode of Lil Bush.

In Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, the technique is used comedically to cure Ned's bad habit of saying yes to everyone.

In Bloom County, the technique is used to deprogram Bill the Cat after he becomes a Rajneeshee and is kidnapped back by Opus. The deprogramming is done Ludovico style by tying him to a post with his eyes clipped open, forcing him to watch old re-runs of Leave It to Beaver.

In the film Street Fighter, a similar technique was used to turn the character Blanka into a monster.

In Aqua Teen Hunger Force, this technique was used to teach Master Shake and Meatwad all the information in the universe to win a quiz game at a bar. Only Master Shake was able to retain any of the information though.

[edit] In music

The song Ludvico Drive-In by the band At the Drive-In is a reference to A Clockwork Orange's fictional treatment.

The music video "Too Much Information" by Duran Duran depicts clearly the Ludovico Technique applied to Simon LeBon (the lead singer).

In the music video for the Guns N' Roses song "Welcome to the Jungle" Axl Rose is seen being submitted to the Ludovico technique.

The song "Dogstar Man/Helter Skelter" from the 1990 Meat Beat Manifesto album 99% includes several samples from the movie A Clockwork Orange including one of anti-hero Alex DeLarge screaming while undergoing the Ludivico technique.

A song by the Norwegian hardcore band JR Ewing is named "The Ludovico Technique".