Clockwork Lemon

Ah well - at least I don't have to see it any more times. The ghost is laid to rest, as the decades rolled back, yet the fears completely failed to resurface. The near-empty cinema told its own tale also.

The problem with film depicting the future, or in this case near future, is that when that near future arrives, the only natural thing to do is to check for accuracies. The chilling thing about Clockwork Orange now is just how ordinary it is. What was in 1971 a horrifying prophecy of the way things might be, is now just a pretty pretty account of the way they are. The only thing which hasn't (yet) come true is the overt use of aversion therapy for convicts. But who knows, that might be just around the corner too.

Over and over again as we sat in the cinema, and I could see one point after another failing to register, I just wanted to scream... "We'd never seen that before - it was so shocking for us then!" My guests were polite, but disappointed. Sometimes you shouldn't go back. Thank God I resisted the urge for the one which scared me the very most, when I was 13. "The Gamma People." Terrifying. I had to run out of the cinema. But, brave little soldier that I was even then, I forced myself to go back and see it the next night! I had the opportunity to revisit The Gamma People when I was about 30, but, as I say, I resisted. Some things are better left in memory. Give me "The Crow - City of Angels" any time :)

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