Comments on: The new American ultraviolence http://trueslant.com/matthewnewton/2009/06/10/the-new-american-ultraviolence/ True life stories collected from places far and near, examining the sublime intersection between culture and human behavior. Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:41:19 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Matt Stroud http://trueslant.com/matthewnewton/2009/06/10/the-new-american-ultraviolence/comment-page-1/#comment-7 Matt Stroud Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:48:00 +0000 http://trueslant.com/matthewnewton/?p=101#comment-7 Back to "using a creative format" for a moment: Remember, there's a disconnect between Burgess' novel and Kubrick's adaptation. In the movie, Kubrick ended things short, skipping the 21st chapter's lessons, and implying (with Malcolm MacDowell's wry smile in the final scene) that, for all his suffering, Alex had not changed; he would continue to be excited by ultraviolence, and the rest was up to our imaginations. Burgess' novel was more concrete: he experienced Metanoia -- the realization that everything he once knew was wrong. He grew up, became a man, changed his ultraviolent ways. In your estimation, Matt, can society recover from the new American ultraviolence? Can culture experience Metanoia? Or will it continue to be desensitized into untold depths of horror? Back to “using a creative format” for a moment: Remember, there’s a disconnect between Burgess’ novel and Kubrick’s adaptation. In the movie, Kubrick ended things short, skipping the 21st chapter’s lessons, and implying (with Malcolm MacDowell’s wry smile in the final scene) that, for all his suffering, Alex had not changed; he would continue to be excited by ultraviolence, and the rest was up to our imaginations. Burgess’ novel was more concrete: he experienced Metanoia — the realization that everything he once knew was wrong. He grew up, became a man, changed his ultraviolent ways.

In your estimation, Matt, can society recover from the new American ultraviolence? Can culture experience Metanoia? Or will it continue to be desensitized into untold depths of horror?

]]> By: Matthew Newton http://trueslant.com/matthewnewton/2009/06/10/the-new-american-ultraviolence/comment-page-1/#comment-6 Matthew Newton Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:47:37 +0000 http://trueslant.com/matthewnewton/?p=101#comment-6 libtree09... you're 100% correct. Ultraviolence is actually not new at all. And you bring up some great points re: violence/treatment of Native Americans and blacks. Atrocities of the past carry no less weight than those perpetrated today. But I guess the 'new' I am referring to is this idea of how far gone we seem to be as a nation. We are unfazed unless the tragedy is of epic proportion. Thirteen people dead in Binghamton is shocking, but we forget about it a day later. It takes a tragedy of grand magnitude to shake us out of our workaday slumber. The only thing in recent memory that was awful enough to stop the entire country in its tracks was September 11th. I think you're quote of 'Here we go again' is dead on. These 'new' tragedies have almost become the same type of 'media event' as say, Janet Jackson's televised nipple slip from a few years back. And that's what worries me most. libtree09… you’re 100% correct. Ultraviolence is actually not new at all. And you bring up some great points re: violence/treatment of Native Americans and blacks. Atrocities of the past carry no less weight than those perpetrated today. But I guess the ‘new’ I am referring to is this idea of how far gone we seem to be as a nation. We are unfazed unless the tragedy is of epic proportion. Thirteen people dead in Binghamton is shocking, but we forget about it a day later. It takes a tragedy of grand magnitude to shake us out of our workaday slumber. The only thing in recent memory that was awful enough to stop the entire country in its tracks was September 11th. I think you’re quote of ‘Here we go again’ is dead on. These ‘new’ tragedies have almost become the same type of ‘media event’ as say, Janet Jackson’s televised nipple slip from a few years back. And that’s what worries me most.

]]> By: libtree09 http://trueslant.com/matthewnewton/2009/06/10/the-new-american-ultraviolence/comment-page-1/#comment-5 libtree09 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:15:31 +0000 http://trueslant.com/matthewnewton/?p=101#comment-5 I understand your point but not quite sure that ultra violence is all that new, American history is filled with incidents of violence on a scale that pales with Clockwork. Consider acts against American Indians, Blacks, even religious atrocities such as the Mormons response to outsiders settling in Utah. Your point about desensitization is right on largely because all such acts are pushed in our faces by TV. My thought is that such publicity creates an atmosphere to duplicate those acts. The shooter at the Texas University and Columbine was completely shocking but after scores of shooting it becomes a bizarre norm and response is a "Here we go again." Lots of coverage, talk of mental illness, neighbors proclaiming the shooter seemed so nice and a NRA reminder that people kill people. Sometimes I wonder if people are actually suppressed savages, (a point Burgress thought about in Clockwork), for instance there are photos of lynchings in the South, where the victim is surrounded by a grinning and happy crowd, including children having a grand old time. Now that, to me, is frightening, how many of us, stare into our screens watching the latest horror with a broad grin. I understand your point but not quite sure that ultra violence is all that new, American history is filled with incidents of violence on a scale that pales with Clockwork. Consider acts against American Indians, Blacks, even religious atrocities such as the Mormons response to outsiders settling in Utah. Your point about desensitization is right on largely because all such acts are pushed in our faces by TV. My thought is that such publicity creates an atmosphere to duplicate those acts. The shooter at the Texas University and Columbine was completely shocking but after scores of shooting it becomes a bizarre norm and response is a “Here we go again.” Lots of coverage, talk of mental illness, neighbors proclaiming the shooter seemed so nice and a NRA reminder that people kill people. Sometimes I wonder if people are actually suppressed savages, (a point Burgress thought about in Clockwork), for instance there are photos of lynchings in the South, where the victim is surrounded by a grinning and happy crowd, including children having a grand old time. Now that, to me, is frightening, how many of us, stare into our screens watching the latest horror with a broad grin.

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