Clockwork Orange and Kidulthood

After having watched the opening of Clockwork Orange and Kidulthood I was able to draw comparisons and difference. Both films involve a violent gang with a malicious leader for example in Clockwork orange theirs is a boy called Alex and in Kidulthood it’s a boy named Sam. Each group have their own specific identity Sams gang are all dressed in baggy tracksuit bottoms and hoodies covering most of their face with in our day is very stereotypical for being a ‘chav’ which we immediately relate to violence. Alex’s gang in Clockwork Orange isn’t as obvious as they are all dressed in white but specific features such as the use of makeup and fake eyelashes on one eye was very bizarre as it was filmed in the 1970’s, this was an extreme shock. By dressing in similar outfits it makes the gangs appearance shine out above the rest as they are drawing attention to themselves, their sense of dress also reflects a certain image of what sort of person they may be especially in the 21^st century with all the different stereotypes. In the first 10minutes of both films we, as the audience, are immediately introduced to violence, in clockwork orange we see Alex and his ‘droogs’ beat up and old man, we then see Sams gang in Kidulthood beat up other students. Although violence and scenes of nudity are less shocking now there is still use of shock tactics to draw in the viewers. As Clockwork Orange was filmed in the 70’s this was an incredible shock to the public and many frowned upon it. It is accepted a little more into society now as the mass media have labelled young people and informed them on how to behave. Their behaviour is then the response to being labelled.

  In addition in both films the parents are completely oblivious. In the film Kidulthood the young teenage girl Katie, who is a victim, is obviously extremely depressed she comes home from school with noticeable evidence of physical abuse. Her parents don’t question her on how she said she got the cuts and bruises and trust that she is a sensible and smart girl. Much to their surprise Katie then commits suicide in her bedroom leaving a note to her parents on her dressing table, still with attributes of her childlike behaviour shining through as she drew a dainty flower down the side of her paper. If the parents had intervened maybe they could have saved her life. In similarity to this the gang leader in Clockwork Orange also has oblivious parent, they never question him on why he doesn’t go to school, where he is in the evenings and what job he has because of the excessive amount of money in his bedroom. If Alex’s parents were aware of his actions they may be able to put a stop to his uncontrollable behaviour. Although both children are in very different situations the similarity between the parents is very familiar.

  On the other hand there are also many differences, mainly because of the 30+year gap between the films. A good difference is the language that is used by the characters in each film. Clockwork orange uses a very formal style of English, almost old English, as I was watching the film there were some words that I didn’t recognised and some that I realised I pronounce differently to how they were spoken in the film. In comparison, the film Kidulthood uses extremely informal dialect constantly slipping into bathos and using colloquial language. This also adds to their stereotype and portrays a very clear image of a ‘chav’/’gangster’. Not only does the constant use of swearing and slang add to the shock of the film, linked in with the steady violence it’s a real surprise and definitely not a nice one.