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nTitle: Videodrome (1983)
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nDirector: David Cronenberg
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nCast: James Woods, Deborah Harry
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nReview:
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nVideodrome is a film that I’ve re-watched many times over andnhonestly, every time I see it I see a whole other level of it opening up beforenme like some giant, pulsating vagina of the mind! What? You don’t know what I’mntalking about? Well, after you see this Cronenberg masterpiece, you’ll understand.nAt first glance, Videodrome might come off as a movie that’s simply out tonshock you with its gory, slimy body horror (and does do that exceedingly well)nbut if we peel back the layers of shock and titillation, we discover that thisnfilm has a whole lot to offer us. It speaks, above all things about the overnsaturation of sensory input we live in. As Debbie Harry’s character ‘NickynBrand’ puts it “I think we live in over stimulated times, we crave stimulation fornits own sake, we gorge ourselves on it. We always want more, whether itsntactile, emotional or sexual, and I think that’s bad” Problem is, she’s ancomplete hypocrite because she herself is a sensory addict! And at the end ofnthe day, aren’t we all? I see many of Cronenberg’s films as essays on any givennsubject, he’s films are always so psychological, so Freudian, that I findnmyself searching for themes and symbolisms as soon as I push that play button. Let’snsee what Cronenberg was dissecting this time around shall we?
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nWith Videodrome Cronenberg aims his scalpel at the media andnhow its constant hammering of our psyches allows it to program us and make usnsee things in a certain way, ultimately serving as a tool for our manipulation.nTelevision is a truly powerful tool that is used to send out ideas to thenmasses, to program them. To quote the film “the television screen is the retinanof the mind’s eye”. On Videodrome this is represented by a living, breathingnvideo cassette that the bad guys insert into Maxx Renn’s stomach! The video cassettentells him what he must do, like a program, then, like some robot, Maxx goes andndoes what he’s been programmed to do. Maxx is a tool of the system, he is anproduct of Videodrome, addicted to television, and he will do what it tells itnto. This is why at one point in the film, Maxx says “I am the Video Word madenFlesh”. We don’t realize it, but little by little the media can mold ournthoughts, this is the main reason why I can’t watch television. I am a selfnproclaimed television hater; I can’t stand the endless barrage of commercials! Ofncourse, there are selected shows that I’ll watch, but I don’t watch them onntelevision, I get them on dvd and watch them without the commercials, becausencommercials are my bane! I hate those things with a passion! I hate the brainnbranding! I hate their manipulative nature! I hate the fact that everywhere Inlook, every moment of my life, someone is trying to sell me something, so innorder to cut down on the amount of commercials I see per day, I avoidntelevision like the plague. Habitual television viewers submit themselves to annobscene amount of commercials, that, same as the living breathing videoncassette in Videodrome end up programming them into buying things they don’t need.nThis is what Cronenberg speaks of, how television can choke you, create a “tumornin your brain” that can change your thoughts or make you do things you don’t havento.
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nBut Cronenberg’s Videodrome offers us the way out of all ofnthis. The answer is simple, de-program yourself and get yourself reborn into “thennew flesh”! The idea behind this film is not so different from what thenWachowskis were trying to say with The Matrix (1999). It’s about disconnectingnfrom The Matrix and living in the real world. Videodrome plays with the ideanthat society as we know it exists under a veil of illusions and lies, and thatnwe need to wake up to the truth, to the way things really are. This is why JamesnWood’s ‘Maxx Renn’ ends up saying “Death to Videodrome, long live the new flesh”,nwith this action taken by Maxx Renn, Cronenberg is saying that we need to cutnwith the programming and become a new person, reborn to a world where the medianmanipulating our actions or our way of thinking or seeing things. The New Fleshnrefers to the rebirth of the self, that moment when we disconnect with all thenlies, and the illusions that exist in our world and wake up into the real world;nno matter how ugly, corrupted or sad it can be, whatever it is, it’s real. Thenfilm of course puts its point across in an extremely violent fashion, but the pointnis made, kill your old self, disconnect from Videodrome, from the Cathode Ray,nfrom the proverbial “system” and become a new, self thinking, inquisitivenperson. The films grand finale is not made to be taken literally; it’s ansymbolism for what needs to be done to become psychologically free.
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nIn many ways, Videodrome was prophetic of many things thatnwere to come in the future. How so? Well, for example, even though this filmnwas made in 1983, it was already talking about “virtual reality” which wouldneventually become what we now know as “the internet” that cybernetic world thatnexists somewhere out there in cyberspace, wherever that may be. The place wenall connect to on a daily basis, the new religion of the world. Videodrome predictednthat “in the future, everyone will have special names” same as you, my dearnreader, probably have a pseudonym you use when online. My most recent watch ofnVideodrome made me realize that it also predicted another invention, albeit anmore modern one. You see, there’s a new technology in diapers called ‘GooglenGlass’ that will apparently put the power of a smart phone on a pair of glasses.nThe idea being that instead of fiddling with your phone, swiping things withnyour fingers, you can simply speak commands at your glasses and they will sendna message, make a call, take a picture or film a video. All you have to do isnstart a sentence by saying “Ok, Glass” and the glasses will do what you asknthem to, even do a search on Google! In Cronenberg’s film, when Maxx Renn wantsnto meet the makers of Videodrome, he has to walk in through an optical shopnbecause the creators of Videodrome are getting ready to launch their latestninvention that resembles Google Glass! Glasses for the public that will allow thenpowers that be to control people easier! So according to this film, GooglenGlass is the devil! Ha ha! Well, younhave to admit, this new invention has its advantages as well as disadvantages.nWearing these babies will be like carrying around a spy camera everywhere youngo. And I don’t even want to think how commercials will fit into these littleneye glasses…the commercials will not be even closer to your brain! The filmnspeaks about how “the eyes are the windows of the soul” and I agree, you canntell a lot from looking a person in the eyes, but what goes in through thoseneyes matters a lot too.
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nIf you end up enjoying Videodrome, which I think you will,nthen I highly recommend checking out Cronenberg’s spiritual sequel tonVideodrome called eXistenz (1999), which plays with a lot of the same themes,nbut from the standpoint of video game technology. On that film people rejectnreality by connecting themselves into this video game world that mimics, almostnto perfection, the real world. But the world of eXistenz isn’t the real world,nand so, people live in a lie, a fake world. Which is true, take for example hownkids today will play more sports on their Playstation’s then in the real world,nwith their real friends and you’ll see just how prophetic eXistenz also was. Thesentwo films would actually make a great double feature, so if you’re in the moodnfor that, I highly recommend it! Now if only Cronenberg would do a film likenVideodrome or eXistenz, but about the internet! I’d love to see what sort ofnthings he could prophesize about that! Geez, now that I think about it, Cronenbergnis a prophet for our times! Videodrome is probably his masterpiece, it sendsnout a strong resonant message that is even more relevant today than it was back in 1983 when this film was made. Highly recommend it, let Professor BriannO’Blivion show you the way!
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nRating: 5 out of 5
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