10 Sci-Fi Movie Fates Worse Than Death
6. The “Ludovico Technique” - A Clockwork Orange
In A Clockwork Orange, Alex DeLarge is not a good person. He's an unapologetic recidivist who regularly beats up his closest friends, routinely beats the crap out of beggars, and he rapes women whenever the mood strikes — he's a true villain.
He's also a murderer, which is what lands him in prison. While inside, he volunteers for a new experimental form of aversion therapy, which is designed to remove the criminal desires from criminals. Alex becomes the first to undergo the treatment, which is called the Ludovico technique.
While it is designed to cut crime and the cost of imprisonment, it does more than that. Alex was forced to watch films of sex and violence, which he would normally enjoy, but the drugs coursing through his veins create an opposite effect. That, coupled with the movie's track featuring the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, causes a change in Alex.
He no longer loves sex, drugs, or violence, and Beethoven's music makes him sick. The experiment effectively robbed him of his free will, and when he's forced to listen to his favorite piece of music, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, the sickening pain drives him to attempt suicide, as death would have been a welcome release.