Videodrome

     He makes out with a TV!

May contain some spoilers for Videodrome (1983).

I recently watched David Cronenberg's 1983 film Videodrome. I was really excited because this has been on my watchlist for many years! Everything that I knew about the plot really intrigued me, and I've been trying to broaden my horizons and watch more horror to better figure out what I like or dislike in the genre, as well as get used to seeing scary things so I can eventually watch movies that genuinely freak me out.

Pretty much anybody who watches Videodrome will come away from it with some thoughts and reflections on sex, violence, how media controls our lives, how society objectifies women, and all sorts of things like that... because that is the point of the movie! So I won't be talking about any of that stuff. Instead, I will be focusing on a small, and mostly insignificant theme that means a lot to me -- the intersections of romance and sexuality with media!

Well, basically what I'm saying is that I watched a Cronenberg body horror movie and came away feeling really happy and affirmed about being in love with fictional characters.

Videodrome's main character is Max Renn, owner of a small independent television studio. He markets porn, shlock and violence to his customers, because that's what they want to see. We see him at the beginning of the movie reject several syndication offers for softcore pornography. It's too soft, he says; the people want something tough.

He gets involved with a masochistic woman named Nicki Brand. He seems slightly put off by her attitude towards violence and how she seeks it out, but still obliges her by piercing her ears during sex. However, he is worried when he finds scars on her body from other lovers. He attempts to stop her from seeking out more violent treatment, though he is ultimately unsuccessful; Nicki wants to become a participant on Videodrome, where she believes she will be tortured for the world to see.

Soon after Nicki leaves for Videodrome, Max starts to hallucinate. He is visited by visions of Nicki inside his television. His grasp on reality, on the divide between his supposed reality and the images on TV, begins to slip. For all intents and purposes, this television is Nicki; Nicki is now this television. Is there any difference between this woman and an image of her?

Not for Max, not anymore. The Nicki next to him is gone and remains gone for the rest of the movie. What he has now is the Nicki on television, the Nicki television, the television, Nicki; it's all the same, she's all the same. It looks like Nicki and he can touch it, can touch her. He caresses and kisses Nicki and she responds to him. If anything, he seems to have more passion for Nicki now than he did before.

There are lots of things you can think or say about this movie and these scenes in particular; but for right now I'm looking at scenes of a man having relations with a woman who he can't really touch. That struck something with me! Nicki visits him and talks to him. He talks back to her. He is attracted to her, touches her. He even has sex with her, both physically in his living room when they kiss, and later in his imagination. "What are you waiting for, lover? Let's perform." In the backdrop of the Videodrome room, Max whips Nicki while she makes noises of pleasure.

Nicki comes to him when he's feeling distraught. He says he doesn't know where he is or what to do next. Whether her advice is good for him or not, he is still able to receive closure from talking to her. All this from a woman who isn't next to him, but a woman who is (on) a television.

Nicki is real to him, which means she's real. Nicki's words don't come from her - they come from Max's mind, or from the waves that make up her electromagnetic body, or the people who broadcast her. But they're still coming from her, aren't they? Her mouth moves and the words come out and Max listens. What part of that isn't real!

There is another character in the movie named Brian O'Blivion. Brian interacts with the world through videotapes. We never see his real body, only videotapes. But Brian has conversations with different characters anyway. He's a pre-recorded image, but he talks to others, and they talk to him. He affects them even though he isn't there.

"After all, there is nothing real outside our perception of reality."

"Whatever appears on the television screen emerges as raw experience for those who watch it. Therefore, television is reality, and reality is less than television."

Brian says things like this. Have you ever heard anything so beautiful...!

Many people cry when they watch something sad. They laugh when they watch something funny. They get scared when they watch something frightening. Nothing is in the room with them but they still respond this way. Television isn't real but their feelings are real! They could even watch something romantic and feel a certain way because of that. Really, there's a whole special sort of television and video designed to make people feel a Certain way... why should it be so odd that those feelings happen because of regular television, too?