The Quote above is from one of my favorite movies, videodrome. This film has been an inspiration for me as an artist so much my name is based from one of the characters known as Bryan O'blivion.
Released in 1983, one year after i was born, this film directed by David Cronenberg has become a cult classic. The basic plot is centered around the character of Max Renn(James Woods), the president of the sleazy cable channel CIVIC-TV, and his desire for more cutting edge programming. On his mission to find new material he stumbles across a sadistic show called Videodrome. This show which is basically a snuff film full of whips, chains and all sorts of S&M torture has Max enthralled and as he keeps on watching this show, strange things begin to occur.
Things get really crazy once he meets Nikki Brand(Debbie Harry), a S&M freak who turns Max Out and Bryan O'blivion(Jack Creley), a professor who only communicates through video recordings of himself. Bryan O'blivion also runs the "Cathode Ray Mission" which is a safe haven for people who have been exposed to Videodrome. He tells Max what Videodrome is all about, a hallucination, tumor inducing fascist socio political tool used to morally "purify" North America(sound familiar?...evangelicals anyone?).
As Max's hallucinations grow more intense, he realizes what he needs to do... kill Videodrome.
Max's hallucinations grow the point of no return as he begins visualizing himself pulling guns out of his stomach and guns morphing into his hand. After finding and killing the creator of Videodrome Barry Convex, Max realizes the only way to kill Videodrome is to kill himself, to replace the "old flesh" with the "new flesh". The films final scene shows Max watching himself on TV pointing a gun to his head and pulling the trigger, so then Max imitates and proceeds to pull the trigger as the screen goes black.
As bugged as this film is, it's message is relevant to society today. As the kids of today are bombarded with images of sex and violence to the point of desensitization. Max represents that mentality and unfortunately he is never the same. Of course this is a movie so its taken to the extreme but the concept is so on point. Kids these days are believing what they see on TV, and are imitating what they see and hear. Maybe it was the purple but this film hit me in very profound ways.
David Cronenberg is known for wild special efx and this film is not an exception. The visuals are visceral and accompany the films message very well, and if you've checked out his other films such as The Fly, Scanners, or Rabid, this film won't disappoint. Here's one of my favorite scenes to check out.
Brad Oblivion
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