Videodrome

The Canadian director’s absolute masterpiece, “Videodrome” is the overarching metaphor through which he expresses his personal anxieties about the consequences contemporary society’s incessant media bombardment might have on viewers. His reflections are imbued with a deep-seated pessimism about the notion of mass media’s power and its ensuant mass depersonalization which eliminates any form of resistance (critical thought), granting it free reign to continue. On the other hand, Cronenberg, a big believer in the intrinsic mind-body link, is eager to stress how the socio-political desire to mold citizens’ minds and dull their brains leads to physiological as well as psychological changes.

The influence of the Toronto School of communication theory is evident in this regard, particularly the work of the forward-thinking Marshall McLuhan, who, in his most famous work “Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man” (1964), expressed it this way: “Once we have surrendered our senses and nervous systems to the private manipulation of those who would try to benefit from taking a lease on our eyes and ears and nerves, we don’t really have any rights left…”.

Bianca O’Blivion says this in the film: “The tone of the hallucinations is determined by the tone of the tape’s imagery. But the Videodrome signal, the one that does the damage, it can be delivered under a test pattern, anything“. Those words constitute an explicit reference to McLuhan’s famous assertion: “The medium is the message” which encapsulates the concept that “Independent of its content or messages, a medium has its own intrinsic effects on our perceptions which are its unique message”. This in turn speaks to the importance of examining mass media not so much based on the content it propagates, but rather by analyzing the structural criteria with which the communication is organized.

In fact, the Videodrome signal “will ultimately create a new outgrowth of the human brain“, which in turn will lead to the creation of a novel sort of individual (“new flesh”), one lacking individual willpower and easily programmed and reprogrammed. This final aspect is superbly rendered by Rick Baker’s unforgettable special effects which create a true role reversal, imbuing machines with human characteristics (Betamaxes that breathe and a TV set that vibrates, quivers with excitement, and bleeds) while reducing man to a mere mechanical accessory (the protagonist even transforms into a sort of video recorder).

There’s no lack of sarcastic vitriol sprinkled throughout the film, such as the TV-dependent assistance offered to homeless people inside The Cathode Ray Mission or the very thought of the CEO of a multinational corporation doing commercials for eyeglasses (apparently, vision care is important when you want people to spend a huge chunk of their time in front of the TV).

Superb cast: James Woods is perfect as Max Renn, a standoffish, Machiavellian individual destined to become a human guinea pig for something that goes far beyond his comprehension and his restricted utilitarian horizons. The stunning voice of radio host/psychiatrist Nicki Brand, umpteenth victim of the signal, belongs to Debbie Harry of “Blondie” fame.

If perfection in genre film exists, its name is “Videodrome”.