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Men like Marshall McLuhan pronounce the downfall of civilization in
clear terms – in his case, the advent of written language split
apart our tribal society forever destroying our close-knit society
that was once built upon the need to remain close in order to
receive information. Three years after his death, I realize that an
artist like Stanley Kubrick is subtler when describing the downfall
of civilization.
Best known for films like “2001: A Spacey Odyssey,” “Full Metal
Jacket,” and “Eyes Wide Shut,” Kubrick was once one of the famed
five directors with “final cut” status. This meant that Kubrick
controlled all aspects of the final product – no studio could take a
film and recut it to their liking. It was this ability that gave
Kubrick the ability to send his message out unfettered by “the man,”
who would inevitably try to obscure the message, lest society
discover it’s true meaning.
Kubrick presented to us the following: The downfall of civilization
was predicated by the advent of indoor plumbing. In other words, as
soon as the excrement was permitted in the home, it’s stench began
to permeate every aspect of society. There is no need to look that
far for the cause to society’s ills – simply look towards your
spacious bathroom.
Kubrick’s earliest attempt to convey this message under the studio
system failed miserably. For decades, lost on the cutting room
floor, was a scene in “Spartacus” where Tony Curtis was giving
Spartacus a bath. This was a slave/master relationship that would
later shift the balance of power and become a nice piece of “lost
footage” for the special edition. I believe this early attempt by
the studios to censor Kubrick was the first sign that he was onto
something that the establishment wanted quieted right away.
In 1962, “Lolita” brought about the signature “bathrooms are evil”
scene that would resonate throughout Kubrick’s film career. In a key
scene, Humbert Humbert (James Mason) is in the bathtub when he is
told that Lolita’s mother has died. It is alone, in the bathroom,
that Humbert decides to take his nymphet fantasy out of his mind and
onto the road.
While others busied themselves with the controversy of an underage
paramour, the genius of Kubrick’s anti-indoor-plumbing message was
left to the wayside. This is the way of most great movements in
history – a quiet murmur that slowly but surely raises the volume so
that it becomes a roar amongst the populous.
“Dr. Strangelove” saw all hope of mankind’s salvation lost in a
bathroom suicide. The bomb is making it to the entire world because
one man had the privacy of a bathroom where he could dispose of his
life, the codes and the world in one quick action. Fundamentally, I
think no film of Kubrick’s comes closer to describing the way that
the common bathroom leads an individual to think of everything in
terms of instant disposability.
In “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the bathroom makes one brief, but
important appearance. On the way to the space station, a passenger
stops to survey the bathroom instructions on the wall. Deeming them
far too complicated, he walks away from the whole matter. In
Kubrick’s only future world, he saw one where the bathroom would
eventually cause us to dispose of our base needs.
In Kubrick’s only banned film (in the UK), “A Clockwork Orange,”
challenges the audience to view violence as near sport. Our
anti-hero, Alex is unapologetically violent. When he is imprisoned
and reformed, Alex no longer fits into his ultra-violent world.
Stumbling upon a house, he is greeted by the kind, generous sort to
which we all aspire. After all, wouldn’t life be better if we were
all the sort that believed in the common good? But even if we were,
the bathroom is the bearer of the dark side in our kindly person.
For when Alex makes the mistake of singing in the tub, our kindly
stranger realizes who and what Alex is – in a split second, the
kindly stranger is willing to extract an uncivilized revenge to
further his own, selfish cause.
Kubrick is thought to have returned to the suicide theme in “Full
Metal Jacket,” but here we see the disposal of men as cannon fodder.
A grunt on the brink calmly murders his drill sergeant in the
bathroom and then turns the gun on himself. Prior to killing
himself, he informs the men that it is not he, but they that are in
a world of, well…excrement. Coincidence? I think not.
“The Shining?” Well, it wasn’t all “here’s Johnny!” lines. A crucial
scene in the film takes place in a bathroom. The young son, Danny,
reports strange goings on in the bathroom. John is first tempted,
then tormented by the ghost in the bathroom. One minute, John is
holding a beautiful naked woman in his arms – she then turns into a
rotting, bloated corpse. If that weren’t enough, the hotel men’s
room becomes John’s undoing. It is there that he meets his other
self, the caretaker that he’s always been. You know, the
axe-wielding one.
Kubrick’s final film, “Eyes Wide Shut,” was full of bathroom
imagery. Initially, it appeared as if the film would take a
decidedly pro-stance on indoor plumbing. After all, we were meeting
a husband and wife who were getting ready for an upscale party in
the bathroom. As with many a married couple, they were uninhibited
in front of one another, completing their entire bathroom routine in
front of each other. This was the bait, for it is later in the film
that the bathrooms of the wealthy become the dumping ground for
overdosing beauty-queen turned prostitute. From there, it simply
gets worse for the married couple, for the beauty queen, for the gap
between the middle-class and the wealthy, for New York and for
Christmas.
Kubrick offers no solution for the problem; he merely points it out.
Perhaps like McLuhan, he is only meant to offer an observation about
a thing that we cannot turn back. Perhaps the brilliance of his film
career eclipsed his true message. We will never know.
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