Videodrome is a film about the use of violence and graphic and disturbing sex acts in order to cause stimulation in society. The picture is saying that we've experienced a level of stimulation and now that it has been achieved there is a desire for more and more and more until all that's left is this hardcore torture and killing. This idea goes back for millennia. It existed at the Colosseum in Rome where gladiators would battle one another to the death and also face lions. The spectacle of violence spoke to the without-boundaries culture the Romans established where with each act of lust, sex, greed, there would come a time when people wouldn't be as stimulated as the initial experience. Thus, the creation of these contests elevates the stimulation while simultaneously bringing the character of the culture lower than ever.
This film is about the new-age Colosseum-the television set, and its ability to stimulate and corporations ability to use this stimulation to control, or weed out members of the human race. Max begins as a character in need of more stimulation and ends by becoming what he desired: violent and sex driven. This ultimately leads to the worst of all outcomes which is his death. Thus, the only way to escape the grasp of Videodrome is to not allow it to penetrate ones eyes.
