Science Fiction's brave stand against aversion therapy

Cinematic and televised sci-fi is not well known for its courage concerning politics. But science fiction has done a good job in condemning one particularly abusive practice: aversion therapy. Aversion therapy is the practice of trying to make people renounce a sexual or psychological process by the use of behavioral conditioning to create a new,"conditioned" person. Science fiction, aside from B.F. Skinner's nightmarish Walden Two, has always taken a stand against this practice. Clockwork Orange is the most famous example, a movie that dealt seriously with the pros and cons of trying to enforce the state's morality through the use of psychological conditioning. Also successful was the series The Prisoner, which dealt with aversion therapy in several episodes; Star Trek, which dealt with aversion therapy in two excellent episodes on the abuse of the mentally ill; and STNG. Now, in part, sci-fi's resentment of aversion therapy comes from the genre's mild anti-psychiatric bent, which I happen to disagree with. But all these series and movies also had a real concern that the state would use aversion therapy against political opponents: the mentally ill, prisoners, political detainees, and homosexuals. My only complaint, is that none of these series dealt with another group that uses aversion therapy frequently: religion, or to be more specific certain fundamentalist groups with prejudices against the mentally ill and LGBT people. As someone with OCD, I fell victim to one of these groups, was locked in a room for 6 hours, told I was cursed by God, and screamed at to repent of my disease or face that curse forever. That use of a.v. therapy has had a profound effect on my life. So, I can only thank Burgess and Rodenberry and Mcgoohan for having the courage to take on this practice when it was still in its infancy. I only wish people had listened to them.

Note: I have another blog, Against Biblical Counseling, that deals with abusive religious psychotherapies. Please do not mistake it with the site run by the Bobgans, which is itself psychiatrically abusive.