Individuality, collectivism, nationality and gender

Text: 1984 (George Orwell)

Fritz Lang’s film, Metropolis, stresses upon the notion of identity; in this case the lack of it, and its repercussions upon both the individual and the society of Metropolis. This concept is vividly communicated through the characterisation of both the real and fake Maria along with Freder. In this manner, Lang presents a concrete and somewhat evocative warning to the German audience regarding the increasing social and cultural tension and division between the two classes; rich and poor. These concerns are portrayed through the juxtaposed themes of purity and manipulation, which are embodied by the Machine Man. Thus, Lang ultimately projects his concerns in regards to how technology may strip away the nationalism from Germany; which was only starting to rebuild after the war.

The notion of uprising, destruction and rebellion, along with collectivism, is utmost prevalent in the scene when the robot Maria completely beguiles the workers into fleeing the ‘depths’ and to oppose the rules set in place by Joh in order to keep Metropolis thriving. Through the utilisation of a frenetic pace of music; whilst the workers are fleeing, highlights the lack of restraint, which is a common aspect of uprising. More so, the tune can be deciphered as being the beginning of the French national anthem, which further alludes to the French Revolution and the salient idea of rebelling against norms in order to bring about a change in society, irrespective of the detrimental actions that one may take in order to achieve this outcome. Furthermore, the body language, in this case the workers fast-paced walking, chanting and immense energy, portrays the extent to which they have been brain washed by the Machine Man. In this manner, Lang emphasises upon the notion of the rapidly increasing cultural and social divide between the utilitarian’s and workers, in regards to the poor communication of the projection in mind of where the nation of Germany was headed, after the loss in World War II. It is discerned that for the rich are unable to effectively portray their vision, whereas the poor are unable to grasp onto the vague projections, which ultimately leads to a segregation between these two important social classes. Thus, the audience can see how the once isolated individuals are now working collaboratively to bring about a change.