Metropolis

Mark Carey

October 15, 2009

Metropolis

I absolutely loved this film. I thought it was amazing how even though it was made in 1927 its themes were so contemporary. For example, the idea of a the upper class society living above ground while being largely unaware of the hardship of the working class living in the same city. Almost every society in history has struggles with the dynamic between upper and lower classes. The social inequality in this country today is an example of how timeless this theme is. More examples include the idea that the lower classes will reach out to religion for comfort and guidance, and furthermore the idea that the upper class will use their religion as a tool to control them and get what they want. This theme has been illustrated by the middle ages in which the Catholic church was the government, and it was perhaps the time in human history with the most social inequality and by far the most abused and overworked lower classes. The role of religion in society is one of the oldest themes in Human history. Another example of a timeless theme in this film is group psychology. The hundreds of people in the lower classes in this film are so easily incited to violence that they almost kill their entire population of children when destroying the city. They immediately turn on their religious leader and burn her at the stake, reveling the robot and realizing their mistake. This kind of blind following and irrational, dangerous behavior is reminiscent of the holocaust where millions of people followed along to the extermination of all of the Jews in Europe.

When all is said and done I think this film is generations beyond its time in sophistication. It perfectly describes a modern society and its problems, and I believe that the maker of this film has a deep understanding of human nature. The only complaint that I have is the ending of the film. In the end, the main character, Freder, fulfills his role as the mediator that...