Watching Metropolis was very interesting especially because it was a silent movie. A little dramatic maybe, but I guess that was necessary to make the audience understand what the director was trying to get across.
The one thing that I walked away with from this movie was that continued oppression of the lower working class of a country/city will eventually bring about destruction upon it, and the suffers of that tragic consequence will be all. As we saw in the movie, the workers eventually got so frustrated with their hard working and strenuous life, while the upper class families were enjoying the fruit of their work that they revolted against it and the outcome lead to the flooding of the entire city. The moral of this being that there definitely needs to be a balance in the different classes that society has. You cannot forget or ill-treat the ones that helped build your city. Another personal example, that I think will help reiterate this point about continued oppression, is the liberation war that Bangladesh fought against Pakistan. Being under the Pakistani rule for many, many years built up frustration and anger amongst the people of Bangladesh. Then finally, following the voice of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Father of the Nation) the country revolted and eventually gained their independence from Pakistan. I could relate this very much to the role that Maria played in the lives of the workers. As long as she kept on reassuring them that the mediator would come they stayed under control, but once the evil Maria encouraged them to destroy the machines they followed her orders unquestioningly.
This definitely seemed like a cautionary movie to me where the director seemed to aim at an audience from the higher levels of society- making them aware of what the current situation is and how the eventual outcome may affect their lives. The metaphor of the heart being the mediator between the head and the hand was also another way of portraying the balance factor that is very much required for a harmonized city. Another reason why this may be viewed as a cautionary movie is because it shows how the exploitation of technology makes one lose the sight of the “big picture”- the workers running to destroy the machines leaving their own children behind
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I found your comment about the idea of balance interesting. My main point of view for Metropolis was an analogy to popular religion. A savior comes and saves the workers from oppression, while the ruler learns from his mistakes. In the time that this movie was made, the western economy was in high gear. However there were still problems with the way big business treated its employees. As a result, unions began to form. Metropolis seems to encourage a unity between all classes in order to get people to understand one another. Religion also serves as a social equalizer usually, where all are subject to the same morals, and death is the ultimate equalizer. People of all classes have to deal with the same questions about the bigger picture in life. Religion helps people to understand the bigger picture.
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