I've been thinking a lot about Sci-Fi recently: how it often depicts aspects of society and technology that rouse our fears about "otherness," slavery, and existing class systems. I had a bit of free time today, so I decided that I would watch an old classic -- a film that is not normally remembered as a Sci-Fi classic, but most definitely is. In fact, it may be the first Sci-Fi film ever.Fritz Lang's 1927 film, Metropolis.
After all, before there were cylons, there was Maria the Robot.
In Lang's Metropolis, the future of human-kind is depicted as a co-existence between humans and machines. The film depicts this co-existence as utopian for the upper classes -- people who live above ground in the "pleasure gardens" -- and as dystopian for the under classes -- those who literally work under the city -- enslaved by machines, and who work under strenuous and cruel conditions. The reliance of man on machine (especially in the case of the workers) seems an ominous foretelling of a futurein which we may become enslaved by our own technology. Take that, Matrix!
Coupled with this fear of technology, the figure of the female robot seems to provoke another kind of fear -- the fear of femininity out of control. Think about it. Why depict a female robot? I believe that the machines and femininity both represent a kind of "otherness" in the film -- they both are initially under masculine control , but out of that control they pose a threat to the future of the patriarchal system. Of course, I may be reading too much into it, but it interests me nonetheless. I think I'm going to have to read A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Harraway now.
By the way, since this is a silent film, you can add your own score! I recommend Radiohead's OK Computer as a great accompaniment!
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