metropolis
A Marxist Metropolis
The world created by Fritz Lang in his film Metropolis has nearly reached the apex of capitalism: workers tire endlessly underground, the bourgeoise indulges in constant leisure, and no discontent can be heard from the toiling masses. The exploitation of the proletariat is not complete, however. With the creation of Rotwang's robot, technology allows the city's elite to literally dehumanize their citizens while simultaneously employing the female form as a viscous tool of social control to prevent worker organization. Maria's abduction and replacement becomes far more than a mad scientist's plot; it is the first step toward complete subjugation and objectification of women and society as a whole.
Maria is initially presented as a nurturing, loving spiritual guide to the workers in the underground cathedral and a kind guide to the young children seen at the very beginning of the movie. She is the very idealization of the Marxist "combination of education and industrial production". She is indeed a feminine character, but certainly not a sexual one. She possesses a position of power offered by the liberation of society because the factory "creates a higher form of the family and of the relations between the sexes". This ideal social sphere, however, threatens the Fredersen empire with its solidarity, necessitating its destruction by the patriarchal rulers of Metropolis.
The robot created by the archetypal mad scientist Rotwang offers males an absolute objectification of woman. The form of the Robot is clearly female, molded into an idealized shape that draws the admiration and approval of Fredersen when he first inspects the creation. After Rotwang is ordered to replace Maria with his creation, the subjugation is complete. Fredersen now has a malleable, powerful tool to use against the working class, taking away from Maria her freedom, her body, and her voice with her comrades below the city.
This violation of Maria is presented to the viewer in a rather sexual manner as well; Rotwang stalks Maria in the caves below the city slowly and deliberately, hunting Maria like a well trained predator. Shortly thereafter, we see her restrained upon Rotwang's table, where he steals her identity, transforming his triumph of technology into Maria's double. Rotwang's application of science as a weapon is necessary, for "the bourgeoise cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production . . . and with them the whole relations of society". Through the application of technology, the bourgeoise subverts and corrupts society while maintaining a stranglehold on power.
Yet the transformation of the robot is not merely for the destruction of the worker's organization; the new ``Maria" is no longer an asexual creature. She tugs at her clothing and assumes a smoldering, seductive stare, assuming the role of the submissive woman at the mercy of Fredersen's whims - the robot is without resistance, independent thought, or self-interest. He then puts the creation on display, using sexuality to control his minions, bourgeois and proletarian alike. While the robot is merely a distraction for the above ground rulers, it uses the female form and Maria's position to bring about the destruction of the worker's city. Thus the city is flooded, the tool of bourgeoise turning the inhabitants of the city against each other.
While a moralistic interpretation would be equally applicable, as the allusion to the whore of Babylon is made rather unsubtly, to overlook the influence of technology on the power and production is to ignore the root of Fritz Lang's vision. Metropolis is not merely a moralistic tale, it is also a cautionary tale about the role of technology in the interaction between the classes. Not only does technology allow the owner use technology directly for production, but also as a tool for control and influence. Beyond mere wage exploitation and oppression, a Feminist Marxist interpretation reveals the complex issues embedded in Metropolis.
The ruling patriarchal bourgeoise must maintain a stranglehold over the lives of the proletariat through these means if it is to survive. The film presents a metaphor for the use of women and sexuality in tandem with technology to ensnare, direct, and control the worker. While there are no robots assuming the form of women, media portrayals of women as powerless, sexual objects are methods used to prevent the realization of the worker's state where class, gender, and race are all equally unimportant. By creating these gender barriers and exploiting women at the cost of their dignity and identity, the bourgeoise hope to hold on to power and garner the most use out of an exploitable resource, women.