Gender Roles In Metropolis

Introduction

The rise of feminism in the 19th and 20th centuries brought along a deeper understanding of the inherent perceptions of masculine and feminine societal roles. Typically, the audience’s interpretations of a film, either consciously or sub-consciously, is often influenced by their gender. This affects how the presentation of gender in fictional works, either conforms, or diverges, from the societal gender expectations. By viewing the silent German film, Metropolis directed by Fritz Lang in 1927, we are able to see the contemporary ideas of gender roles and understand the concept of femininity in Weimar Germany. Through the themes of corruption and the characterization of the two protagonists, Lang was able to introduce and portray

The women there are shown dressed in seductive clothing and wearing expensive jewelry. By examining this scene, one can conclude that a woman’s role is to be a man’s plaything and an object to be acquired. The women are flirtatious and seemingly provide nothing more than entertainment for the male characters. However, despite the sexuality displayed, the women do not display any dominance over the male characters in the scenes they are shown. Relating to the views of women in the Weimar Republic, the portrayal of these women are acceptable as they do not defy their social standing of being subordinated and used by men. Unlike these women, however, robot Maria uses her sexuality for self-gain and seduces men to do her biddings. As a result of defying the gender norms, society deems her sexuality dangerous. Lang attempts to show how robot Maria is a synonym for sin and in doing so conveys the message of what women should not be. Hung comments on the situation of women in Weimar Germany, “[…] the way women behaved, consumed, dressed and voted was interpreted as a signifier for the shape the German nation was to take” (Hung,

As the film explores the themes of industrialization, many of the working force in Germany were put out of their profession due to the advancement of technology. The rise of capitalism gradually changed the role of the working force. This fast transition made the workers lose their positions and their identity which eventually causes the conflict between upper and lower class. As to be expected, there is total absence of women in the labor class as explained in the previous sections. The workers are portrayed as zombie-like, with their heads looking down as they walked and showing little emotion throughout the film until the rebel. The workers of Metropolis clearly displayed little hope for change in the social structure. Lang uses faceless masses of workers which can be compared to machinery and technology. Comparing to Frederson and the other people in the upper class, these characters are all distinct and can be easily identified. The film conveys a message that those on the bottom of the social structure can be easily replaced and seemingly shows how the workers have nothing individualistic about them. It is interesting to note the relationship between gender perspective and Weimar politics. The film cleverly shows that if the upper class and lower class cannot unite together, they can still co-exist to face the common threat, which is women. It is enforced by the scene of chasing down robot