The early 20th century produced countless numbers of famous novels, dramas, and films which are still critically studied in many different classrooms around the world today. I will be critically focusing on the two films that were presented in our class this term; Metropolis and Pandoras Box. In addition to these films I will use numerous background texts from this term to further solidify my argument. The empowerment of women, sexuality, class struggles and morality are critical issues that will explain the issues of modernism and corruption of this time period. Historically, men have been put into a class above women.
They were generally thought of as being smarter and more prepared to deal with problems. Women were looked upon as being weak, and only capable of doing household duties and taking care of children. Only in the last fifty years has America and other parts of the world began a positive movement towards treating women as equals to men. However, Metropolis and Pandoras Box were produced during the time when women did not have equal roles. Therefore, the dominating male characters in each film, Schon & Mr. Frederson fear the mpowerment of the two women Maria and Lulu.
This is evident in the film Metropolis when Mr. Frederson is visiting with the inventor Rotwang in a balcony that oversees where the workers have gathered after work. If one pays close attention they will notice that Mr. Fredersons facial expression changes negatively at that moment. Why? Because Mr. Frederson can see the kind of power that Maria exerts onto his workers. He is jealous because they respect her presence more than his. He will not tolerate a women being more powerful than him; so he hires Rotwang to kidnap Maria and replace her with a obot that will send his message to the workers instead of Marias.
The fear of the empowerment of women is also evident in the film Pandoras Box which features the Father and his mistress Lulu. The scene that best exemplifies this is right after the Father has tried to break off his relationship with Lulu and she commits to doing a trapeze act with the circus man Rodrigo. She is to be the star attraction of the trapeze act. But, Schon doesnt approve of this role because of the lack of power and control that he would have over her because it isnt his show. So what does he do? He ells his son to offer Lulu the leading part in his major production.
In doing this he shifts the power and control away from her hands and into his. He wants to be the driving force behind her success so that he gets recognition not her. The fear of the empowerment of women was also displayed to us earlier in the term when we dealt with Sonia and The Nameless One in Masses and Man. Sonia wanted to lead a non violent protest against the state while the Nameless One wanted to ignite a violent revolution. Sonia presented her ideas and utopian vision to the masses but she was immediately shot down by the Nameless One who told the masses not to listen to her.
The Nameless One did not want a woman with non violent implications to lead the protest. He wanted all the power and glory. Another critical topic that must be mentioned when one is talking about the early 20th century and modernism is the approach to sexuality. Pandoras Box was perhaps the most erotic film of its time and the main character Lulu represents sexuality to the fullest. She is seen as the perfect projection of male desire. Her great beauty and inner glory are what create a utopian like image for the audience.
Basically every man that she ncounters in the film wants to have sexual relations with her because of her free loving spirit towards men. She is a vibrant package of flirtation and sex appeal that cannot go unnoticed by any male. There is a distinct reason why Schon asks Lulu to be the star of his production. He has a sexual need for her that must be fulfilled but cannot because he doesnt want to be with her anymore. So instead of having a meaningful relationship with Lulu he puts her on a big stage production so that he can fulfill his sexual desires for her through voyeurism and still keep his other new upper class girlfriend.
The role of sexuality is also evident through the film Metropolis. For most of the workers Maria projects this image of power and authority. But for the Son of Mr. Frederson she represents something completely different. He sees Maria as this glowing beauty that is a projection of love and kind heartedness. For him she is the ideal image because of her strength and beauty. Maria seems to have this trance type affect on the Son. He longs to be part of a stable loving relationship and it is Maria who can give that to him. He wants to break away from the dark heartedness of his fathers love and be part of something positive.
As he says in the movie he will be the heart that links the workers and the brains. One of our other texts from the second half of this term that has a good example of the issue and power of sexuality is Mario and the Magician. Sexuality is best displayed when the family is down at the beach. They are surrounded by numerous other hotel guests on a hot sunny day. The father tells his young eight year old daughter that she might take off her bathing suit, which was stiff with sand, rinse in the sea, and put it on again. Off goes the costume and she runs down naked to the sea, rinses her little jersey, and comes back.
To the father and mothers surprise another man that is on the beach comes up to them and tells them that the little girl has offended him and his countries hospitality because of her nudity and he will turn the family in. What would normally be no big deal in Germany where the family is from is supposedly very offensive to the Italians. They share a difference in opinions about the naked body and sexuality. Over time class struggles have been the subject of incremental change in a positive direction. The invisible social class barrier has begun to minutely fade away.
Members of all types of class and different backgrounds are now engaging in meaningful relationships. However, the early 20th century presented a much different life style. There was a very large gap between the wealthy and the poor and not much in between. Individuals didnt really have the chance to travel upward through social classes because of the limited resources that were available to them. The film Metropolis serves as a very good example of an early capitalistic attitude. Mr. Frederson wishes to maximize his profits at the expense of the life of his workers.
He has no respect and no sympathy for he workers that make his factory possible. He is entirely interested in only himself and his money. The workers at his factory struggle just to put food on the table and are subject to very long hours of abusive labor. The Sons quote after replacing the worker in the factory who was about to pass out serves as good example it was 10 hours of pure torture. He gets a taste of what these men do day in and day out for their entire lifetimes. Unfortunately, they are part of a continual family cycle that works very hard and remains poor. There are no real opportunities for them to get ahead.
This early form of ndustrialization is what would further enact in the United States in 1938 the Fair Labor Standards Act that would make working more than 8 hour days and 40 hour weeks unlawful unless overtime was paid. Pandoras Box portrays class struggles from a different viewpoint. Lulus tremendous sex appeal and beauty allows her to be one of the rare individuals who can travel through different social boundaries. However, she is not fully accepted when she participates with the bourgeois class. Schon has a tremendous sexual desire for Lulu but he will not marry her because of her social class.
He tells his son that you dont marry irls like that. He is more concerned about what other people might think of his relationship rather than his true inner feelings to be with Lulu. Towards the end of the film he realizes that he can never compromise his bourgeois status just to be with Lulu so he tells her to shoot herself. She refuses and accidentally ends up shooting Schon. She is arrested and placed on trial for the murder of Schon. Her guilty verdict for something that was an accident is yet another shining example of the class struggles that she faces. If Schon would have shot her would he have faced the same penalty?
As time has shown us no! Even in todays society wealthy individuals are continually dismissed from crimes that they commit because of their status. George Kaisers text Gas provides a contradictory point of view to that of the two films. The Billionaires Son wants to eliminate social class barriers by providing profit sharing for all of his employees. He doesnt want to be any wealthier than any of his employees. He aspires to be a working man of average status even though he owns the corporation. This attitude was extremely rare for the time period and still would be today.
Each film provides a glorified example of good morality and poor morality as evident through the two Sons and their Fathers. In the film Metropolis Mr. Fredersons Son is presented as the good moral character while his father represents poor morality. The Sons good morality can be viewed from several angles. One of the best examples of his excellent moral beliefs is when he goes down into the underground parts of the factory to save the children in the flooding city who would have otherwise drowned. His morality is also evident through his desire to be the heart that links the workers and the brains.
The Father on the other hand could care less about the workers. He wants them to kill themselves so that he can make a new factory with robots doing the labor. Although not as evident as the Son in Metropolis; the Son from Pandoras Box does serve as the good moral character in the film. This is evident through a couple of different scenes. The first one is when he asks Schon why he doesnt just marry Lulu if he cares that much for her. He is attempting to persuade his father into doing what is morally right. His good morality is also exemplified when he decides to run away with Lulu after she has been onvicted for the murder of his father.
He knows that it was an accident and he forgives her and makes his best effort to get her out of the country. Schon serves as a shining example of poor morality. He is only concerned with his own class and status and not Lulus feelings for him. He would rather be with a woman of bourgeois status that he doesnt care for, rather than lower class Lulu. The early 20th century provided the world with an abundance of controversial issues that are still discussed today. The empowerment of women, sexuality, class truggles and morality are the most important topics that can be compared to the issues of modernism of the period.
Metropolis and Pandoras Box are two of many famous films that can be viewed in order to gain insight into what life was like in the early 20th century. All of the issues presented in this argument serve as wonderful examples of the corruption of this time period. A strong commitment to equality and integrity will allow the United States and the rest of the world to continue improving the quality of lifestyles in which all of us live and force us to not return to the characteristics of the days of old.
