Metropolis

Metropolis, a silent science fiction movie from 1930, seemed to have many underlying issues that reflect society at that time. Some of the underlying parallels to real life in the thirties were the corporations, flappers, worked children, laborers, and religion. Although all those topics weren’t specifically addressed, all of them were symbolized in the movie. The main character, Freders, was interesting as an upper class citizen. His caring for the lower, working class was not only surprising but also inspirational. Joh Fredersons’ pick of his corporation over his son, was a symbol of how greedy the corporations were and their lack of caring for their employees. Something that especially stuck out to me were they way the laborers looked, tired and drained. When Freders pretends to be an employee and says, “ten hours never end”, which is one of the most important symbols of society in this movie. The problems between corporations and laborers often were surrounded on the length of the workday. I thought this movie was a good reflection of the history of the early 1900’s.