For the attention of the publisher, Tara University Press, This cover reflects my interpretation of the texts Metropolis (1927) directed by Fritz Lang and 1984 (1948) written by George Orwell. Metropolis is a silent film created during the Weimar Republic in Germany. It draws on Expressionism to highlight meaning and important aspects of the film’s message. Although this is seen as a golden age of cultural renewal and experimentation in Germany, they were still suffering the effects of the losses from WW1. This film is significant because it was part of the extremely visual culture of the time and was presented as entertainment. 1984 entered a world still reeling from the devastating effects of WW2. British society was particularly stratified …show more content…
Both texts share the common element of Power, with the Power figure dominating the life of the classes under them. The male protagonists perceive that something is not right in the society they lived in, due to the power figure or group. The image of a brain covered in barbed wire is contrasted with another brain thinking about what it wants and needs in life. This is because in 1984 the Outer Party could not own or experience things people in the 21st century take for granted. They did not have free choice about sex, love, food and freedom due to the totalitarian …show more content…
The red fist shows Democratic Socialism which was Orwell’s hope for the future of Britain. 1984 shows what Orwell believed could happen in the future if an autocrat ran a totalitarian state so 1984 was written as a warning against the development of a totalitarian regime. Metropolis contains, however, a hope for the future, as Lang believed all classes could work together. Winston and Freder both tried to defy and change the society they lived in, however Winston drastically failed, by giving into the society he lived in, but Freder became the mediator, or the heart, between the hands who were the workers, and the head, who was his father Frederson. Metropolis had a hopeful ending, with the view that revolution was destructive and that cooperation with authority was a better alternative and in order to rise up against the power figure you need cooperation which is what Freder brought. However, in 1984 rebellion and revolution are encouraged but ultimately futile. This is demonstrated when Winston’s desire for privacy and personal thoughts and possessions is taken away from him and he is eventually brainwashed into believing everything the state told him, showing how, no matter how hard workers tried, they could not be free to live at their own accord. The book starts with Winston hating Big Brother “Down with Big Brother” and, “I hate Big
In “1984,” Orwell uses Winston to portray a single individual’s attempt to take action against a powerful government, culminating in his failure and subjugation. His individual efforts failed tremendously due to the overarching power of the Party to control every aspect of social life in Oceania. Orwell uses Winston’s deeply seated hatred of the Party to portray his views on power and social change. Winston’s actions show that even in the direst of situations ...
Today I am going to be writing an essay on the book, 1984 by George Orwell. This book is about Winston Smith and Big Brother where an external conflict arises between the two. The internal conflict that also takes place in this book was between the two ideas, democracy and totalitarianism. The reason this novel was written was to show society what it could and or would become if things continued to go down the worse of the paths: Orwell sensed of the expansion of the great communism when he was thinking of this novel. The conflict that took place between these two ideas in the year 1945 created the two characters, which were the two characters above Winston Smith and the Big Brother, in his mind. The Big Brother is head of the totalitarian
The 1927 film Metropolis co-written and directed by Fritz Lang, director of M and Dr. Mabuse, It was the most expensive silent film ever created costing 5,100,000 Reichmarks which would equal to $21,420,000 in 1927. Its innovative cinematography and the use of technology to create another world unlike anything that had been contributed to the world of film at the time. . In the first part of my essay I will summarize Fritz’s Metropolis and his use of technology to elaborate on man’s fantasy of creating a machine-man, but I will be discussing Friz’s use of a woman shaped machine rather than a man. There is a quite apparent correlation between the use of story creating Adam and eve and Rotwang’s robotic being, it is creation without a mother. It is not only established the basis for science fiction movie’s in the future it established an idea of an image of the future and how technology will help us progress and advance but also can be a hazard and burden on the human race. Machines are either helpful or they are a hazard. As displayed in the film the above ground Metropolis is a beautiful lush city of advancing technology and the drones that are slaves to the very technology that they thrive upon. The lack of female presence other than Maria in the movie is a point I will be establishing upon will relate to the interesting correlation between sexuality, femininity, and technology that is established through the creation of the machine man. Fritz has displayed in his film. Maria, at a time, acts like the mother to all of the men down underground promising them salvation and freedom from the torment of the catacombs and tiny houses that they suffer and work to the bone in day in and day out. Maria is almost like a savior, but th...
Fritz Lang's Metropolis is a very powerful movie with various underlying meanings that allow the viewer to determine for himself. The movie itself is extremely difficult and hard to follow, although the essay "The Vamp and the Machine: Technology and Sexuality in Fritz Lang's Metropolis" written by Andreas Huyssen provided many helpful insights to aid in understanding the movie. Many of Huyssen's idea's are a bit extreme, but none the less the essay is very beneficial. His extreme views include ideas of castration and how it relates with the female robot, and sexulaity and how it relates technology. Although these ideas are extreme he does also provide many interesting ideas.
An important motif that emerges in the first three chapters of 1984 is that of urban decay. Under the supposedly benign guidance of the Party, London has fallen apart. Winston's world is a nasty,
...e diminished of their privacy and self esteem. We therefore can see a society of people who are depressed with no happiness of life, due to their great lack of freedom. People subjected to this form of treatment are nothing more than animals in a cage, when the Party's only goal is absolute endless and limitless power through control of people's minds. Though fictional, it is clear that there are distinct parallels between the government in 1984 and our current government.
This essay has compared the differences between the societies in these two novels. There is one great similarity however that both make me thankful for having been born into a freethinking society where a person can be truly free. Our present society may not be truly perfect, but as these two novels show, it could be worse.
They both warn us of the dangers of a totalitarian society. Both books express a utopian ideal, examine characters that are forced into this state and are compelled to deal with this society and all the rules involved. The impracticality of the utopian ideal is explored in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Huxley’s Brave New World. Both authors suggest that a lack of familial bonds, the repression of human individuality, and the repression of artistic and creative endeavors in order to attain a stable environment renders the achievement of a perfect state unrealistic. The lack of familial bonds, in both novels, contributes to the development of a dystopian society.
Ruppert, Peter. “Technology and the Constructions of Gender in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.” (2000) [Accessed 18 December 2012]
Fitzpatrick, Kathleen. "An overview of 1984." Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2016. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 May 2016.
Metropolis is a silent film written by Thea Von Harbou in 1927, and directed by Fritz Lang. This film was very significant for its time. Although it had very mixed reviews by critics, it pioneered the work of the science fiction genre. The film also gained recognition by political leaders, such as Adolf Hitler, for recognizing the divides between the working class and the aristocracy. The divide between the working class and the aristocracy was the most significant idea I took away from this silent film.
Authors often use their works as a way to express their own opinions and ideologies. However, it is the skill of the author that determines whether these ideas are combined with the plot seamlessly, making a creative transition of ideas from the author’s mind, to the reader’s. There is no doubt that George Orwell is a masterful writer, and one of his most popular works, 1984, clearly expresses his negative views of the Totalitarian government. A common theme in the dystopian society in 1984 is betrayal: The Party is very intolerant towards any form of disloyalty, and anyone who plots against them or Big Brother will eventually either betray their own mind and accept Big Brother as their leader, or be betrayed and revealed to The Party by one of their so-called comrades. Overall, Orwell is using this constant theme of betrayal to show how alone and alienated the protagonist (Winston Smith) is in his quest against Totalitarianism, thus showing how flawed and hopeless the political system is.
Both films explore the concept of dystopia in a media controlled society and the true power which hope possesses. Moreover, both texts highlight the way leaders use their positions to manipulate to their advantage. However, both texts exemplify the oppression the characters are confronted with and endorse the way certain individuals challenge unjust authority figures.
After reading the book and watching the movie 1984 there were similarities and differences between the two. The novel is about manipulating people in believing in something that isn’t really there and about erasing history. Both the book and film focused on: authority, government, and war. The book and film follow the theme of conformity to control society.
... the viewer and the artist. Munch’s “The Scream,” portrays a figure so lost in life that he feels the haunting scream of nature building within him. While this may seem like such a personal moment that it is nearly provocative, the painting captures the essence of the absoluteness that is the human condition. Fritz Lang similarly portrays expressive feeling in his film, “Metropolis” through the composition of cinematography, stylistic choices of design and character development. In an exaggerated form, the film scrutinizes a powerful dystopian society and discovers the true essence of being human. No matter the medium, viewers are strongly taken aback by how personal and emotional the pieces are. Both Fritz Lang’s film, “Metropolis,” and Munich’s painting, “The Scream,” the Expressionist movement is effectively reflected due to the intense focus on personal emotion.