Summarize the documentary.

The 1927 film “Metropolis” shows the vast differences among different classes of society.
It is a silent film that includes a lot of social commentary and significant concepts depicted
through such symbols such as the “Head, Hand, and the Heart.” From the get-go, we see the
disparity between the rich and poor as the workers navigate through their hard and tedious daily
activities under the Utopia they have built. The city is run by the businessman-dictator, Joh
Fredersen. In the heart of the city is a machine called “La Mala.” In the Moloch, many slaves die
almost everyday just to keep the machine running. Joh Fredersen is known as ruthless and
heartless man except for when it comes his son, the only thing left of his deceased wife. His son,
Freder, is mesmerized by Maria, woman from the subterranean city, who, one day, brings a
couple of the worker’s children to the surface. Maria is a good woman who is kind to the
Metropolis workers in the ruthlessly industrialized world. Freder starts as someone who enjoys
all of the spoils of his aristocracy but changes as soon as he soon as he sees Maria. Freder
attempts to descent into the depths and help the workers. In the depths, Freder finds the Moloch
machine. Freder finding the machine acts as foreshadowing to the fact that Maria will soon turn
into a machine. Due to his fear of rebellion from the workers, Joh visits the inventor Rotwang
and asks him to create a duplicate Maria and tarnish her credibility. Joh and Rotwang are
enemies but he agrees to help Joh. The artificial woman was initially supposed to carry the
features of Hel, Fredersen’s dead wife and the woman Rotwang loved. In the process of creating
the fake Maria, the eccentric scientist devises a plan to take down Fredersen and his son. The real
Maria is imprisoned with electrodes attached to her head. The fake Maria leads the underground
workers to cause a rampage. The workers eventually burn the fake Maria at the stake. At the end
of the film, Maria is reunited with Freder. The two, with Joh Frederson, join hands in
reconciliation. In classic dystopian fashion, Lang depicts his views on twentieth century
technology through the movie. The most interesting part of the movie is perhaps the creation of
the artificial woman with the use of science and technology. Lang also shows how the
Metropolis workers are merely “cogs” in the wheels of industry. Maria’s transformation also
emphasizes one theme: men’s fantasies in utilizing the advancement in science and technology to
create artificial and beautiful women. Maria, who was once a caring and kind woman, turns into
a seductive woman who dances at the Yoshiwara nightclub in front of leering men. At the core of
it, Metropolis is a film that shows how science and technology can be used to make
transformations- the modernity of Metropolis, Metropolis workers as robotic slaves, and turning
the kindhearted Maria into a destructive temptress. Fritz had this idea while visiting the United
States, and sees the New York city skyline. In a sense, Metropolis is a reflection of reality,
embodying our technological dreams and nightmares.

Integrate concepts learned from the previous lecture, specifically on the readings of Simmel and
Wrong.

In 1961, Dennis Wrong coined the phrase “the oversocialized concept of man.” He criticizes
modern sociologists’ take on the Hobbesian question of order in society, particularly, Talcot
Parsons. He critiques the limitations of structural functionalism employed by Parsons. Hobbes
and Freud assumed that humans are naturally pugnacious, competitive, and ruthless. Wrong
argued that Sociology put too much emphasis on internalized norms as determinants of behavior
giving the same emphasis on those internal processes which make behavior problematic.
According to Wrong, Freud’s conception of “superego” too tied to “individual biography” that
the sociologist turned to an alternative idea that “human actions are guided by other people’s
expectations.” The sociological model of man “denies the possibility of his being anything but a
socialized being.” Wrong felt that Sociology has created an artificial model of man. We see this
concept played out in the film. The false Maria is an exemplification of how Sociology has
constructed the model of man to be a role-fulfilling creature whose are actions are driven by the
internalized expectations of others. Artificial Maria is programmed to take on the role of
seductive and diabolical femme fatale. Unlike the real Maria, it is an alluring temptress that
dances at the city’s upper city Yoshiwara nightclub. She becomes an eye candy to leering and
ogling men. This false Maria does what she is programmed to do, just like how the Sociology’s
artificial model of man is “oversocialized” that all of its actions are driven by the need to meet
social expectations. This model, of course, is criticized greatly by Dennis Wrong. He claims that
this model ignores motivational sets which are nonsocial. Wrong wants Sociologists to do better
than construct a model of man tailor-made to our special needs. If too much emphasis is put on
socialization, he says that we might end up with model that is nothing but a status-seeking
phantom. The consequence of the oversocialized model of man remains with us. Another
sociological assumption pointed out by Wrong “man is motivated to achieve a positive image of
self by winning acceptance in the eyes of others.” Following this one-sided model, Freder’s
sudden motivation to help the beleaguered workers might be attributed to the reasoning that he
wanted to impress the kindhearted Maria. This lead to the exclusion of other motivational
factors, such as a genuine desire to help the workers after seeing the state they were in.