HGrubbs: Metropolis

     The 1927 film, Metropolis, depicted several well-established themes and contrasts, from exuberant wealth and crushing poverty, to heavenly purity and satanic lust. Despite my initial doubts–with it being an old silent film and all– I really grew to love the film. The endless Biblical references peaked my interest, and I felt that Lang really greatly embodied the reality of the stories. My two biggest takeaways from the film were 1) Lang repeatedly depicts the idea that in order for evil to have any real power in deception, it has to take hold of and imitate something good and pure (“evil Maria” pretending to be Maria in order to ensue chaos). And 2) the film truly highlighted the base roots of evil. For example, “evil Maria” was not evil in and of herself, but rather her evil is found in the sin (lust) she was programmed to provoke. The stereotypes between rich vs. poor, good vs. evil, light vs. dark, life vs. death, and heaven vs. hell, were also generally utilized to highlight the roots of evil at its core. Overall, I felt like Lang did a phenomenal job executing the film, and I believe that the key points and theme of the plot-line hold true today and are capable of being qualified as an exemplary personification of the reality of purity vs. sin.