A beloved heroine is used to create an evil robot raising issue of trust as the first ‘deep fake’ wreaks havoc.
It is an all too familiar plot. A prosperous, futuristic city, all shiny and modern, driven by science and rapid technological advancements, luxuriates in comfort. These advancements created a prosperous, wealthy class of citizens. They had nothing much to do except fight to keep their gilded lifestyles.
Meanwhile (cue dramatic music), the city was built on the backs of the laborers who lived underground and were forced to toil 24/7 to keep the machines running. These machines kept the top side fat and happy.
Down below a savior arises. Maria was a beloved figure - think Norma Rae - fighting for the rights of the workers. Educating them. Inspiring them. Advocating for peaceful change. And giving them hope the ‘Chosen One’ - really anyone - would arise and lead them to freedom.
Sound familiar.
The Rise of the ‘One’
In walks Freder. Freder is the son of the city’s founder, Fredersen. Being a decent human being, sort of, or at least trying to improve, Freder begins to sympathize with the workers and becomes an admirer of Maria. His’ pops has other thoughts though. Those pesky modern ideas from the younger generation about equal rights and respect for all be damned. Pops teams up with Rotwang — a mad scientist type — to kidnap Maria and create an identical, thinking, talking robot likeness of her (It’s a ground breaking special effects scene).
The plan is to send the robot back underground to keep the workers pacified and happily slaving away. Think deep fake robot. Maschinenmensch — the Maria look-alike robot - has ideas of its own. It’s our first example in film of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), or HAL before HAL (and yes, I know that HAL was really more sentient-AI than robot but you get the idea), as the robot can think for itself and make decisions for itself.
Instead of pacifying, the robot incites.
Rotwang had plans of his own. He felt it was time for a scientist — albeit a crazy one — to run the city. His plans are contrary to Fredersen’s. He wants to create chaos. His version of robot-Maria (think specially curated LLM) is much more aggressive.
The people living down below are ready to revolt. It just takes a little guidance from robot-Maria to radicalize them. Workers attack the machines destroying them, creating violence, and threatening the very existence of the cushy topside dwellers.
The truth comes out
Freder smells a rat. He goes down into the catacombs and confronts robot-Maria. He figures out that, hey, this CP3O-looking robot really isn’t Maria. Maria wouldn’t advocate violence. She wanted peaceful change. And robot-Maria is outed.
This causes confusion in the workers. They trusted robot-Maria. They believed ‘It’. They’d let their freak fanaticism flag fly. Disillusionment flourishes creating a greater gulf between the rich and poor, the techno-advanced and laborers.
Meanwhile, the destruction of the machines has caused a break in the city’s water reservoir. Millions of gallons of water are rushing down the tunnels under the city heading straight for the classrooms where all the children are hanging out.
The big finale
The real Maria finally escapes from Rotwang’s home. She immediately rushes down to save the children putting her very life in danger. This act of heroism restores some semblance of order and peace between the ruling class and the workers.
Rotwang is pissed. He chases Maria to the top of a cathedral believing her to be his long lost love. Feder follows. He fights Rotwang who falls off the top and smashes himself to death on the cobblestones below. Mad scientists always die crushed by their hubris.
The End
Freder takes his father’s hand and places it in the hands of a worker. Roll credits. Freder, as the one, has untied the ruling class and the workers, metaphorically and literally.
This 1927 film shows the dangers of manipulation via deep fakes. It shows inherent biases in our data and thought patterns. It shows how a ‘thinking’ robot may not be controllable and once it begins acting in its own interest may create a violent future for humankind.
It’s a thought-provoking movie much ahead of it’s time. It’s unique visual style (think art-deco), elaborate special effects (ground breaking for a silent film), exploration of muckity-mucks ( the silver spoon crowd) and pissed off workers made it an influential force for all science fiction ranging from 2001: A Space Odyssey to Star Wars to Ex Machina.
Metropolis offers a warning of runaway technology. It shows how technology can dehumanize, create haves and have-nots, and the consequences of said actions. Despite, or maybe because of the heavy message, it’s an entertaining watch.
Hopefully, we’ve learned a thing or two over the years.
Think About It…
This film is actually based upon a book written in 1925 by German writer Thea von Harbo. It was originally serialized in a magazine and included screen shots from the film already in production. It was so popular they released it in novel form in German and in English even sending it across the ‘pond’ to America. It was an early example of cross marketing and the re-purposing of content.
The film wants you to think about societal issues that were emerging at the time which still feel relevant today with the advent of AI and the creator economy.
Some thoughts:
Dangers of Manipulation via Deep Fakes: Technology isn’t evil or good. It’s a tool. Use it for ill intended purposes and all hell breaks loose. Build a robot to deceive and control and problems follow. It’s a misuse of a new ‘tool.’ Kinda of like using a crescent wrench to bash someone in the head. In this instance, a robot replica of the character Maria is built to manipulate and deceive the workers. Rotwang is creating a ‘deep fake’. The robot is a copy of a trusted source leveraging the goodwill Maria had built.
Inherent Biases in Data and Thought Patterns: The film demonstrates how the robot-Maria, created by Rotwang, has the same biases as Rotwang. It acts in it’s own self interest. Garbage in. Garbage out. We carry our biases with us. It was basically a crappy Large Language Model (LLM).
Uncontrollable Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): The robot-Maria represents an early cinematic portrayal of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). The robot-Maria can think for itself. It can make decisions for itself. Once a system is created, it may not be controllable and could potentially create a violent future for humanity. It’s a Pandora’s Box full of technology.
Dehumanization and Class Divisions: "Metropolis" illustrates how technological advancements and industrialization can lead to the dehumanization of the workforce. Technology changes create opportunity for those that adopt the discoveries. Those that don’t get left behind. It similar to the outsourcing that occurred in the 90’s. Companies moved production to China without supporting the workers. The increased profits went into the bank accounts of executives because they were oh-so-smart instead of using it to transition the labor force into new career paths. It’s a cautionary tale. Let’s do better with this ’technology’ outsourcing.
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Hello Jeff, This article was a great read thanks for sharing this with us!