Women as Sexual Objects in Metropolis :: Movie Film Essays

Women as Sexual Objects in Metropolis In the film Metropolis, I feel women are basically represented as a sexual object. Also in my opinion certain male figures were the dominant images throughout the whole movie. Some may believe that at one point, the robot-Maria was a dominant figure but I believe the robot was just a technological advancement to increase the view that women are seen as sexual objects. Why was the robot created in Metropolis in the form of a woman? This is a question that is portrayed in Huyssen's article. In my opinion, Rotwang wants to create a woman robot so he can have complete control over her actions. Huyssen even states, "After all, Rotwang creates the android as an artifact, as an initially lifeless object which he can then control." In creating a woman robot, Rotwang figures he can use her sexuality in order to receive the attention of the male workers. Power and dominance is what Rotwang wants and he found away to achieve it by the use of his creation. There are other males who display these dominant ways just as well as Rotwang does. Take the Master of Metropolis for instance. He orders Rotwang to create a robot in order to replace the human workers. He also has the control of all the workers because he is their employer. Now let us look at where sexuality and technology come into play in this movie. In the first part of the movie, Jon Frederson (the son of the Master of Metropolis) sees Maria for the first time. By the way he looks at her, you can see that he is having sensual feelings for her. Huyssen also expresses this idea in his article. In my opinion, Frederson does not really see her as the saint she is suppose to be playing, but only as an object that he desires and would like to pursue. As the movie progresses, Rotwang decides he is going to capture Maria and take her as a prisoner in his home. He does this so he can create a robot that exactly duplicates the features of Maria. As a result of this creation, technology is now mixed with the sexuality that Maria had inside of her in order to obtain control and power. The robot-Maria, uses her sexuality to obtain the attention of all the male workers.