Essay final Module A

The inherent nature of individuals to attempt to retain their

individuality through asserting personal values inevitably comes into
conflict with the ideals of oppressive political authority. This is
explored in Fritz Langs 1927 film Metropolis, in terms of Freder
taking advantage of his position in the oligarchy to affect the social
transformation over the capitalist oligarchy, representative of
Golden Age of Weimars economic prosperity. In contrast, George
Orwells novel 1984 depicts Winston Smiths rebellion against the
suppressed individuality of his society, and ultimate defeat and
destruction by the Partys monolithic totalitarianism, reflecting the
political context of Orwells disenchantment with Stalinist
authoritarianism, and the apparatus of state oppression.

Assertion of personal values

The oppressive nature of unmediated power within a society
inevitably leads to tension in provoking the impulse of
individuals to assert their autonomous personal values and
retain individuality.
Intellectual curiosity of Freder
Curiosity of good Maria and children, leaving the Eternal
Gardens
Initial complacency as part of the oligarchy
Acts out of personal interest, to satisfy curiosity
Awakening of desire to help
Plays upon humanitys inherent empathy
Changes places with George
o Emphasises moral action, rather than complacency,
wanting to do something
Fighting for the assertion of personal values of workers,
fighting against dehumanisation of societal structure
Realisation of the ability to help others less advantaged
Going into the clock machine
Confronting his father
Rescuing of the children
o Representation of the purity of the workers, neglect of
the children
o Physical confrontation, he has to save them from
themselves. He realises he has to save people from
inside the social structure
o Lang sees total rebellion as the wrong direction
o Children are most pure representation
He is able to use this desire for others to retain individuality as
he is part of the capitalist oligarchy
o Can communicate with the higher ups

Analogously, In Orwells 1984, the Partys unrestricted power over

all facets of society creates t;ensions in terms of individuals desiring
the affirmation their humanist values in order to escape this control.
However, Orwell takes a more pessimistic view, seeing this as
impossible factors such as Stalinist dictatorship and the beginning of
the cold war.

Initial discovery of the possibility of assertion of personal

values
o Writing the diary
o Differences to Winston:
Fatalist attitude
The thought police would get him just the
same. He had committed would still have
committed, even if he had never set pen to
paper
Sexual Rebellion
Small and private rebellion, which is all he is
allowed. Small step to breaking suppression
of individuality

And what he wanted, more even than to be

loved, was to break down that wall of virtue,
even if it were only once in his whole life. The
sexual act, successfully performed, was
rebellion.

Theirembracehadbeenabattle,theclimaxa
victory.ItwasablowstruckagainsttheParty.Itwasapolitical

Tricked by OBrien
Different positions within society
Winston is on the oppressed side
Freder still has influence
Instead of saving the children, reforming society,
he becomes a victim of the system, social
transformation not possible
He puts his trust in something and he is totally manipulated,
he is an outsider even though he thinks Obrien is an outsider.
Very minor rebellion, but he is still totally destroyed, the idea
of actual social transformation is not going to be possible.

Unmediated power of an institution inevitably clashes with

the desire of individuals to assert personal values.

Capitalist Oligarchy in power embodied as exploiting the

proletariat in order to achieve capitalist expansion

Enforce oppression by: they are dehumanised to cogs in the

wheel of a machine. The workers are dehumanised so they are
reduced to parts of a machine so that there is less chance of
rebellion. The purpose is not dehumanisation but an added
benefit is that the workers do not rebel.

Embodying the institution:

Economic hegemony established by
Freders father or use mise en scene to demonstrate the tower
of babel modernist, light, in contrast to the gothic 19th
century underground to demonstrate the oppressive nature of
the societal structure
Tie into the moloch machine and the dehumanisation

1. Something embodying the institution, freders father,

architecture
2. Moloch - technology
3. Scientific paradigm
4. Possibility of overcoming the instititution, how the tension
clashes etc

Scientific Paradigm
-working with economic paradigm, to keep them distracted
and motivated, so they don't rebel rotwang and evil maria
-contextual point, in Weimar republic those who have the
economic power also drive the science and technology
hope that the intellectuals and the enlightened bourgeoisie
could mediate between oligarchy and working class. Economic
conditions allowed him to have hope
started to become consumerist
Because of that, the character is able to succeed in his
ultimate triumph in mediating between self-interest and
division of the two groups, is predicated by his function as the
moral, intellectual leader, who can define a social progressive
balance reflecting the function of the bourgeoisie intellectuals
in Weimar (context)

Idea 2 - 1984
However restricted by totalised society
Totalised the complete construction of a ideological version of
reality, through brainwashing, alteration of history

- of stalins idea of writers being the engineers of human souls

quote
1984
1. Something embodying the institution, inner party
2. Telescreens technology

Winston kept his back turned to the telescreen. It was safer,

though, as he well knew, even a back can be revealing.
3. Energy is not spent on science but totalising reality rewriting
history, newspeak, or the way they switch wars or torture of
Winston and forcing them to accept etc.

to be conscious of complete truthfulness while

telling carefully constructed lies
Daybydayand
almostminutebyminutethepastwasbroughtuptodate.

4. Destruction of individuals with conflicting ideals

1. 4 Ministries and their paradox, the sense that they control all
aspects of life, and are predicated on Doublethink so that they are
entering into heads and shaping reality clearly in contrast with the
way the oligarchy, who have transformed the topography, but have
not changed perception of reality
Through the oppressive party clutches on:
- History
- Thought
- Language
- Privacy
- Politics
- Emotion
- Sex
Absolute power over individuals
Demonstrated through absolute power to alter all aspects of an
individuals life
- free thought
- perception of reality
- emotion
- free speech etc

Truth
Power over society, not just physically but mentally and
psychologically

Include examples, telescreens, newspeak, ministry of truth etc

Contrast with freders triumph
- despite winstons futile attempts to rebel and join a rebellion
against the oppressive Party, his ultimate failure and total
destruction is representative of the inability for any competing
ideology to even exist let along transform any aspect of
society.
- this is because the Party is solely devoted to maintaining
power (totalitariansm) and does not care about the indiviudals
or the economy, and thus they will never let competing ideas
emerge and transform the society, as this will reduce the hold
they have over the society
- Also totalisation of the society ( control of reality in the head),
no attempt to engineer souls in metropolis
- Orwells comment on totalitarian states that individuals in
those states are utterly powerless to rise up against the
system, since the system actively shuts down the ideas as a
threat against the power and control
- In contrast with Freders rebellion because the aim of the
capitalist society was to grow the economy. Because of this,
capitalist societies did not have the goal of oppression and
thus are easy to transform.
- + Freder is from the oligarchy itself, in a better position
Also remember the workers are from pre WWI, now the conditions
are slightly better due to Weimar Germany.