Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction epic, Metropolis, recalls the Christian creation and apotheosis narrative through a dystopian lens. The main characters of Metropolis personify Jesus, his apostles and his close associates in a postmodern society. The city of Metropolis itself represents the relationship between humanity as God as highlighted in the Christian tradition. The film also uses key figures and myths from the Bible that help present Metropolis as a symbol of the bond between God and humanity and the chaos and torment that can characterize such a relationship. Metropolis grapples with a dystopian and futuristic interpretation of the myth of the Christian foundation and the theology of mission and the gospel of Jesus. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The figure of Mary can be analyzed through a Christian theological perspective. Mary is initially characterized as an angelic and virginal figure representing fertility and redemption. She appears in Metropolis Gardens surrounded by children. These children represented the youthful innocence and latent fertility of the Virgin Mary. Maria also appears to Freder following a controversial encounter with a prostitute. This other woman helps solidify Mary's innocence and faith, and perhaps also embodies Mary Magdalene, who was originally thought to threaten Jesus with her questionable and immoral past in prostitution. Mary's Tower of Babel speech is perhaps the most explicit religious reference in Metropolis. In her sermon, Mary preaches the Old Testament biblical story of the Tower of Babel. In the narrative, the peoples of the world gather after the Flood and build a tower with the aim of uniting humanity and reaching God. However, God is threatened and destroys the Tower and scatters the people, dividing them by language, and therefore divisions ethnic, cultural, national and class. Maria argues that Metropolis can act as a modern-day Tower of Babel, and that the working class simply needs unity and leadership to conglomerate and unite to build a new society and reach God by transcending division. Mary can also be understood as representing John the Baptist. John was the essential Christian apologist and preacher who articulated the importance of the life and message of Jesus. John proselytized to the masses about the mission of Jesus. Mary, similarly, preaches the need for a messiah in Metropolis, and in The following describes Freder's compassion and unique position in helping improve the social condition of workers in the lower levels of Metropolis. Mary preaches the "Gospel" of messianism in the same way that John the Baptist spread and supported the teachings of Jesus. Mary argues that Metropolis needs a figure who unites "head and hands". In other words, the city needs a messiah who will reunite Fredersen's divinity with the broader working class. The robot Maria symbolizes the demonic and secularized opposite of Maria herself. While Mary symbolizes the divine innocence and youth of the Virgin Mary, her robotic clone embodies the diametric opposites of these virtues. Rotwang, the mad scientist and inventor who lives in the middle level of Metropolis, created Robot Maria. Rotwang represents the unbridled secular science of the modern age. By Lang's time, German thought had largely migrated from the Christian theological tradition to secular and Darwinist narratives. This climate helped predict the rise of Nazi-fascism. The virtues of Christianity play little role here, both in real German society in general and in Rotwang's actions and creations in Metropolis.Rotwang doesn't care about Freder or Fredersen and creates Robot Maria to exercise his scientific knowledge, rather than legitimize any moral authority. Robot Maria symbolizes the opposite of Adam. The first traditional man, Adam, was created by God through direct divine intervention. The notion of “rib” and earth used to compose Adam and Eve is also described in Genesis. God using Adam's rib to create Eve, physically taking out a piece of the temporal world to complete humanity, is still directly divine. However, the story of the God-inspired creation of Adam and Eve contrasts sharply with Rotwang's production of Robot Maria. In his creation of Robot Maria, Rotwang also loses his hand, a physical part of the human body, essentially as a sacrifice to create new life. The loss of Rotwang, however, represents a sacrifice of human creation as opposed to divine inspiration. The notion of secular and scientific innovation versus divine and divine inspiration represents a conflict of virtues versus the unbridled secular knowledge of Lang's Germany. Robot Maria embodies this binary, which presents a hellish vision of science and secularism. Robot Maria's composition and symbolism highlight the notion of science and secularism as representing a less honorable moral outlook and vision. The Robot Maria appears composed with the symbol of the pentagram. The pentagram, the five-pointed star, symbolizes paganism. In Christianity the symbol of the pentagram is also often interpreted as representing the devil. This association with paganism is often extrapolated to largely exaggerated negative connotations of devil worship. The Robot Maria also represents the Whore of Babylon. In the Book of Revelation, the Whore of Babylon harks back to the apocalypse and encapsulates the traditional theme of the femme fatale. In historical times, partly because of the story of Eve, the femme fatale archetype often reflected religious terms. In the modern era, the femme fatale is best highlighted in cinema. Robot Maria represents a unity of both these cultural forms and archetypes. The structure of Metropolis also reflects biblical and religious motifs. The Eternal Gardens of the wealthy elite at the upper level symbolize the biblical Garden of Eden. It is in these gardens of Metropolis that Maria first meets Freder, illustrating the religious connotations of their characterizations. Mary describes the Eternal Gardens as “high in the heavens,” representative of the divine nature of space. On the other hand, the machine that powers the upper city of Metropolis is called Moloch, named after the evil Canaanite god associated with child sacrifice and fire. In Metropolis, the working class often dies trying to operate and maintain machinery. Additionally, Robot Maria threatens an apocalyptic flood in which all the children of Metropolis will die, reflecting the ancient, biblical flood narrative. Freder's vision of the demons feeding the workers to Moloch and calling the working class their “brothers” after the apocalypse reflects the mission and teachings of Jesus. The overseer of Metropolis, Fredersen, is presented as God, while his son Freder represents Chris. Fredersen argues that workers should stay “where they belong.” This vision reflects the ruthless biblical God of the Old Testament. Freder, the son, represents Christ. Freder, as the son of the God of Metropolis, serves as the "Mediator" who unites God and humanity. Towards the end of the film, Freder takes the place of another worker, as Jesus did, suffering for others. When the machine tortures him, he exclaims, “Father, I never imagined that ten hours could be so long!” This.