Both texts effectively highlight and promote the need for humanity to learn from its mistakes for its ultimate survival. The social, cultural, and historical milieu of a composer's time significantly shapes the construction of his text and the ideals, values, and attitudes he chooses to address within it. These influences, however, provide a unique distinction between the different texts, also highlighting notable commonalities. Through the implementation of dystopian fiction, in which they depict a post-apocalyptic future, arising from cultural realities that allow tyrants to exploit periods of adversity and tribulations, both texts offer didactic warnings and implicit about what will happen if current trends continue. Fritz Lang's expressionist and overtly surrealist silent film, "Metropolis" (1927), can be interpreted as a reaction to the rapid fluctuations and economic instability of the German social milieu during the immediate post-war period, during which the new and controversial Weimar Republic gave birth to new individual freedoms and the resulting cultural diversity. Lang's physical depiction of the segregation and dichotomy between the upper and lower classes of Metropolis inspires his audience to question the distribution of power and authority, subtly highlighting the flaws in Germany's new governmental system and asserting the need to demonstrate compassion in rebuilding a prosperous society. . In contrast, George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984" (1949) is a pessimistic vision of the future, a response to the horrific totalitarian and authoritarian regimes seen in the years following World War I and during the Second World War. Orwell provides a disturbing warning about the capabilities of dictatorial control systems and their ability to extend control over all aspects of an individual's life; stifling their freedoms, their dignity, their morality and subsequently dehumanizing the population. Through the comparative study of the two texts, we observe a clear series of commonalities and diversities in their construction, their contextual influences and their themes explored. Furthermore, we discern the fundamental correlation between a text and its contextual origins and how exploring similar content in both texts highlights their fundamental meaning. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Oppressive capitalist plutocracies can abuse and dictate individual freedoms; they use terror, surveillance and other corrupt means to stifle their citizens and deprive them of their dignity. Fritz Lang's expressionist black-and-white film "Metropolis" is a distinctive artistic commentary on Germany's Weimar Republic in the 1920s; depicting the facade of superficial economic abundance at that time which masked the deep-rooted flaws of the new democratic system. This can be seen in the physical representation of the glamorous and well-lit art deco-inspired city of abundance that is Metropolis, reflecting the German period of industrialization and modernization, built on the foundations of deprivation, inequality and the scarcity of the working city. . In Lang's film, like the unjust power structure of 1984, absolute and authoritarian control is held singularly by Joh Fredersen, whose primary motivation is to ensure a city of wealth and lavishness for the benefit of thearistocratic upper class, in ignorance and indifference towards the workers or destitute “hands” who toil below to realize his vision. Frederson achieves and maintains his power by using fear and terror as a means to control his robot-like workers, stifling their individuality and freedom. A long black-and-white shot depicts a rigid formation of workers, heads pointed downward, moving listlessly, uniformly and expressionlessly through the prison-like underground tunnels of the staged city of Metropolis; reflects the nature of work on production lines in Germany at that time. This image exudes connotations of slavery, deprivation and indolent conformity, contrasting sharply with the opening images of skyscrapers, searchlights and luxury inspired by the highly modernized and architecturally innovative city of New York. Frederson's son Freder, the film's Christ-like hero, watches in horror as a workers' factory explodes and is transformed into the barbaric, golden-faced god of fire, Moloch. Moloch, a biblical character alluding to the Greco-Roman tradition of child sacrifice, consumes the weary workers offered to him, thereby reinforcing fear-induced methods of power and control. The dehumanizing, repetitive, and physically demanding nature of the work depicted in these scenes is indicative of the reality of assembly-line production during the industrial revolution in Weimar Germany after World War I, resulting in the reintroduction of the 12-hour workday with a two-hour break. Lang challenges us to question the corrupt and abusive use of power and its impact on an individual's sense of dignity, humanity and entitlement, simultaneously drawing comparisons and connections to one's own social, cultural context and historical. Lang's text was considered a revolutionary German Expressionist silent film; providing a crucial source of inspiration for the later development of the "film noir" genre. Lang's innovative use of special effects, multi-layered sets, stop motion filmmaking, and his visual dichotomy between the two inner worlds of Metropolis pioneered later dystopian science fiction texts, simultaneously creating a conceptual link strong with Orwell’s “1984”. place inherent and fundamental value on their essential rights to freedom of expression, thought and individuality. If the values ​​of these fundamental rights are neglected, then societies are subject to global and complete manipulation, the tyranny of totalitarian systems of control and the resulting dehumanization. This is made clear in George Orwell’s iconic dystopian novel, “1984.” Like Lang's film, Orwell depicts a futuristic and dystopian setting, exploring the dangers of oppressive systems of control. However, Orwell's vision, inspired by the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin and his "great purges" in Soviet Russia, and by Adolf Hitler and his eradication of the "inferior" races in Nazi Germany, is a significantly darker and pessimistic. Orwell immediately places us in the austere and harsh framework of urban decadence; “Airstrip One”, the parallel image of a London degraded and ravaged by rubble, after the Second World War. The clocks strike "one o'clock" and the omniscient and invasive image of Big Brother "watching you" is strikingly reminiscent of the image of Joseph Stalin. The anti-hero Winston Smith is "rather small, frail" and suffers from a "varicose ulcer above his right ankle". The desperate, weak and sickening image of Winston contrasts sharply with Lang's hero, Freder, the image ofAryan perfection. Winston works in the "Ministry of Truth", an oxymoronic title for a place that houses the constant rewriting of history to ensure that the party is always right; “He who controls the past controls the future. Whoever controls the present controls the past. The language is simplified to the extreme and "reduced to the bone", which gives birth to a new language, "whose vocabulary diminishes every year", the "NewSpeak", making the "crime of thought" or the unorthodox “literally impossible” thinking. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of Orwell's haunting vision is the achievable and realistic future that is depicted. Many policies and means of party control are drawn from the strategies of Hitler and Stalin in their fanatical dictatorships; Stalin himself edited photos of "vaporized" people, rewriting history and frequently changing alliances with Germany, claiming to have always maintained this relationship. Orwell asks us to reevaluate the capabilities of totalitarian domination, warning of the possible horrific extent of control that the rapid development of technology would enable. Both Orwell and Lang convey a genuine fear of the future in their texts, but the means by which these ideas are explored and the historical contexts that inspired the composers are very diverse and distinctive. Although Orwell was a critical essayist at heart, it can be argued that Lang's primary goal was to create aesthetically innovative art and entertainment. Therefore, although they both explore the complementary concepts of power and control and the dehumanization that can emerge from them and lead to subjugation, suppression of rights and degradation of human qualities, these two iconic texts differ . to growing discontent among citizens and possible destruction. The continued oppression of an individual's rights to freedom and expression can only be tolerated to a certain extent, after which the spark of resistance and rebellion is ignited. Lang's film was unique because it confronted conservative German audiences with the rapid change in previously rigid class structures, addressing the growing potential for a Russian-style communist rebellion. After the signing of the humiliating Treaty of Versailles, in which Germany was forced to accept full responsibility for the destruction of World War I and agree to pay indefinite reparations to the allies, public opinion The Germans responded with severe divisions, revolts and strikes. The seeds of discontent and revolution are evident in Lang's film, in the continued subjugation of workers. Lang depicts Maria as a virginal symbol of purity and compassion who prophesies that "the mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart"; a message that runs as a continuous motif throughout the film and elucidates the fundamental need for understanding to achieve balance within this severely divided society. Lang's depiction of Maria's "doppelgänger" robot, who performs absurdly dramatic gestures and facial expressions, clad in dark, devilish eye makeup, provides a striking dichotomy to pure, virginal, innocently dressed Maria. Lang's continued use of juxtapositions; “light” and “dark,” “blessed” or “damned,” and “higher” and “lower” serve as representations of the serious divisions within German society during this period. Dramatic, pulsating drumbeats and climactic violin notes are heard as the workers, ironically conforming to a thoughtless mob mentality, crowd into the elevators that ascend to the upper town ofMetropolis, pumping their fists violently. Lang explores the thoughtless, conformist mob mentality of the rebellion, highlighting the ironic substitution of just another means of control, complementing Orwell's description of the "two minutes of hatred", in which the working class is thoughtlessly united in hatred of Big Brother's enemies. Lang depicts the pure and compassionate love story between Maria and Freder, who unite in the depths and desperately try to protect the fearful and struggling children of the flooded city. The film ends optimistically with the unification of the “head,” Frederson, and the “hands,” the workers, through Freder, “the heart.” Lang offers an alternative to the oppression of Frederson's capitalist plutocracy through warm and compassionate mediation. Lang's ending has been criticized as abstruse and unrealistic; that despite this handshake, Frederson's tyrannical rule may well continue in a different form. The workers still march in perfect synchronization and uniformity, the only difference is that their heads are now raised. This could be seen as reflecting Germany's "Sresemann era", during which the nation gained a secure place on the world stage, once again participating in international trade and affairs. However, this was only a facade to show its desperate dependence on the American economy for its success, which led to Germany's serious downfall during the Depression. Lang draws our attention to the nature of resistance and rebellion; how oppressive abuses of power and control and the stifling of freedoms result, also highlighting the chaos that can be caused if not orchestrated in a calculated manner and of its own volition. Lang's unique cinematic style and his exploration of fundamental themes of power and control served as an iconic source of inspiration for many artists who followed him, highlighting the central importance of the "metropolis" and illuminating its vital link with the period in which it was created. Resistance and rebellion arise from discontent and dissatisfaction with reality; their rights, their freedoms and their distant memories of more prosperous times. Orwell's "1984" elucidates the intrinsic characteristic of humanity that compels us to question the nature of its world and the distribution of power and control within it, even if this attempt is accepted and recognized as futile. Lang explores this inherent desire in his film, but it can be argued that his depiction of the oppressed class has a much more promising capacity to rebel and succeed in establishing a better society. In contrast, Winston, Orwell's anti-hero, knowingly accepts that his life is doomed from the moment he opens his diary and marks the pages; “the decisive act”. Any trait considered human is removed from the citizens of Oceania; their humanity, their family, their dignity, their sexual instinct and their individual will to live. This is replaced by the overall fear and love of Big-Brother, elucidating the massive extent of infiltration, control and suppression of any possible rebellion. Orwell depicts Winston's dark psychological state; he feels “lost in a monstrous world of which he himself was the monster” and his only potential resistance is therefore his own interior contemplation. In the same way that Lang describes Rotwang's house as "a relic of a dark and forgotten past," Orwell describes motifs in his novel that recall a brighter time than Winston's current reality, explaining how knowledge was hidden and held. . These patterns appear in Winston's frequent dreams..