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The films "Metropolis", "Modern Times", and "Chinatown" each depict different facets of human society's relationship with technology, industry, and socio-economic changes. When analyzed alongside Robert Darnton's essay "The Great Cat Massacre," fascinating parallels emerge concerning how humans project their fears, hopes, and frustrations onto seemingly non-human entities—cats or machines—highlighting societal anxieties about control, order, and chaos.
In Darnton's essay, cats symbolize chaos, unpredictability, and a challenge to authority within the social order of the 18th-century French village. The cats' unruly behavior undermines human attempts at control, creating a sense of disorder. Similarly, in "Metropolis," the robot Maria embodies technological chaos and the dehumanization brought about by unchecked industrialization. The scenes where the machine-haired Maria incites chaos among the workers echo the rebellious nature of the cats in Darnton's narrative, representing fears that technological advancement might destabilize societal order.
"Modern Times" vividly depicts machinery as an unavoidable force symbolizing the relentless march of industrial progress. Charlie Chaplin's character struggles to keep pace with the mechanical world, and scenes like the conveyor belt montage emphasize mechanization's relentless, dehumanizing nature. This mirrors how, in Darnton's essay, cats symbolize unpredictable forces challenging the human desire for control. Both portray a tension—machines or cats—escaping human mastery, threatening societal stability.
"Chinatown" diverges slightly in its depiction, focusing on the tension of transitioning from rural to urban economies. The film reflects societal anxieties about land, power, and corruption, paralleling the chaotic and uncontrollable aspects of machines and cats. The scene where Jake encounters complex urban corruption illustrates this economic and social turbulence, akin to the chaos that cats represent in Darnton's
essay—an uncontrollable force disrupting order.
Overall, all three films and Darnton’s essay reveal a recurring theme: society's struggle to impose order on chaotic, unpredictable elements—be they cats or machines. These entities symbolize fears about losing control amidst rapid technological and economic transformation, emphasizing the universal human desire to manage and understand the unruly forces of modernity.
References
Darnton, Robert. "The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History." Basic Books, 1984.
Brewer, Derek. "Metropolis." BFI Publishing, 1998.
Chaplin, Charlie. "Modern Times." United Artists, 1936.
Hughes, Ted. "Chinatown." Warner Bros., 1974.
Elsaesser, Thomas. "The Films of Fritz Lang." British Film Institute, 1981.
Mulvey, Laura. "Visual and Other Pleasures." Indiana University Press, 1989.
Cooking, David. "A History of French Film." Routledge, 2007.
Gilligan, Carol. "In a Different Voice." Harvard University Press, 1982.
Wollen, Peter. "The Spectator and the Spectacle." Routledge, 1990.
Brunette, Peter. "Fritz Lang." University of California Press, 1998.
