Mechanization of the Group
In watching the clip of Metropolis that we screened in class today, I instantly thought about the H.G. Wells story The Time Machine. This story if you are not familiar with it details the trip of a man through time to a land where he discovers human beings have been split over time into two races. One that lives peacefully and serenely on top (The Eloi), and one that lives in a primal world of mechanization and cannibalism below the surface of the earth (The Morlocks). The idea behind this transformation was that Democracy had gone wrong and over time the working class had been pushed underground along with all the machinery, while the top was kept a beautiful luxurious place for the well off. The result was the eventual division of the races.
In The Time Machine, as well as in Metropolis, the issue being addressed is not the creation of individual cyborgs. It is instead dwells on the idea of what happens to the individual when large portions of our society become part of a machine. The concept of the mechanization of humans can be a disturbing idea when applied to the individual level, but through a portrayal of dual societies we see that the effects of such a division can lead to terrible consequences and the dehumanization of society itself not simply the individual.
In The Time Machine, as well as in Metropolis, the issue being addressed is not the creation of individual cyborgs. It is instead dwells on the idea of what happens to the individual when large portions of our society become part of a machine. The concept of the mechanization of humans can be a disturbing idea when applied to the individual level, but through a portrayal of dual societies we see that the effects of such a division can lead to terrible consequences and the dehumanization of society itself not simply the individual.
posted by Zach at 12:53 PM
1 Comments:
I think it is interesting to point out that the idea and implementation of the cyborg at affect society just as strongly as the individual. With the recent advances in genomics aggressive gene therapy is becoming more and more practical, and it is not a huge stretch of the imagination to imagine fetuses genetically scanned for defects and corrected before they are born. This kind of technology would certainly not be cheap however, allowing the rich access and leaving the poor out. Thus one could conceive of a world of rich genetically superior people eventually emerging, much like the situation in The Time Machine
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