Symbolism, Occult & Otherwise ~ Metropolis, Hide and Seek

It's a while since I inadvertently stepped into one of the internet's many rabbit holes, but did so at the weekend. On Friday evening TCM was showing a 2010 restoration of Fritz Lang's 1927 silent movie Metropolis. I couldn't recall ever having watched it before, at least not in full, nor could husband, so we decided to give it a try. I'm not a fan of silent movies but this one has some very nice art deco architectural bits and backdrops going on, which was enough to keep me interested for the almost all of the 2 and a half hour film. It's a curiosity, if nothing else, with dystopian elements later tackled and enlarged upon in finer detail by George Orwell and others of his genre. There were scenes, however, which reminded me more of Monty Python or Benny Hill sketches than dark dystopian scenarios, but that had to be excused due to the film's age.

For anyone who hasn't seen Metropolis, in a nutshell it's a tale of a city of the future - 2026 - further into the future for audiences in 1927 than it is for us. The city is divided into two, part for the workers and part for the thinkers. The workers live and toil in an underground section of the city, slave-like,down-trodden, sheep-like, ill-treated, providing the life blood of the city above, often quite literally. The thinkers, the equivalent of 21st century's real-life Elite, the 1%, capitalists, the Oligarchy etc. live in luxury in the city above.

Bear in mind that Fritz Lang was Austrian-born, the film was made during the Weimar period in Germany, history has proved him to be something of a prophet in many ways. A love story develops in the film - rather too rapidly - under what seems to 2013 eyes very contrived circumstances, but it is a necessary plot device. The king pin of Metropolis has a son who appears to be a little more liberal-minded than his fascist capitalist Dad. He falls in love with a gal, a teacher to kids of the workers. She promises the children, or prophesies to them, that there will be a better life in the future, a "mediator" will come along to help them.

We then meet an inventor with occult leanings and a pentacle on his door, and the fun begins.....

Now...I was going to write a straight ahead review of Metropolis when I stepped into the rabbit hole mentioned earlier. Looking around the net for reviews to ensure I hadn't missed anything crucial while out during the film doing the dishes, I found a website called The Vigilant Citizen with a long and interesting article about the film, pointing out stuff I'd half recognised but dismissed as artsy pretension. I'll leave a passing reader to take a look at VC's article.

On the VC website sidebar I caught sight of one of the writer's other pieces, reviewing a movie we'd seen just a few nights earlier on HBO, Hide and Seek, 2005 movie starring Robert de Niro and Dakota Fanning. The story tells of a traumatised child who sees the results of her mother's apparent suicide. Neither of us had enjoyed the film much, thought it ridiculously contrived, but stayed with it to discover the ending - which revealed quite a twist neither of us had foreseen. Vigilant Citizen saw lots and lots more in the movie than we did. More symbolism than would fill a book in fact! Symbols of MK (as in MK-ultra) mind control and how it can be used in popular culture among other things.

There's no denying, once made aware, that symbols were present, in both Hide and Seek and in Metropolis. Were they put there, in the case of Metropolis, as artsy devices by a writer who had a genuine interest and some knowledge of occult practices; and in the case of Hide and Seek in an attempt to be superficially darkly edgy and "hip" 21st century style?

Vigilant Citizen discusses several other movies as well as some pieces of pop music and music videos with occult symbolism, and some "MK" in mind. After skimming a couple of these I began to experience a familiar rabbit-hole queasy sickness and retreated.

For any of stronger constitution there's more at The Fortean Times too: The Illuminati X-Factor.

Occult, and other, symbolism exists, of course it does. Occult symbolism has existed for thousands of years. Does it have any serious relevance today though, beyond pretentiousness in art, seeking to portray a knowledge of secret, dangerous, dark stuff that few are aware of? I suspect that, where any kind of symbolism is found in popular culture nowadays it stems mainly from affectation. In the case of Metropolis I'm not so sure. Fritz Lang was possibly making use in his film-making art of the symbols of one of his other interests - the occult. He was said to have had a definite fascination with aspects of the "dark arts".

On my way out of the rabbit hole I noticed a book for sale on E-bay ($400!!). Follow My Stars by astrologer Louis de Wohl, it is inscribed by the author to none other than... Fritz Lang.

SYMBOLOGY & ADAM LAMBERT

Symbolism seems to be following me around just now, I'm coming across mentions of it every whichway I turn. Synchronicity is at work!

Yesterday, an article by John Hammelton, "The Power of the Symbol" appeared in Astro Dispatch. This dealt with symbolism in astrology.

On Thursday evening we saw the movie "Angels & Demons" in which Tom Hanks plays symbologist Robert Langdon. The movie's theme dealt with ancient religious symbology.



A comment made in an American Idol blog (mjsbigblog) by the writer of another blog: "The Fat Lady Sings" dealt with cultural symbology. I realise that not everyone was as invested in American Idol as I and many others in the USA, but the point made by this writer is significant, whether you watched American Idol or not. The comment impressed me so much, I'm copying it in full, below.

In a strange way the cultural symbolism The Fat Lady Sings talks about links both the astrological and religious symbology, to which my attention was recently drawn.

The comment, copied here, written by The Fat Lady sings:

"After a great deal of thought on the subject - there’s something I’d really like to say about what the symbolism of an Adam (Lambert) win would have been. Symbols bear great societal importance. We rely on them as a species to convey connectivity; how we think and feel. Words become unnecessary. Communication with a glance. We are visual creatures after all. Adam represented the outré – society’s margins – a place he’d occupied most of his young life. He was the fat kid in school – into the arts. Oddball, unusual – definitely not mainstream. He was castigated for it – as all who march to that different drummer often are. Just watch his graduation video. There he is – that incredible voice soaring to heaven – and when the camera pans across the stage or into the audience – you see his classmates talking behind their hands, pointing and snickering. Adam was a joke.

So here he is, 10 years later – a fabulous creature of his own design. That glorious voice honed to perfection. He was ready. But America was still in high school, still snickering behind their hands. Elect the gay kid class president? Not on your life! But more than that – more than rejecting someone so beautiful he made your heart ache – underlying the rejection was a truck load of fear. Why? Because Adam was a symbol; a great rainbow flag announcing America had changed. If Adam Lambert had won American Idol in spite of being gay and Jewish – then others who existed on society’s margins might try and step forward into the light as well. And we’d be forced to reckon with them – to take them seriously. That’s why this was important – why it went beyond one supremely talented performer. Adam Lambert would have won for all the disenfranchised. There’s your symbol. America’s first openly gay Idol.

And Adam’s win would have been a legitimate one – not manufactured as some kind of comfit or an appeasement to silence loud voices. The man’s madly talented – a true superstar. Now I’m not saying Kris Allen isn’t talented, or that under other circumstances (such as an Adamless Idol) wouldn’t deserve the win. He is; truly - he just doesn’t compare to Adam. No one on that stage did. Adam was and is in a class by himself. So his not winning (despite all that talent), points to other things – especially when you look at all the fear-driven hysteria of the last few days. I’m not saying Bill O’Reilly’s hit piece was solely responsible; but when you couple it with all the other anti-gay, heavily political folderol that accompanied it – a pattern emerges. I live in the south. In my area - some local DJ’s exhorted listeners to not vote for the gay guy. Seriously. They didn’t even mention Kris by name – just hated on Adam. Ever since his ‘Ring of Fire’ performance – Adam has been regularly dissed on local radio. From what I’ve heard – a few local churches spoke out against him as well. Danny Gokey’s pastor wasn’t the only preacher to bring religion into the mix. As many people voted against Adam as for Kris.

So Adam’s loss is devastating for a multiplicity of reasons. He really deserved that win. Not just for his fans – but because it would have stood for something. In a way - Adam represented anyone who felt disenfranchised. That’s added an extra layer of unhappiness over the whole thing. He lost for reasons other than singing. I cannot tell you how sad that makes me feel. And please understand I am not intending to diminish Kris in any way. As I said before - any other year his talent would have been formidable. But Adam’s special. He really is all that and a bag of chips. Why did other issues have to contaminate the voting? Such a pity……"

The astrological significance here, I see as coming from the USA's natal Sun in Cancer (born on 4 July). The zodiac sign of Cancer symbolises nurturing, homely, motherly instincts - all apple pie and sentimental cuddles. Is it surprising that the majority of those people in the USA who enjoy American Idol would prefer a singer who offers Kris Allen's safe, sentimental, non-controversial kind of music? Or that of 3rd runner-up Danny Gokey in similar vein?(I suspect that Danny's former voters flocked to Kris at the final). This strongly Cancerian symbolism is part of the homeland, part of the environment. Kris has Sun in Cancer and Danny has Sun in Taurus, so it follows that both are much more nearly in tune with US symbolism than Adam, his Aquarius Sun, and left-field but mesmerising style. Aquarius in the zodiacal circle is quincunx Cancer, symbolically that is a scratchy, irritable aspect - exactly the effect Adam seems to have had on a sizeable proportion of US voters.

So there is astrological symbolism here. Religious symbolism in this context could be seen as relating to the conservative religious-right's anti-Adam attitudes which could also have featured in Tuesday night's voting.

Adam Lambert will find more universal acceptance outside of the USA, away from its pervading Cancerian atmosphere - in other words he'll be an international star. Recalling my own words from a post dated 31 March 2009:

"Whether he'll be 2009's American Idol, I will not guess. I will guess, though, that Adam Lambert will be a familiar name by the time Uranus enters Aries, and transits near his natal Moon in around 2 to 3 years'time."

I'd now amend "familiar" to "internationally famous", and make that a prediction.

Many thanks to The Fat Lady Sings blog for the use of your eloquent comment.