Who forgets their children?

So they flood the city because the robot clone of the woman who took care of their kids convinced them to. I think iv got this right, they for got their kids because they thought they were used to maria having them? Actually, now that i think about it, they were in a trance. so the trance made them forget the kids. ok i got this now. The movie was wild. I dont know what i was expecting but i dont think this was it. There was really bad acting, for one. They dont get to talk so we have to rely on thier actions. You would think they could have tried a little harder. Still yet, it became a hit and has stayed one ever since. The special effects included city scapes of futuristic buildings, lightning bolts, the robot taking marias likeness, the merging slaves at the tower of babylon, the maching turning into the huge robot thing with workers walking into it,and the falling numbers in the begining. It reminded me of the stock market. Theirs a mad scientist, who fights hard for an old man. The last fight scene was crazy. He drops Maria off the roof and they duke it out for forever. Compare it to any recent fight scenes. The one in Metropolis was like more realistic-ish yet looked so fake, like wwf. The fake part that is. Modern fight scenes between good-guy and bad-guy are usually compiled of crazy angles and cuts of super-fighting, blood, and usually look real. I didnt think i would want to stay for the whole movie because i had a ton of things to do. But After a smoke break to gather our thoughts, we finished the movie, in good spirits, but i cant say i enjoyed it. I guess i can understand how it was a big thing in the day because of its effects and it was so out there and wasnt anything like the other movies of their time. I still dont understand if we were supposed to be impressed, just see what the big deal was, appriciate the good actors, effects, sound, color, and everything else we go to the movies for; or question how or why they did it...the way they did. I would really like to hear what everyone else thought.
Another thing we were talking about, besides maria and many of the other actors appearing to be crazy and strung out, she had that look, that glow that all the actors had back in the day. So pure and soft. I talked to someone about this once and we decided that its because of interracial relationships werent accepted. Is Native American a race?Also i mean German and Swedish, my own heritage. I dont know. im just curious, i also wonder if that is just the kind of girl they looked for back in the day. I would really like to learn more about history, in general...