but genuinely, how do i begin to describe emcee in cabaret? they're a character, sure. a lead in this musical with multiple main characters that all have something to say. but they're... not that exactly. they're a character that you can invoke the name of and analyze, and whose name proceedes the credits to the name of an actor. however, they aren't just a character. they're not even really a character. at least, not in a way that a character is normally a character.
they're everything, which also makes them nothing (in the way of a normal character). they're every person in the world along with the world over. they're ideologies and concepts and political policies and an entire group of people. they're metaphors stacked on metaphors. but it's not like, "oh, this character is fulfilling 3 different metaphors at the same time". no, there's more like an infinite amount of interpretations of who they're standing in for. they're a metaphor for absolutely everything (at least contained in 1930s germany, but no musical- no media- stays solely in the time it's about nor the time it was made).
they're the bad, the good, the totally neutral. obviously, much of their focus in the musical is embodying fascist ideologies, especially the rapidly growing ones in the early third reich. however, they also specifically fill in for sally in i don't care much (and could generally be filling in for the ignorant german populace). but in the end, he also fills in for those persecuted in the holocaust, and he does as such in the entire musical.
he's this idea of the weimar republic's general openess and liberal nature fizzling out but still being alive in certain places even as the third reich comes to power. but they also represent how that identity can then be facilitated to aid the nazi propaganda at the time and bolster the third reich's beliefs. there's an idea there that emcee is the way far right movements will co-opt leftist presentations as a way to normalize their beliefs in a society that wouldn't normally accept them.
but even then they're not just the bad, not just a metaphor for nazism. they're also the daily people and the relationships they form. they're there when schultz and schneider first sing together and are more supportive than anything (though i do have something to say about how they can still encapture the early steps of fascism in that scene) and there's the points where he is just another person at the cabaret or where he's more idea than person.
emcee isn't just a metaphor for fascism nor are they a truly physical character in the musical. they're a presence and a representation of every person, identity, ideology, belief, and group, and the world at large, all in one person that is constantly changing and morphing to represent these people and things. (this is especially noticeable after their switch from expressing sally's feelings in i don't care much to switching back to their master of ceremonies persona when introducing sally back to the cabaret (which is another metaphor for fascism and/or ignorance but not getting into that), especially as indicated by the long seconds of silence as they transition from the end of that song right into cabaret.)
anyway, emcee is a concept as much as they are a character, and they're less a character and more a presence felt by every character, every audience member, the whole world over, throughout (and after) the musical.
