Why do the lateral and polar views of chromosomes of the same cell in metaphase look different?

Because its being viewed by a different angle. nothing looks the same a different angles but something highly symmetric. in this case a cell is definitely not symmetric

Chromosomes have a 3D conformation and when they line up against a metaphase plane, the lateral view and polar view of chromosomes would differ. As with the case of most cellular organelles and organisms, everything has a 3D structure and hence would look different when viewed from different angles.