Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin - Essay Example

Modern Times (1936) is a ic American film. Directed, written, and starred in by Charlie Chaplin, the greatest star and most influential personality of the silent film era, the film presents a vision of a society impacted by technological innovations, rampant bureaucracy, and a financial depression, all through the eyes of the ordinary man—a single cog in the massive system of an immense industrial organism. Modern Times is Chaplin’s final film in the series of his popular character, “the Tramp”, and thus has a particularly strong place in the hearts of those who truly cherish the actor’s achievements as the consummate entertainer. Nevertheless, the final film of the series seems to be the most overtly political and inevitably then is the most controversial. Although chock-full of the brand of slapstick, physical humor which has become automatically associated with Chaplin’s acting career, Modern Times is often interpreted to be a representation of Chaplin’s own political affiliations and associations with the Left. However, certain aspects of the film make it quite apparent that Leftist politics hold no monopoly on its figurative content. The aforementioned fans of Chaplin who truly cherish his work cannot help but see through the depictions of poverty and suffering in the film, and see the Tramp urging the Gamin “to keep smiling”, and to see him relying upon his own values and skills to build a life for himself—ideals that are consistent with capitalism and the American dream. Even before the film starts, any attempt on the part of witch-hunters to tie Chaplin to the Left and condemn Modern Times as hidden socialist propaganda is, all at once, defeated. After the opening credits, superimposed on a clock that symbolizes the tyranny of mechanistic time, the words read: “‘Modern Times.’ A story of industry, of individual enterprise—humanity crusading in the pursuit of happiness.” Expressing the film’s entire thematic content in only a few brief words, such phrases as “individual enterprise” and “pursuit of happiness” give attention not to a Leftist political cause in the context of a Depression that many (falsely) blamed on capitalism, but to the essence of capitalism itself—and the “right to the pursuit of happiness” which Thomas Jefferson defended in the Declaration of Independence and even today serves as the basis of the world’s leading economy. Immediately, then, what one should expect to see from the Tramp is not a bewailing jeremiad against the evils of capitalism and industry, but of a man starting out small, trying to work his way up to a life of happiness. Any such “overtly” anti-capitalist themes then are not politically motivated, but artistically necessary in order to convey the plight of the workers—and the managers as well. The film pays homage to the many like the Tramp in the opening shots, where images of workers coming out of the subway are faded into by pictures of a moving sheep herd. In the middle and out of the many, a conspicuous black sheep emerges. Here, the director is seemingly telling the audience that his story will follow an outsider: the protagonist. The significance of high-angle shots, in all films, is to devalue the subject of the shot. For instance, if a director wishes to show a protagonist after the antagonist has defeated him for the first time, he can show that character from a high-angle lying on the ground, overcome and overwhelmed. The effect of the high-angle shot in the beginning of Modern Times serves the purpose of minimizing the role of the factory workers in society, just as the high-angle shot could be said to treat the sheep as animals—beings that have no need for minds or discernible skills. Obviously, a diminished view of workers—the proletariat—cannot be considered to consistent with a truly Marxist perspective. In the opening scene, the manager of a plant orders everyone to work on the assembly line. The people working the line are portrayed as being more like robots than human beings; to the Tramp, in particular, motions are automatic and motorized. The line depicted is an obvious reference to that of Henry Ford who—in the midst of growing competition—was forced to speed up the rate of his line’s outputs. The depiction of the line in the film makes it apparent that such work—with its unnaturally mechanistic motions—is inconsistent with the organic movement of human life, and is psychologically destructive, as the shot of the manager devouring pills illustrates. Thus, Chaplin contradicts Marxist views of the Bourgeoisie as a class of individuals surviving through exploitation and living in luxury on the backs of the workers; indeed, nobody was safe from suffering during the Depression. When the Tramp takes a break in the bathroom, the manager on a Big Brother television monitor orders him back to work. In the interest of production, it seems, the manager would rather have the employees never take breaks at all. This is demonstrated nicely when the manager is offered a device which can effectively feed the employees working on the lines automatically, and thus eliminate the need for breaks altogether—and dehumanize them further. The fact that the machine turns out to be nonfunctional is unimportant: the mere attempt by the company to automate and regulate the most basic activities of their employees shows what the drive for efficiency motivates the managers of companies to do. What makes it even more significant is the fact that the company is automating food consumption, at a time when, of course, food was an extremely precious commodity for unemployed individuals standing in bread and soup lines. What this leaves the audience to infer is that the managers possess a valuable product, and instead of charitably sharing it with those in need, they squander it while trying to use it as yet another factor of production. After lunch, the Tramp continues his work. Only this time, the work has completely taken over his mind. With machine-like commitment, he does everything he can to fulfill his assigned function on the line, even diving into the chute that takes him into the belly of the plant. And even while in the belly, trapped between massive gears, he remains tightening bolts that surround him, and there we see the smallness of the individual in comparison with the machine, as well as the harmful psychological effects of his labor. These mental harms culminate in the Tramp’s committal to a mental institution. But, once out, the Tramp’s attempts to help a driver by returning a flag only land him in jail, which can be interpreted as the effects of an industrial society in turmoil, where each man has to look out for himself and cannot afford to help others before himself. The Tramp’s nonconformity to this fraught standard that consumed the United States during the Depression could only result in more imprisonment and ill-treatment. So, the question becomes: how did Chaplin’s ideology play into the production of one of his greatest films, Modern Times? First, however, we may better be served by asking: what was Chaplin’s ideology? Chaplin once said, “I am an artist, not a politician.” Indeed, but during a trip to Germany, he received an audience from a large crowd of unemployed Germans decrying their economic system; later, Chaplin would tell a Leftist British newspaper that he felt “deep sympathy with the communist cause”. But what was the nature of this “deep sympathy”? Chaplin said, “The communists are no different from anyone else… When [the Communist mother] receives the tragic news that her sons will not return, she weeps as other mothers weep” (Gerstein). Nonetheless, this does not sound like a clear, decisive declaration of support for communists, but rather a clear, decisive declaration of support for human life, regardless of political, national, and ethnic borders. One need not possess radical political views to value human life and the potential for goodness in all men and women; and this is the symbolic content of Modern Times. This is the view that as deplorable as things may become in times of tumult and misery, all human beings are inherently valuable, there is always hope for those who are willing to work to succeed, and mankind’s spirit will prevail. We see this with the Tramp, trying to help the driver of the truck who lost his warning flag, but only to be accused of being a member of a group coincidentally marching at the same time. “My prodigious sin was and still is,” he said upon not being allowed to come back to the U.S., “being a non-conformist. Although I am not a communist, I refused to fall in line by hating them” (Gerstein). This is what all people should see when watching Modern Times: not an outright condemnation of capitalism, but a promotion of man’s mind. That is, contra Marxist materialism—wherein the Tramp’s mind would be deemed meaningless—Chaplin’s film contrasts the mindless factory worker to the empathetic man who encourages the Gamin to keep trying and keep smiling—to keep that vibrant spirit alive, and not give up, despite the tragedy which befalls her. Although we see the Tramp suffering, tightening bolts in a factory, this should be read only as a criticism of the factory system itself—a system dehumanizing man in both mind and body. Charlie Chaplin at no time expressed explicit opposition to capitalism, and most certainly does not in Modern Times. As the text at the beginning of the film says, Modern Times is a story of “individual enterprise” and the pursuit of happiness—two things which are most fundamentally antithetical to Leftist politics. One should not reduce this magnificent film to a piece of satire or vilification, but view it firstly as a piece of slapstick comedy, and secondly, as a testament to the spirit that moves America. Works Cited Chaplin, C. (Director). (1936). Modern Times [Motion Picture]. Gerstein, D. (2000, July 2). Charlie Chaplin. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from Simply Steve: http://www.the-old-sea-dog.net/d11.html Read More