Charlie Chaplin and Modern Times
With industrialization came a whole slew of social, economic, and political problems in America. Migration increased as people from other parts of the world came to the land of the free seeking opportunities. Urban squalor increased as those opportunities were loaded with pitfalls and traps. Machines replaced human labor in many ways, and people without skills often went without work. Most movies in Hollywood at the time focused on providing distractions from all these problems: the silent films of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd did not delve into social commentary on the problem of modernity. But one comic actor of the silent era did produce films that could be called critiques of modern timesin fact, he even starred in a film entitled Modern Times that both lamented modernization and drew attention to class disadvantage.[footnoteRef:2] That actor was Charlie Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin used a light form of humor in filmmaking to aid in government and industrialization satire. Chaplin poked fun through his films regarding how modernization and automation was not best for the average citizen.[footnoteRef:3] Ultimately, Chaplins point of view and concerns over the culture of dehumanizing industries were easily conveyed in a comical but yet truthful manner. [2: Howe Lawrence. Charlie Chaplin in the age of mechanical reproduction: reflexive ambiguity in
Modern Times. College Literature 40, no. 1, (winter 2013), 45.] [3: Faure, Elie. The Art of Charlie Chaplin. New England Review (1990-) 19, no. 2 (spring 1998), 147.]
What set Chaplin apart from others and why did he critique modernity in films like Modern Times? One explanation is that Chaplin recognized the threat to his own career that modernity represented: the first talkie film The Jazz Singer came out in 1936 and threatened to revolutionize cinema.[footnoteRef:4] Chaplin produced silent comedies and was a silent film star. If talkies took over Hollywood, his celebrity and status would be displaced by others. Thus, one reason Chaplin critiqued modernity was that he took it personally as a threat. [4: Howe Lawrence. Charlie Chaplin in the age of mechanical reproduction: reflexive ambiguity in
Modern Times. College Literature 40, no. 1, (winter 2013), 45.]
At the same time, Chaplin was an actor, producer, writer and director, and he knew how to give audiences what they wanted. He saw that jazz was very popular with audiences and had widespread appeal during the Great Depression because it did enliven things and bring joy to peoples lives.[footnoteRef:5] People wanted distraction during a time when so many audiences were downtrodden. It was the Great Depression in America when Chaplin was at his greatest, and he produced light-hearted comedies centered on his tramp personaa destitute, penniless clownish character who was often in over his head facing some predicament but who tended to come out on top in the end. Chaplin also understood how audiences in...
Many people in America had lost jobs, had lost work, had lost homes, had lost loved ones, and were in despair. He knew that one of the big causes of all this loss was the people leading the nation. The barons of industry had put profits before people and it was now hurting
society. As a writer, Chaplin wanted to reflect common peoples own issues in film but in a light manner so that the comedies could still give people some enjoyment and take them out of their
pain for a moment.[footnoteRef:6] [5: Berish, Andrew. Great Depression, the. Grove Music Online. 25 Jul. 2013] [6: Faure, Elie. The Art of Charlie Chaplin. New England Review (1990-) 19, no. 2 (spring 1998), 148.]
Chaplin also saw industry as de-humanizing. He had experienced the fallout of modernization directly in his own life.[footnoteRef:7] His father had abandoned the Chaplin family when Charlie was still young, and this shaped much of his adulthood; Chaplin was always getting into trouble, suffered from depression, and had control issues throughout his career.[footnoteRef:8] At the root of these problems was the lack of a solid and foundational family life. Charlie himself was divorced multiple times, and his own parents were separated. The family unit in his life was unstable, and this was seen as being one of the effects of modernity, in which families were disintegrated and torn apart.[footnoteRef:9] [7: Kuriyama, Constance Brown. Chaplins Impure Comedy: The Art of Survival. Film Quarterly
45, no 3. (spring 1992), 26.] [8: Kuriyama, Constance Brown. Chaplins Impure Comedy: The Art of...
…deal with the world that they had left behind them outside. By applying humor to the situation of modernity, Chaplin was applying a kind of balm. It did not necessarily solve the social, political and
economic problems of modern times, but as a film actor, writer, producer and director he was not really in a position to solve anything. All he could do was reflect the world around him and its struggles in an artistic manneand as a comedian he could do so with humor and light touches to help give people back some joy in their lives.[footnoteRef:17] [17: Faure, Elie. The Art of Charlie Chaplin. New England Review (1990-) 19, no. 2 (spring 1998), 150.]
Chaplins factory scene in Modern Times is really the ultimate expression of his comedic art[footnoteRef:18]: he goes through the gears of the modern machine after being sucked into the machine of the assembly line; he loses his humanity and is pulled out all twisted up on the inside; he is gear crazy, looking for anything to wrench. Then a beautiful woman walks by and he goes even crazier, chasing after her without any self-control. This reaction represents the way women were being devalued and assaulted in the modern world: there was no appreciation for them as human beings but only as objects of lustjust as had most likely happened to his own mother.[footnoteRef:19] But is there any recognition of this in modernity? No, for all modern man can think about is his machines and his libido. Chaplins character is distracted from the beautiful woman by a fire hydrant as it is something he can apply his wrenches to. He then goes about causing chaos everywhere he can. [18: Howe Lawrence. Charlie Chaplin in the age of mechanical reproduction: reflexive ambiguity in
Modern Times. College Literature 40, no. 1, (winter 2013), 49-51.] [19: Weissman, Stephen M. Charlie Chaplins Film Heroines. Film History 8, no. 4 (1996), 439.]
In conclusion, Chaplin saw the modern industrialized world as one causing chaos in the everyday lives of people. His comedy turned the situation around and let him bring chaos to the modern industryas his character does in Modern Times. He ends up wreaking havoc on assembly lines all over town. The…
