Most people consider industrialization as a move forward in time because of decreasing necessity of physical labor despite increasing efficiency. Charlie Chaplin's 1936 film Modern Times takes a different stance by portraying industrialization as one of the casual factor of unemployment during the Great Depression.
To begin with, the movie opens with a graphic match between farm animals and factory workers. This aims to show that the workers are living the life of farm animals, which implies unsanitary housing, poor nutrition, and disrespect from those in charge, whether they be farmers or employers. This is further elaborated on when Chaplin is working arduously in the assembly line, where he repeatedly falls behind and gradually begins to loose his mind. Eventually, his condition deteriorates so that the movements of screwing on a bolt become a stereotyped behavior that he is unable to stop during even his lunch break or after he leaves the factory. Consequently, he looses his job and is sent to a mental institution. The efficiency of the machinery is so high that it becomes impossible for an average man like Chaplin to keep up with, making him obsolete to his employer.
After recovering in the mental institution, Chaplin is in search of a new job. As he is leaving the hospital, the film cuts to images of automobiles and throngs of people in an urban setting. Not long afterwards, he is wrongly imprisoned as a communist. Both the hospital and the prison represent an escape from the world of fast-paced machinery and waves of people moving in a purposeful and robotic manner. This is evident in that Chaplin repeatedly attempts to be arrested throughout the film so as to escape the harsh reality of unemployment. Keeping in line with its classification as a comedy, Chaplin ironically portrays a mental institution and a prison as more attractive living options for the protagonist than facing the modern industrialized world in which he is unable to find a job.
Later in the film there is a quick scene of the Gamin's father, "one of the unemployed," sitting in his empty kitchen, clearly concerned about the livelihood of his family. This is an important, although brief, moment in the movie because it deviates from the comedic tone of the film as a whole. Here, we see the serious impact of unemployment on a family, one whom viewers may better relate to. Due to the nature of the Chaplin's loss of employment, as a viewer we can infer that the Gamin's father has likely lost his job due to modernization. Had the father lost his job due to personal vices or lack of professionalism, Chaplin would have included a man drinking, reclined comfortably in a chair. Instead, Chaplin's use of an unadorned man sulking in a wooden chair shows that the man is more concerned than he is relaxed.
Later in the movie, Chaplin finds work at a factory while staying in a rundown shack with the Gamin. The scene begins with a crowd of people outside the factory gates, all waiting to be let in for work. Chaplin has a difficult time learning how to use the new machinery on his first day of work. He accidentally places a co-workers jacket into a machine, destroying a "family heirloom" that was in the pocket. This can be interpreted as the end of older traditions which are being dominated by modern industrialization just as the watch was "ruined" by the machine. Chaplin's co-workers also gets trapped in the machine and despite Chaplin's efforts, he is unable to free his coworker. Defeated and hungry, the co-worker asks Chaplin to feed him his lunch while immobilized in the machine. This clearly illustrates the domination of modernized machinery over human beings.
Chaplin's film represents his perspective on the negative effects of industrialization on unemployment during the great depression. Although he makes some good claims, it is important to note that he uses hyperbole of the workers' conditions for comedic effects. For example, workers are rarely completely immersed in work with new technologies without any prior training or introduction to the methods necessary to attain efficiency. Nevertheless, on a whole, Chaplin's Modern Times rightfully earned its acclaim as a "culturally significant" work as deemed by the Library of Congress because it intelligently highlights some of the key downfalls of industrialization—unemployment being the most significant.
To begin with, the movie opens with a graphic match between farm animals and factory workers. This aims to show that the workers are living the life of farm animals, which implies unsanitary housing, poor nutrition, and disrespect from those in charge, whether they be farmers or employers. This is further elaborated on when Chaplin is working arduously in the assembly line, where he repeatedly falls behind and gradually begins to loose his mind. Eventually, his condition deteriorates so that the movements of screwing on a bolt become a stereotyped behavior that he is unable to stop during even his lunch break or after he leaves the factory. Consequently, he looses his job and is sent to a mental institution. The efficiency of the machinery is so high that it becomes impossible for an average man like Chaplin to keep up with, making him obsolete to his employer.
After recovering in the mental institution, Chaplin is in search of a new job. As he is leaving the hospital, the film cuts to images of automobiles and throngs of people in an urban setting. Not long afterwards, he is wrongly imprisoned as a communist. Both the hospital and the prison represent an escape from the world of fast-paced machinery and waves of people moving in a purposeful and robotic manner. This is evident in that Chaplin repeatedly attempts to be arrested throughout the film so as to escape the harsh reality of unemployment. Keeping in line with its classification as a comedy, Chaplin ironically portrays a mental institution and a prison as more attractive living options for the protagonist than facing the modern industrialized world in which he is unable to find a job.
Later in the film there is a quick scene of the Gamin's father, "one of the unemployed," sitting in his empty kitchen, clearly concerned about the livelihood of his family. This is an important, although brief, moment in the movie because it deviates from the comedic tone of the film as a whole. Here, we see the serious impact of unemployment on a family, one whom viewers may better relate to. Due to the nature of the Chaplin's loss of employment, as a viewer we can infer that the Gamin's father has likely lost his job due to modernization. Had the father lost his job due to personal vices or lack of professionalism, Chaplin would have included a man drinking, reclined comfortably in a chair. Instead, Chaplin's use of an unadorned man sulking in a wooden chair shows that the man is more concerned than he is relaxed.
Later in the movie, Chaplin finds work at a factory while staying in a rundown shack with the Gamin. The scene begins with a crowd of people outside the factory gates, all waiting to be let in for work. Chaplin has a difficult time learning how to use the new machinery on his first day of work. He accidentally places a co-workers jacket into a machine, destroying a "family heirloom" that was in the pocket. This can be interpreted as the end of older traditions which are being dominated by modern industrialization just as the watch was "ruined" by the machine. Chaplin's co-workers also gets trapped in the machine and despite Chaplin's efforts, he is unable to free his coworker. Defeated and hungry, the co-worker asks Chaplin to feed him his lunch while immobilized in the machine. This clearly illustrates the domination of modernized machinery over human beings.
Chaplin's film represents his perspective on the negative effects of industrialization on unemployment during the great depression. Although he makes some good claims, it is important to note that he uses hyperbole of the workers' conditions for comedic effects. For example, workers are rarely completely immersed in work with new technologies without any prior training or introduction to the methods necessary to attain efficiency. Nevertheless, on a whole, Chaplin's Modern Times rightfully earned its acclaim as a "culturally significant" work as deemed by the Library of Congress because it intelligently highlights some of the key downfalls of industrialization—unemployment being the most significant.