Gov't 490 review

Faredoon Lam
Govt 490
Char Miller
July 12, 2009


Modern Times


Technology, the savior of man or the fall of our civilization? Many people consider technology, to benefit the human race, and to generally make our lives better. Most of the time this is true however I intend to prove it is not always the case. If technology is over exerted and not monitored, it could seriously have a negative effect on people. As an example, I will discuss the film modern times, and show how “new age” technology can back fire and cause serious problems.
As the movie begins, the first thing you notice, or that should be pointed out is the busy streets, with automobiles driving by, providing people who seem like they are in a rush, the means to travel faster. This is important because this concept of “faster” is the main piece of this puzzle. The workers all arrive, to this power electric plant, which represents a solid piece of new age technology of the time. They cut to the president of the company and as they show him, you notice he has a large projection screen behind him, allowing him to view any area of the plant. This is the second reference of speed. The cameras that view the plant, all are connected back to him, thus allowing him to command any worker, and fix any problem much faster, without “lag” time.
Upon his review of the factory, he orders a worker to increase production. Increase the speed of assembly on lane 5. Now at this factory, everyone is given a single task and they perform that task over and over as the item passes on conveyer belt. When the president orders the speed to increase, the belt is sped up, thus causing the workers to work faster, produce more, and go, go, go. As speed increases the main character can not cope with the increased speed and starts to miss items on the belt, causing others to have to stop and thus overall slowing the process. This is the first and perhaps the smallest flaw with this technology. As the worker requests a break, he clearly is affected by the increase speed and starts to show physical side effects, such as twitching. Even when he tries to calm down and goes into the bathroom for a smoke, the president using the new technology of the video cameras see him, and orders him back to work.
Technology issues only increase from here, as lunch time rolls around. A sales man and his team are pitching the idea of a new machine to the president, this brand new piece of technology that will increase productivity and make production go up; making things “faster”. This is portrayed beautifully because the sales person doesn’t even speak. His technology speaks for him, from a pre-recorded voice on a large computer, or stereo.
The new machine promises to speed up lunches allowing workers to continue working while eating lunch. Our main character is selected and this new technology is tested on him. Please keep in mind this is the same guy, who was twitching earlier, due to, to much stress from all this “speed”. As the testers hook the machine up to him, on the assembly line, they begin to see if their product works. At first it does just fine, delivering soup, wiping his face and feeding him chucks of beef on a plate. Then technology fails, and the machine malfunctions. It speeds up the corn, making it impossible to eat, pours soup all over him, and hits him in the face with the pie desert. This poor guy loses it. After lunch is over and they are back on the assembly line, the boss demands more speed, go faster he commands. This was the last straw. Our main character finally snaps and gets dragged on the conveyer belt with his ratchets and gets spun around the gears. When he is pulled out, he goes crazy and begins to ratchet people, attacking them with his tools.
This eventually leads to him, chasing a poor lady, who had on a dress with two large buttons, which the worker who had gone mad tried to tighten. He gets chased by a cop back into the factory and starts causing a mess; flipping switches and pulling levers. At this point he has gone completely mad. All this “speed” and technology has driven him crazy. He runs through the factory spraying people with oil, until he is finally captured and put into an automobile and taken to the mental hospital.
Using this as an example to support my thesis, technology can be useful but has to be monitored, and carefully blended with our life, as to not overwhelm us. It can be one of our most beneficial tools, assisting us in our day to day tasks, however if not careful, it will consume us.
Work Used
Modern Times (1936) - Starring, Directed and Produced by: Charlie Chaplin