GOVT 490 Review: Modern Times

The Meaning of Happiness, Order, and Chaos in Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” Paper # 1 - Movie Review
Ian H.


Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” is a brilliant and hilarious comic depiction of how the fast-paced and strict orderly nature of the modern industrialized world is impacting the lifestyle and behavior of the individual. There are three principles which can be seen in “Modern Times” that are important to keep in mind if one is to understand this classic motion picture: the pursuit of happiness, and chaos and order. Filmed in the mid-1930s during the era of the Great Depression, Charlie Chaplin, who begins the movie as an assembly line worker undergoes phase after phase of attempting to simply fit into modern day society and live an ordinary American life. However, every attempt towards order somehow ends up resulting in a chaotic breakdown, getting him either fired, in jail, or both. “Modern Times” is a great attempt to show and explain how the demand for order and adherence to the “system” of modern society cannot exist without the opportunity for the pursuit of happiness, and unless one is happy, the system ultimately overwhelms the human mind.

“Modern Times” could also very well be interpreted to have more meanings than just the necessity for the pursuit of happiness in order to live in an orderly modern society. It can be safely said that perhaps Chaplin intended to depict the impact the modern day social system on individuality. For example, in the factory, each worker is performing the same redundant task the entire day, being made into robots. That Chaplin could not stop twisting things that looked like nuts after having twisted nuts onto bolts the entire day shows the loss of soul and mind that he experienced, resulting in his nervous breakdown. The significance of the feeding machine could be interpreted to mean that robots simply cannot replace human beings for certain things. When Chaplin is called from his jail cell to meet the Sheriff upon his release from jail, the guards say “bring in number seven,” showing humans as numbers rather than names. “Modern Times” could also be interpreted to show the impact of the hard times of the Great Depression on the working American, hence Chaplin’s excitement for even the most menial jobs, the scene showing sadness of the father of the waterfront girl and her sisters, the robbers in the department store claiming they weren’t robbers but were just trying to eat. It could also be interpreted as a critique of the notion of strict anti-communism when Chaplin finds himself being arrested for accidentally leading a communist demonstration.

In order to understand the main theme of “Modern Times”, it is important to analyze the key scenes in which Chaplin finds himself struggling to cope with the pressures of life in modern society. In the beginning scene of the movie, Chaplin is an unhappy and stressed assembly line worker tightening bolts on metal parts as they move rapidly down a conveyor belt to the next worker. With his mind so focused on tightening these bolts as quick as possible, he eventually messes up, forcing the conveyor belt to stop. Although the belt is stopped, he has been doing the same redundant task for hour upon hour and cannot seem to stop making the same motion and tightening anything resembling a bolt. His reaction to the belt stopping is, in a way, a representation of the redundancy and unhappiness of every day life in the modern world. As I previously stated, “Modern Times” appears to have somewhat of a bias towards the notion that strict adherence to “the system” can only work so far as the individual can find happiness in the system, but with constant unhappiness, the system begins to fall apart. This bias can be observed in the scene where Chaplin is unfortunately selected to be the guinea pig for the new feeding machine brought to the factory. The feeding machine works only for a shot while until it begins to go haywire, but Chaplin unfortunately can’t escape its grasp, swallowing bolts and getting hit with a cleaning pad over and over again. This machine which was designed to improve the factory (the system) ultimately fails miserably. A lunch break represents a short period of happiness during which the workers experience relief – taking that away results in failure of the system (factory and feeding machine). Another great illustration of this bias is the scene where Chaplin, so bewildered and stressed by the chaos caused by the need to conform to such a strict and order-demanding system (the factory), ends up going crazy and undergoes a nervous breakdown, which ultimately results in him getting fired and ending up in jail. (2)

The jail is an important setting in “Modern Times.” To most ordinary people, jail is somewhere where one would not want to end up. However, after some time in jail, Chaplin comes to realize that life in jail is much calmer, less stressful, and not nearly as hectic as life in modern society. Eventually, he gets to like his calm little jail cell and, when being released, asks the Sheriff if he could stay. Throughout the rest of the movie, Chaplin appears to be happy in jail and never passes up a chance to end back in there. This can be seen when he tells the police he stole the loaf of bread when it was in fact the waterfront orphan girl, as well as when goes to the restaurant and upon finishing his meal, attempts to have a police officer pay, gives tobacco to kids, smokes cigars he cannot pay for, and so on. It can also be seen when the police wagon crashes – he tells the girl to escape, but is hesitant to do so himself as well. Chaplin’s willingness to be back in the calm of the jail cell shows his further reinforces the claim that the demand for order (the “system”) ultimately overwhelms the human mind, results in chaos. Even when Chaplin is doing everything he can to do his job right and adhere to the system, he faces stressful situations and ends up causing chaos, such as in the restaurant scene near the end of the movie. He has been given a trial period to work as a waiter in the restaurant, but in an attempt to do the simple task of serving a roast duck to a customer, he ends up getting caught up with a full tray in a crowd of dancing couples on his way to the table. After a chaotic trip around the dance floor, a scolding by his boss, and impaling the roast duck on a chandelier, he finally delivers the food to the angry customer. For a minute, the viewer has the impression that he actually managed to do his job right, but that is short lasted as Chaplin eventually falls over the angry customer’s table. (2) Once again, poor Chaplin trying as hard as he can to adhere to order and do his job right ends up causing chaos.

As I previously stated, happiness and unhappiness are important themes in “Modern Times.” It appears that Chaplin’s goal throughout the movie is to find happiness, and seems to be happy in the realm of chaos – that is, in disorder, living a lifestyle which is anything but ordinary. The waterfront orphan girl is a symbol of the kind of chaos that Chaplin finds happiness in – she is a poor orphan thief who gets arrested just like Chaplin does, who ends up being wanted by the authorities and who simply can’t seem to fit into orderly society. This can be seen on multiple occasions throughout the motion picture. In his jail is the first indication of a place and lifestyle where he appears to be happy. In the scene where he and the waterfront orphan girl are sitting on the curb talking, he mentions something along the lines of “can you imagine us in a little house like that?” The following scene shows how Chaplin would live his ideal life – he is imagining his life in an actual house with the girl, only there are many things that simply do not fit, such as when he gets milk from a random cow in his yard, eats the fruits from the tree near his window, and wipes his hands on the drapes, etc. Another instance where Chaplin is happy is during the scene where he and the girl are playing in the department store while it is closed. Furthermore, Chaplin appears happy again during the scene when the girl has found a shack for her and Chaplin to live in. He is living life in a run down shack near a marsh, however, appears to be happy while he is there. (2)

Throughout the motion picture, Chaplin fails at almost everything he does which does not bring him happiness. He succeeds with the girl because she brings him happiness. It is important to note that the only job where he succeeds is during the ending scene when he must sing for the restaurant crowd but loses his cuff and cannot remember the words to the song. Note how knowing words to a song and singing those words is somewhat of a representation of order, and without adherence to that order, the song is no longer the same. He glances at the girl who tells him he does not need the words (he doesn’t need order). Charlie is now forced to improvise and therefore starts singing a strange combination of French and gibberish (chaos), but to his surprise, the crowd loves it and finds it hilarious. He appears to be very happy immediately after that and for once, his boss congratulates him (2).

Whether Chaplin intended “Modern Times” to represent the importance of the pursuit of happiness in the modern system of orderly society or whether he meant for it to represent something else does not eliminate the messages it delivers. Clearly “Modern Times” does a great job of conveying other meanings, such as the impact of modern society on individuality. As previously stated, there are numerous scenes which suggest that the average person in the modern society is becoming more of a number than a name. The opening scene of the movie shows sheep in their pen then rushing through the gate then blend into a shot of people rushing out of a subway station on their way to work, suggesting that people have become like sheep, with the shepherd being their boss at the factory (1).

One could also make the righteous assumption that “Modern Times” was meant to suggest the hardships of the Great Depression. Such a statement could be backed up by analyzing certain scenes such as the part when the waterfront girl’s unemployed father returns to his shanty apartment sad and looking very depressed. The fact that a few stolen bananas put a smile on his face shows the importance of such small commodities in those hard times. Furthermore, Chaplin’s excitement for every opportunity to work menial low-paying jobs, or to return to the factory which caused him a nervous breakdown, as well as the department store scene where the robbers claim they “ain’t robbers” and are just trying to eat all go to show just how hard times were during the Great Depression and how they were affecting the lives of ordinary people. (3)

However, the number of times that “Modern Times” makes that reference to order versus chaos and the pursuit of happiness are far greater in frequency and scope than its references to the other messages the movie delivers. If this is not the case, than what would be the significance of the orphan waterfront girl in Chaplin’s life? What would the be the significance of the scene where he imagines his life in a nice house with the girl? Why would Chaplin fail in every menial, redundant, industrial job that generally do not bring any sort of happiness to most people, but succeed in the one job which most likely would bring happiness to many – singing? The reference to people being numbers was also seen in jail, when the guard calls for “number seven” to be brought to the Sheriff to be set free, as well as in the factories. This being the case, why would Chaplin be happier in jail than outside of jail? And why would he want to be back in jail throughout the rest of the movie? Most importantly, why would the movie open with the title “Modern Times: a story of industry, of individual enterprise-humanity crusading in the pursuit of happiness”?

Despite Chaplin’s deeper intentions behind the making of “Modern Times,” this masterpiece nevertheless was a success in revealing many truths about the nature of modern orderly society, the pursuit of happiness at the time, the impact of industrialization and technology on the individual, and the hardships of the Great Depression. It was perhaps the greatest motion-picture depiction of how humanity was coping with the transition into a modern, fast-paced, and increasingly technology driven world. In some ways, we are undergoing another somewhat similar transition during the 21st century. At the time of the making “Modern Times,” the industrialized world was in the later stages of the Industrial Age – the industrial revolution had already taken place and much of the world had already or was entering its industrialization phase. During these even faster and more modern times, humanity has already entered the Information Age and has achieved a point where it is not nearly as technologically driven as it is technology dependant. Perhaps the present-day dilemma can be seen in a less comical but nevertheless significant motion picture, Mark Bomback’s “Live Free or Die Hard” starring Bruce Willis. In today’s world, the burden of order has been so heavily placed on the technology we have created that without that technology, chaos would render the world temporarily lost. Or perhaps the present-day dilemma should not be how the world would become if all our computers were to crash, but what it would become if our own technology were to replace humanity, such as in “The Matrix”.