CHARLIE CHAPLIN IN THE AGE OF MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION: REFLEXIVE AMBIGUITY IN MODERN TIMES
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Modern Times VLJQDOVDQRWDEOHVKLIWLQWKHFDUHHURI&KDUOLH&KDSOLQ7REH VXUHWKH¿OPUHPDLQVOR\DOWRWKHSUDFWLFHVRIVLOHQWFLQHPDRQZKLFKKHEXLOWKLV success, and it relies, albeit for the last time, on the popularity of Chaplin’s screen persona, the “Tramp,” a loveable outcast victimized by institutional authorities, his own frailties, and plain old dumb luck. But the backstory of Chaplin’s career DQGRIWKHSURGXFWLRQRIWKLV'HSUHVVLRQHUD¿OPFRPSOLFDWHLWVLQWHUSUHWDWLRQ as well as its meaning to American cinema in this crucial period of social and HFRQRPLFWXUPRLO0XFKRIWKHGLFXOW\VXUURXQGLQJModern Times stems from WKHGLYHUVHFRQGLWLRQVRI&KDSOLQ¶VOLIHDQGWKHLULQÀXHQFHRQKLVDUW+LV7UDPS persona, informed by his own impoverished upbringing, represented class disad YDQWDJHWRHOLFLWWKHV\PSDWK\RIDXGLHQFHV$QG\HWV\PSDWKHWLFLGHQWL¿FDWLRQ ZLWKWKH7UDPSZDVSRVVLEOHRQO\LIDXGLHQFHVGLVUHJDUGHGWKHIDFWWKDWRVFUHHQ Chaplin was one of the wealthiest screen celebrities of his day.,QGHHGDVD¿OP PDNHU&KDSOLQZDVWKHDQWLWKHVLVRIWKHEHIXGGOHGLQFRPSHWHQW7UDPS%\ he was unique in his total control over his productions, as actor, screenwriter, GLUHFWRUSURGXFHUFRPSRVHUDQG¿QDOO\FRUSRUDWHHQWLW\%XWZLWKHDFKSDVVLQJ year after the release of 7KH-D]]6LQJHU &KDSOLQZDV LQFUHDVLQJO\DZDUH that the growing demand for talking pictures in the marketplace threatened to PDNHDVLOHQW¿OPVWDUOLNHKLPREVROHWH
In the midst of social upheaval and professional peril, Chaplin attempted in Modern TimesWRUHDVVHUWKLVUHOHYDQFHE\UHSUHVHQWLQJµPDFKLQHDJH¶FXOWXUHDV a profoundly destabilizing condition of contemporary society. His turn toward
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VRFLDOFULWLTXHFRLQFLGHVZLWKWKHHPHUJLQJPDWXULW\RI¿OPDVDQDUWIRUPDQG WKHJURZLQJH[SHFWDWLRQVWKDW¿OPFRXOGDFKLHYHPXFKPRUHWKDQ LWKDGDVD medium of light entertainment. No less a notable public intellectual than Lewis 0XPIRUGUHFRJQL]HGWKHSRWHQWLDORI¿OP)RUKLPLWZDV³DPDMRUDUW´RIZKDW he called “the neotechnic phase” of civilization, the next great development LQ WKH KLVWRU\ RI KXPDQNLQG 0XPIRUG +H VDZ WKH WHFKQRORJLFDO HYROXWLRQ RI VRFLHW\ DQG WKH DUULYDO RI ¿OP DV DQ RSWLPDO SURFHVV RI FXOWXUDO FRQYHUJHQFH)LOPKDVWKHSRZHUWRDGYDQFHWKHQHRWHFKQLFSKDVHKHUHDVRQHG because it epitomizes the cultural role of the machine and thus “symbolizes and expresses, better than do any of the traditional arts, our modern world picture and the essential conceptions of time and space which are already part of the XQIRUPXODWHG H[SHULHQFH RIPLOOLRQV RI SHRSOH WRZKRP(LQVWHLQ RU %RKU RU %HUJVRQ DUH VFDUFHO\ HYHQQDPHV´ 0XPIRUG %XW WKHSURJUHVV portended in Mumford’s theory of cultural history was no fait accompli)RUDOO its wonder, the power of the ‘Machine Age’ threatened to overwhelm society. But if by harnessing the machine, Mumford argued, cinema could integrate “the DUWVWKHPVHOYHVZLWKWKHWRWDOLW\RIRXUOLIHH[SHULHQFH´WKHQVRFLHW\ZRXOGVHOI FRQVFLRXVO\FKHFNWKH³RPQLSRWHQFH´RIWHFKQRORJ\
Radical critics who inclined toward Marxism similarly stressed the social sig QL¿FDQFHRI¿OPUDWKHUWKDQLWVHQWHUWDLQPHQWYDOXHDQGWZRDPRQJWKHPVLQ gled out Chaplin for criticism. Harry Alan Potamkin complained that Chaplin indulged in “maudlin pathos,” and Lorenzo Rozas attacked him as “an accomplice WRFDSLWDOLVP´LQKLVSUHModern Times ¿OPV0DODQG7KLVFULWLFLVP goaded Chaplin into thinking about modern society and the opportunities for ¿OP WR DGGUHVV LVVXHVRI LPSRUWDQFH'XULQJKLVZRUOG WRXU LQ WRSUR mote the release of City LightsWKHÀDWWHULQJDWWHQWLRQKHUHFHLYHGIURPSROLWLFDO and intellectual dignitaries, with whom he readily shared his views on politics and economics, burnished his standing not simply as a celebrity but as a man of FRQVHTXHQFHDQGEROVWHUHGKLVFRQ¿GHQFHLQFRPPHQWLQJXSRQVHULRXVPDWWHUV )RUH[DPSOHZLWK$OEHUW(LQVWHLQKHGLVFXVVHGWKHQHHGWRUHOLHYHZRUNHUVRI excessive hours, which occasioned the physicist famously to remark, “You’re not a comedian, you’re an economist.” With Gandhi, Chaplin disagreed about the QHJDWLYHLQÀXHQFHRIPDFKLQHWHFKQRORJ\GHIHQGLQJLWDVDODERUVDYLQJDGYDQFH PHQW0DODQG+LVDOWHUQDWLQJV\PSDWK\IRUZRUNHUVDQGKLVGHIHQVHRI WHFKQRORJ\LQWKHVHKLJKSUR¿OHH[FKDQJHVSURYLGHDJOLPSVHLQWRWKHDPELJXLW\ that infuses Modern Times.
On the same tour, Chaplin also came into contact with popular audiences, and he readily associated the outpouring of public admiration from crowds of adoring IDQVZLWKWKHVXHULQJRIWKHPDVVHV3 $OWKRXJKÀDWWHULQJWKLVIDQDGXODWLRQDOVR imposed an emotional burden about which he wrote to Thomas Burke: “When WKRVHFURZGVFRPHURXQGPHOLNHWKDWVZHHWDVLWLVWRPHSHUVRQDOO\LWPDNHV me sick spiritually, because I know what’s behind it. Such drabness, such ugli ness, such utter misery, that simply because someone makes ’em laugh and helps ¶HPWRIRUJHWWKH\DVN*RGWREOHVVKLP´5RELQVRQ$OWKRXJKKHGLG
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not associate the misery he inferred from the crowds with industrial technology, an early experience working as a printer’s devil helped to make the connection between technology and the plight of workers that becomes central to Modern Times+HUHFDOOHGEHLQJKRUUL¿HGE\WKHHQRUPRXVSULQWLQJPDFKLQHLQVWLOOLQJ LQKLPDNLQGRIDZHDQGIHDURIEHLQJGHYRXUHGE\LW0F&DEH7KLV SHUVRQDOH[SHULHQFHPDGHDQDFFRXQWRI)RUG¶VDVVHPEO\OLQHV\VWHPUHFROOHFWHG in Chaplin’s autobiography, all the more compelling to him. In his own words, LWZDV³DKDUURZLQJVWRU\RIELJLQGXVWU\OXULQJKHDOWK\\RXQJPHQRWKHIDUPV ZKRDIWHUIRXURU¿YH\HDUVDWWKHEHOWV\VWHPEHFDPHQHUYRXVZUHFNV´&KDSOLQ ,QWKLVUHFROOHFWLRQZHFDQGHWHFWDGLUHFWLQÀXHQFHRQWKH7UDPS¶V factory experience in Modern Times.
6WLOO GHVSLWH WKLV MDXQGLFHG YLHZRI WHFKQRORJ\&KDSOLQ¶V RZQ VXFFHVVZDV DFKLHYHG LQ DQ DUW IRUPGH¿QHG E\ WHFKQRORJ\$V KH EHJDQZRUNRQModern Times, more inclined than ever before to charge his art with a social critique WDUJHWLQJWKHLQGXVWULDOLGHRORJ\WKDWLQIRUPHGWZHQWLHWKFHQWXU\OLIHWKH¿OP¶V political thesis became somewhat tangled in ambiguity, equivocating between the terms of its own technological production and its production of a critique of technology. Noting Chaplin’s ambivalence is, of course, not a new idea, but KHUHWRIRUH &KDSOLQ¶V FRQÀLFWHG IHHOLQJV KDYH EHHQ DWWULEXWHG SULPDULO\ WR KLV struggle to combine entertainment and didacticism. However, the ambivalence in Modern Times,ZLOODUJXHLVVSHFL¿FDOO\FRQGLWLRQHGE\&KDSOLQ¶VFRQÀLFWHG UHODWLRQVKLSZLWKWHFKQRORJ\ERWKLQVRFLHW\DQGLQDUW7KH¿OP¶VGUDPDWL]DWLRQ of this tension shows how Chaplin’s political critique of technology confronts his artistic investment inWHFKQRORJ\LQZD\VWKDWDOVRDHFWWKHSROLWLFVRI¿OP reception. The collision between his evolving interest in social themes and his own exercise of power as the impresario of cinematic production produce a com plexity and an unevenness that suggest both Chaplin’s lack of control over the narrative’s multiple meanings and his inability to fully comprehend them. Ironi FDOO\ WKHVHFLQHPDWLFGLFXOWLHVPDUNWKH¿OPDVDJDXJHRI LWVHUD&KDSOLQ¶V VWUXJJOHZLWKWKH¿OPDQGWKH7UDPS¶VFRQWLQXHGIDLOXUHVZLWKLQWKHQDUUDWLYH UHÀHFWWKHZD\V LQZKLFKWKH LQWUDFWDELOLW\RIWKH*UHDW'HSUHVVLRQSHUSOH[HG the economists, bureaucrats, and ordinary citizens who grappled with the vicis situdes of capitalism.
,QWKLVHVVD\,ZLOOH[DPLQHWKH¿OP¶VRZQDPELJXRXVVWDQFHWRZDUGLWVVRFLDO FULWLTXHDQGVKRZKRZWKH¿OP¶VXQXVXDOGRXEOHUHÀH[LYLW\JHQHUDWHVWKLVDPEL JXLW\&XWWLQJERWKZD\VWKHUHÀH[LYLW\ LQModern Times suggests allegories of ¿OPSURGXFWLRQRQWKHRQHKDQGDQGDOOHJRULHVRIVSHFWDWRUVKLSRQWKHRWKHU *RLQJEH\RQGSXUHO\FLQHPDWLFWHUPV,ZLOODUJXHWKDWWKLVGRXEOHUHÀH[LYLW\ derives from the tension in Chaplin’s attitudes about technological change in society and the technological basis of art, and highlights parallels between his GLOHPPDDQGWKHHTXLYRFDOFXOWXUDODWWLWXGHVWRZDUGWKHLQÀXHQFHRILQGXVWULDO technology on economics, politics, and aesthetics.
7KH¿OP¶VUHÀH[LYHDOOHJRULHVRISURGXFWLRQUHJLVWHUERWK&KDSOLQ¶VIDVFLQD WLRQZLWK¿OP WHFKQRORJ\ DQGKLV DQWDJRQLVP WRZDUG LQVWLWXWLRQDO DXWKRULWLHV
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W\SLFDOO\LGHQWL¿HGZLWKWKHFRQWURORIWHFKQRORJ\7KLVDQWDJRQLVPOHGKLPWR FRQÀDWHWKHRSSUHVVLYHFRQWURORIWKH+ROO\ZRRGFRUSRUDWHVWUXFWXUHZLWKKLHU DUFKLFDOFRQWURORI)RUGLVWLQGXVWULDOLVP&RQYHUVHO\WKH¿OP¶VUHÀH[LYHDOOHJR ries of consumption signal Chaplin’s anxieties about his ability to continue to satisfy the demands of his audience, but they also tap into widespread anxiety about the collapse of industrial society and its inability to satisfy the needs of its consumers. By acknowledging production and consumption as dynamic pro FHVVHV WKH ¿OP¶V UHFLSURFDO UHÀH[LYLW\ HQULFKHV LWV UHSUHVHQWDWLRQ RI FODVV DQG WHFKQRORJLFDO DQ[LHW\ DQG WKXV UHÀHFWV WKH FRQÀLFWV RI WKH FXOWXUH ,Q RWKHU ZRUGVEHFDXVHWKH¿OP¶VUHÀH[LYLW\RSHUDWHVLQWZRGLUHFWLRQVLWFRPPHQWVRQ WKHG\QDPLFVRFLDOUHODWLRQVKLSEHWZHHQSURGXFWLRQDQGFRQVXPSWLRQRIVXS SO\DQGGHPDQGWKDWZDVFHQWUDOWRERWKWKHH[SHULHQFHRIDQGWKHDWWHPSWVWR XQGHUVWDQGWKH*UHDW'HSUHVVLRQ(TXDOO\WKH¿OP¶VVRFLDOFULWLTXHWXUQVLQZDUG RQLWVHOIDVD+ROO\ZRRGFRPPHUFLDO¿OPModern Times epitomizes the comple mentary relationship between production and consumption both as a critique of technological culture and a commodity produced by it.
THE TRAMP IN THE MACHINE
Modern TimesVLJQDOVLWVFRQÀLFWVIURPWKHRXWVHW,WVRSWLPLVWLFVHOIGHVFULSWLRQ ³$VWRU\RILQGXVWU\RILQGLYLGXDOHQWHUSULVHKXPDQLW\FUXVDGLQJLQWKHSXUVXLW RIKDSSLQHVV´FODVKHVZLWKDMDUULQJO\RPLQRXVIDQIDUHRIGLVFRUGDQWKRUQV7KH opening montage that follows carries the disquieting mood forward in the open LQJLPDJHVDODUJHFORFNGLVVROYLQJ¿UVWWRDKHUGRIVKHHSDQGWKHQWRDWKURQJRI people as they emerge from the subway on their way to work in a large urban fac WRU\DOOSXQFWXDWHGZLWKWKHUK\WKPLFDOO\WHQVHPLQRUNH\VRXQGWUDFNSHULRGL cally shifting to ascending modulations that increase the intensity. This opening PRQWDJHUHÀHFWVDNLQVKLSLQWHFKQLTXHDQGFRQWHQWZLWK)ULW]/DQJ¶VMetropolis ZKLFK IUDPHG WKHRSSUHVVLYH FRQGLWLRQVRI LQGXVWULDO ODERU VLPLODUO\ DV ZHOODVZLWKWKHSURMHFWLRQRIGDLO\URXWLQHVLQ']LJD9HUWRY¶VMan with a Movie CameraDOWKRXJKZLWKQRQHRIWKHFHOHEUDWRU\SOD\IXOQHVVRI9HUWRY¶V¿OP Inside the factory, Chaplin’s set also recalls Henry Adams’s awestruck descrip WLRQRIWKHJUHDWKDOORIG\QDPRVDWWKH3DULV([SRVLWLRQLQ7KHODUJHKXP ming turbines, oversized switches, valves, and gauges convey the importance of $PHULFDQ LQGXVWULDO SRZHU MXVW DV IRU$GDPV ³WKH G\QDPR EHFDPH D V\PERO RI LQ¿QLW\ +RZHYHU UDWKHU WKDQ HYRNLQJ$GDPV¶V VXEOLPHSHUFHSWLRQRI WKH ³IRUW\IRRWG\QDPRDVDPRUDOIRUFHPXFKDVWKHHDUO\&KULVWLDQVIHOWWKH&URVV´ $GDPVRUWKHPHQDFLQJSRZHUFRQYH\HGE\/DQJ¶V+HDUW0DFKLQHLQ Metropolis, Chaplin’s gleaming factory is rather quickly converted into the arena RIFRPHG\:KHQWKH¿OPIRFXVHVRQWKH7UDPSWLJKWHQLQJDQHYHUHQGLQJVHULHV RIEROWVRQDQDVVHPEO\OLQHWKHYLHZHULQVWDQWO\UHFRJQL]HVWKHLFRQLF¿JXUHDV an agent of humor. Still, as the awkwardly vulnerable Tramp struggles to keep up with the pace of the assembly line and exhibits the stress imposed by a repeti
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tive and accelerating work routine, Chaplin makes clear that he has enlisted the Tramp in order to engage with the pitched debates of the era.
(YHQEHIRUHWKH'HSUHVVLRQLQGXVWULDOZRUNHUVKDGJURZQLQFUHDVLQJO\DQ[ LRXVMXVWL¿DEO\IHDULQJWKDWWKH\ZRXOGORVHHLWKHUWKHLUMREVWRDXWRPDWLRQRU if fortunate enough to remain employed, their identities as an impersonal, cor porate bureaucracy threatened to turn men into automata. In taking up these contemporary concerns from the outset, Modern Times RHUVDSHUVSHFWLYHPLVV LQJIURPWKHPRUHXQLODWHUDOFXOWXUDOKLVWRU\RILQGXVWULDOL]DWLRQRHUHGE\&HFL lia Ticchi in Shifting Gears 7LFFKLSRLQWV WR WKH LQFUHDVLQJ IUHTXHQF\RI mechanized imagery and the prevalence of the American engineer as hero in WKHDUWDQGOLWHUDWXUHRIWKLVSHULRGDVDQH[SUHVVLRQRIFRQ¿GHQFHLQWHFKQRORJ\ DQGLQWKHDELOLW\RIWKHHQJLQHHUWRUHVKDSHWKHZRUOGLQSRVLWLYHZD\V7KH presidential election of Herbert Hoover, himself an engineer, shows the degree to which the culture had come to identify the profession with expert management. But the Wall Street Crash only eight months after Hoover’s inauguration and the economic decline that he oversaw throughout his single term in the White House shook the culture’s faith in the engineer’s competence.
The notion that unbridled technology was the solution to modern problems retained some currency even in the midst of the Depression, as summed up in WKHLQGXVWULDOERRVWHULVPRIWKHPRWWRRIWKH&HQWXU\RI3URJUHVV([SRVLWLRQ LQ&KLFDJR³6FLHQFH)LQGV,QGXVWU\$SSOLHV0DQ&RQIRUPV´2FLDO*XLGHERRN +RZDUG6FRWWWKHIRXQGHURIWKH7HFKQRFUDF\PRYHPHQWH[SUHVVHGVWLOO JUHDWHUXWRSLDQFRQ¿GHQFHLQKLVDUWLFOH³$5HQGH]YRXV:LWK'HVWLQ\ SXEOLVKHG LQDLVVXHRIAmerican Engineer. Articulating the messianic vision of the move ment, Scott zealously preached about the promise of technology in leading civi OL]DWLRQRXWRIWKH'HSUHVVLRQ7HFKQRORJLFDOO\XSGDWLQJWKHQLQHWHHQWKFHQWXU\ theme of Manifest Destiny, he declared, “God is good and God is kind. God SURYLGHGWKLV&RQWLQHQWZLWKWKHJUHDWHVWQDWXUDOUHVRXUFHV´6FRWW)XU ther, he warned that governments that interfered with the march of technology and the economics of abundance were obstacles that must be remedied radically. They “will be compelled in spite of their reluctance to meet this epochal issue in WKHPDUFKRIFLYLOL]DWLRQDQLVVXHWKDWKDVEXWRQHSRVVLEOHHQGLQJWKHGHIHDW and abolition of every political government on the Continent of North America” 6FRWW7 But boosterism for technological progress omits half of the story. &KDSOLQ¶VSRUWUDLWVRIWKH(OHFWUR6WHHOSUHVLGHQW$OODQ*DUFLDWKHLPSUDFWLFDO LQYHQWRURIWKH%LOORZVIHHGLQJPDFKLQH0XUGRFN0DF4XDUULHDQGWKHHQJL QHHUWUDSSHGLQWKHLGOHPDFKLQHU\RIDGHFRPPLVVLRQHGIDFWRU\2VFDU&RQNOLQ UHÀHFWDFRXQWHUYDLOLQJSHVVLPLVWLFDWWLWXGHWRZDUGWHFKQRORJ\DQGLWVPDVWHUV
8QVHWWOLQJ VLJQV WKDW WHFKQRORJ\ ZDV QRW \LHOGLQJ HYHULQFUHDVLQJ SURVSHU LW\ZHUHOHJLEOHHYHQEHIRUHWKH&UDVK&RQ¿GHQFHLQWHFKQRORJ\SHDNHGLQWKH PLGV DQG WKHQ ZDQHG MXVW DV TXLFNO\ EHIRUH ERWWRPLQJ RXW E\ WKH HDUO\ VZKHQ³WHFKQRORJLFDOXQHPSOR\PHQW´ZDVJHQHUDOO\VHHQDVDFRQVHTXHQFH of unchecked optimism.:ULWLQJLQRQHFRPPHQWDWRULQFortune magazine WUDFHGWKHFULVLVWRDQHYHQHDUOLHUSRLQWFLWLQJDVWKH\HDUZKHQWHFKQRORJLFDO
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innovation began to increase productivity sharply, leading to a spike in techno ORJLFDOHPSOR\PHQWE\(YHQLIRQHZHUHIRUWXQDWHHQRXJKWREHHPSOR\HG industrial practices, as the anonymous writer notes, had “replaced man perma nently as a source of energy and . . . installed him in a new and limitable function DVDWHQGHURIPDFKLQHV´³2EVROHWH0HQ´,QRWKHUZRUGVLQGXVWULDOL]D tion was rendering workers into what the title of the article calls “Obsolete Men.”
6XUSULVLQJO\ 7LFFKL¶V KLVWRULFDO DFFRXQW DOVR RPLWV WKH LQÀXHQFH RI ¿OP Writers and painters may have adapted engineering concepts as metaphors of their practices, as Ticchi notes, or become enthralled with images of industrial machinery or engineering marvels like the Brooklyn Bridge as a kind of homage WR WKH WHFKQRORJLFDO GLUHFWLRQ RI WKH FXOWXUH EXW ¿OPPDNHUVZHUH WKH DUWLVWV ZKRVHFUDIWPRVWGLUHFWO\SDUWLFLSDWHG LQ WKH µPDFKLQHDJH¶HWKRV&LQHPDDQ art form utilizing numerous technologies, transformed conceptions of art and the role of the artist in ways that eluded traditional forms of representation.9 7KHH[SRQHQWLDOO\H[SDQGLQJFXOWXUDOLQÀXHQFHRIFLQHPDLQWKLVHUDPDGH¿OP a medium uniquely poised to address the issues in this public debate. Thomas (GLVRQWKHSLRQHHURIFLQHPDLQWKH8QLWHG6WDWHVZKRSHUVRQL¿HGWKHSURPLVH RIHQJLQHHULQJUHFRJQL]HGWKLVHPHUJLQJLPSRUWDQFHRI¿OP+HDVVHUWHGKLVIHU YHQWFRQ¿GHQFHLQLWVSRWHQWLDOIRUHGXFDWLRQEHFDXVHWKHLPPHGLDF\RILPDJHV to stimulate cognition, he believed, outstripped the ability of text to impart information and provide instruction. Although his company produced many attractions for the Kinetoscope and the Vitascope, KHFRQVLGHUHG¿OP¶VXVHIRU entertainment as a very low purpose, far short of its potential.
9LUWXDOO\LQWDQGHPZLWKWKHHPHUJLQJSUHVWLJHRI(GLVRQ)UHGHULFN:LQVORZ 7D\ORULQWURGXFHGWKHSKLORVRSK\RI$PHULFDQLQGXVWULDOHFLHQF\WKURXJKKLV H[WUHPHO\LQÀXHQWLDO7KH3ULQFLSOHVRI6FLHQWLÀF0DQDJHPHQW7LFFKLDFNQRZO edges the role of Taylor, who has been widely recognized by cultural critics and KLVWRULDQVIRUKLVLPSDFWRQDEURDGUDQJHRIHDUO\WZHQWLHWKFHQWXU\SUDFWLFHV %XWZKDWKDVEHHQLJQRUHGZLWKUHVSHFWWR¿OPLVWKDW7D\ORU¶V LPPHGLDWHVXF FHVVRUVLQWKH¿HOGDSSOLHGKLVSULQFLSOHVYLDPRWLRQSLFWXUHWHFKQRORJ\,QVWHDG of simply observing the movements of workers when performing occupational WDVNV WKH VHFRQG JHQHUDWLRQ RI 7D\ORULWHV ¿OPHGZRUNHUV LQ RUGHU WR DQDO\]H PRUHFDUHIXOO\WKHVWHSVRIODERUDQGGHYLVHPRUHHFLHQWVROXWLRQV$VHDUO\DV D WH[WERRN IRU VFLHQWL¿FDQDO\VLVRI LQGXVWULDOSURFHVVHVTime and Motion Study, included a chapter on “Taking Motion Pictures for Motion Study,” in ZKLFKHTXLSPHQWOLJKWLQJVFKHPHVDQGFDPHUDWHFKQLTXHVDUHGHWDLOHG/RZU\ 0D\QDUGDQG6WHJHPHUWHQ$VXEVHTXHQWFKDSWHURQ³)LOP$QDO\VLV3UR FHGXUHV´PHWKRGLFDOO\H[SODLQVKRZWKHDQDO\VWVKRXOGHFLHQWO\XVHWKHLURZQ ¿OPVWXG\ZRUNVWDWLRQWRPD[LPL]HWKHHHFWLYHQHVVRIWKHDQDO\VLVRIDIDFWRU\ ZRUNVWDWLRQ7KXV¿OPWHFKQRORJ\LWVHOIZDVUHDFKLQJLQWRRWKHUDUHQDVOHQGLQJ FUHGHQFHWR(GLVRQ¶VH[SHFWDWLRQV
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early success of American cinema. And in Modern Times the Tramp combines the medium’s ability to entertain with its ability to challenge audiences to think. Although we cannot be sure that Chaplin was targeting Taylorism in the iconic factory sequence in Modern Times, the Tramp’s shortcomings in that work envi URQPHQWFRUUHVSRQGVWULNLQJO\WRWKHGH¿FLHQFLHVRIWKH³SRRU´ZRUNHUGHVFULEHG in Time and Motion Study:
:KHUHWKHVNLOORIDQRSHUDWRULVFRQVLGHUHGWREHSRRUDIWHUKHKDVKDGVXFLHQW WLPHWROHDUQWKHMRELWZLOOJHQHUDOO\EHIRXQGWKDWKHLVDPLVÀWWKHVRFDOOHGVTXDUH peg in the round hole. He knows what to do but does not seem able to do it with ease. His movements are clumsy and awkward. His mind and his hands do not seem to coordinate. /RZU\0D\QDUGDQG6WHJHPHUWHQHPSKDVLVDGGHG
,QFRQWUDVWWR7D\ORULVP¶VP\RSLFHPSKDVLVRQFRPSHWHQWHFLHQF\&KDSOLQ¶V ¿OPEXLOWDURXQGD ³PLV¿W´SHUVRQDRXWPDWFKHGE\ WKHGHPDQGVRIPRGHUQ VRFLHW\HYRNHG KXPRU VHQWLPHQW DQG URPDQFH LQ RUGHU WR HQWHUWDLQ and to question the expert wisdom about the technological direction of society.
The three distinct segments in the factory episode displace the emphasis on RXWSXW DQG LQVWHDG VWUHVV WKH FRQQHFWLRQ EHWZHHQ WKH GHWULPHQWDO HHFWV RI machine technology on workers and the class hierarchy that separates capital IURPODERU$WWKHKHDGRI(OHFWUR6WHHO&RUSWKHSUHVLGHQWVLWVLGO\LQKLVTXLHW VSDFLRXVRFHRFFDVLRQDOO\LQWHUUXSWLQJKLVFRQWHPSODWLRQRIDMLJVDZSX]]OHRU his reading of newspaper comics to supervise his facility on a large screen. On WKH IDFWRU\ÀRRUZH¿QG WKHERVV¶V ODERULQJFRXQWHUSDUW WKH7UDPS LQFUHDV ingly harassed by the repetitive motion of his task, the periodic acceleration of the assembly line ordered by the boss, and the hostile criticism from his foreman DQGFRZRUNHUVIXUWKHUGRZQWKHOLQH6HHNLQJUHIXJHIURPWKHKHFWLFSDFHWKH Tramp takes an unauthorized cigarette break in the workers’ bathroom, where WKHIUHQHWLFDOO\SHUFXVVLYHVFRUHLQWKHDVVHPEO\OLQHVFHQHJLYHVZD\WRDVRRWK ing soundtrack of lush legato strings. But the comfort of his languorous solitude is abruptly punctured when the video surveillance of the factory boss intrudes. 'HVSLWHWKHFRPLFVXUSULVHRIWKHHQODUJHGFORVHXSRIWKHZHOOGUHVVHGJORZHU LQJWDONLQJKHDGPD[LPL]HGE\WKHVRXQGRIKLVYRLFHLQV\QFKZLWKKLVLPDJH RUGHULQJWKH7UDPSWR³4XLWVWDOOLQJJHWEDFNWRZRUN´DQGWKHVWDUWOHGGHIHQ sive reaction of the comparatively diminutive Tramp at being discovered, this brief confrontation comments on the regimented duress of factory labor. The boss’s distrust of the worker echoes Taylor’s condemnation of “soldiering,” the deliberate slowing down of work output, which, according to Taylor, “constitutes WKHJUHDWHVWHYLOZLWKZKLFKWKHZRUNLQJSHRSOHDUHQRZDLFWHG´7D\ORU ,QGHHGWKHERVV¶VVXSHUYLVLRQRIDOODVSHFWVRIKLVFRPSDQ\LVQRWVRPXFKD version of Taylorism as a modernization of Bentham’s panopticon, blurring the GLHUHQFHEHWZHHQIDFWRU\DQGSULVRQDVZHOODVDQWLFLSDWLQJWKHVFUXWLQ\WKDW distinguishes Orwell’s 1LQHWHHQ(LJKW\)RXU. In the Tramp’s unauthorized smoke EUHDN&KDSOLQPD[LPL]HVWKHSROLWLFDODQGFLQHPDWLFHHFWV7KHIDFWRU\RZQHU not only oversees his workers through technological surveillance but also appears PDJQL¿HGDVDQRPQLSUHVHQWSRZHUWKURXJKKLVLPDJHRQWKHVFUHHQ
COLLEGE LITERATURE | :LQWHU
Lunch break at the factory provides the Tramp his only sanctioned oppor WXQLW\ IRU UHOLHI HYHQ LI WKH UHVLGXDO HHFWVRI UHSHWLWLYHPDFKLQH ODERU OLQJHU GXULQJKLVKLDWXVIURPWKHVWUHVVIXOURXWLQH7KH7UDPS¶VUHVSLWHLVVKRUWOLYHG however, once he is chosen as the guinea pig on whom to test the wonders of the Billows feeding machine, a contraption that abuses him no less than the assembly line’s unrelenting pace. The absurdity of utilizing a machine to perform one of the most fundamental of organic functions passes without comment. The osten VLEOHEHQH¿WRIWKLVLQYHQWLRQLVWKDWLWDOORZVWKHZRUNHUWREHIHGZLWKRXWLQWHU rupting his labor. But the utter failure of the machine to perform as advertised DQG WKHQHHG WRKDYH DW OHDVW RQHRSHUDWRU LI QRWPRUH GHQLHV DQ\EHQH¿W DW all, even if the contraption weren’t plagued by malfunction. The absurdity of WKHIHHGLQJPDFKLQHLPSOLFLWO\TXHVWLRQVWKHREVHVVLRQZLWKHFLHQF\LQ7D\ORU¶V V\VWHPRIVFLHQWL¿FPDQDJHPHQW But in light of the boss’s failure to note the absurdity of the phonographic salesman delivering the pitch when the inventor ¿UVWLQWURGXFHVWKHIHHGLQJPDFKLQHZHVKRXOGDOVRQRWHKRZWKHLQDELOLW\RIWKH IHHGLQJPDFKLQH¶V WXUQWDEOH WR IXQFWLRQHFLHQWO\ VXJJHVWVDFRPPHQWRQWKH HDUO\WHFKQRORJ\RIVRXQG¿OPZKLFKZDVRIWHQSODJXHGE\V\QFKURQL]DWLRQGLI ¿FXOWLHVEHWZHHQWKHSKRQRJUDSKLFVRXQGDQGWKHFLQHPDWLFLPDJH7KHIDFWRU\ ERVV¶VUHMHFWLRQRIWKHIHHGLQJPDFKLQHDV³QRWSUDFWLFDO´HFKRHVWKHFRPSODLQWV of studio executives who resisted adopting sound technology. Although Chaplin UHVLVWHGVRXQGWHFKQRORJ\ IRUGLHUHQW UHDVRQV WKHSDUDOOHO WKDW LV VXEWO\ VXJ JHVWHGEHWZHHQWKH(OHFWUR6WHHOSUHVLGHQWDQGWKHSUHVLGHQWRI&KDUOHV&KDSOLQ )LOPV,QFZLOOHPHUJHPRUHGLUHFWO\LQWKHQH[WVHJPHQWRIWKHVHTXHQFH
More broadly, however, the feeding machine scene critiques the fascina WLRQZLWKWKHPHFKDQLFDORYHUWKHKXPDQ7KLVFRQÀLFWRIPDQDQGPDFKLQH HPHUJHV VWDUNO\ LQ WKH WKLUG VHJPHQWRI WKH¿UVW IDFWRU\ VHTXHQFH WKH¿OP¶V most frequently referenced scene. As the boss continues to order an increase in the factory belt’s speed, the Tramp continues to struggle with the accelerat LQJSDFH)LQDOO\GULYHQE\WKHFRPSXOVLRQWRSHUIRUPKLVWDVNKHSXUVXHVKLV piecework into the machinery. Becoming one with the assembly line itself, the 7UDPSLVGUDZQWKURXJKWKHJHDUVRIWKHJLJDQWLFPHFKDQLVPVHH¿J:LWK a cymbal crash, the soundtrack transitions abruptly from the frantic pace that punctuated the images of the factory’s intensifying speed to a rubato lullaby with the delicate timbres of the celesta and piccolo. Once extricated from the EHOO\RIWKHLQGXVWULDOEHDVWWKH7UDPSHPHUJHVWUDQVIRUPHGE\KLVPDFKLQH LQGXFHGWUDXPD+LVSHVWHULQJDQWLFVWRZDUGKLVFRZRUNHUVSURYRNHWKHPWR chase him with the hope of subduing him, but this simply prolongs his inter ference with what was known during the period as the factory’s “continuous ÀRZSURGXFWLRQ´&KDVH*DLQLQJWKHXSSHUKDQGWKH7UDPSGLVFRY HUVWKDWKHFDQHDVLO\GLVWUDFWKLVSXUVXHUVE\UHDFWLYDWLQJWKHDVVHPEO\OLQH which causes them to return to their stations in a Pavlovian response. Their robotic attention to the machinery recalls the image that Stuart Chase invoked in Waste and the Machine Age, his critique of how industrial technology was wast LQJQRWMXVWUDZPDWHULDOVRUPRQH\EXWDOVRKXPDQSRWHQWLDO
Lawrence Howe | ESSAYS
7KHUHLVDURRP¿OOHGZLWKSXQFKLQJPDFKLQHV,QIURQWRIHDFKPDFKLQHVWDQGVD worker, feeding it pieces of steel by hand. A lever is geared to the mechanism, and WRWKLVOHYHUWKHPDQLVFKDLQHGE\DKDQGFXORFNHGWRKLVZULVW7RORRNGRZQ WKHORQJURRPLVWRVHHPDFKLQHVOHYHUVDQGPHQLQXQLVRQIHHGSXQFKMHUNEDFN IHHGSXQFKMHUNEDFN,KDYHKHDUGQRRWKHUVLQJOHWDVNWRGD\ZKLFKVRFORVHO\ DSSUR[LPDWHVWKHJORRP\SURSKHWV¶SLFWXUHRIWKHURERW&KDVH
Granted, Chase proceeds to a more sanguine view of the potential for technol ogy to improve modern life than this excerpt might suggest. Likewise, Chaplin’s VHQGXSRIWKHDXWRPDWHGIDFWRU\PLWLJDWHVWKHGLUHJORRPRIWKHPRVWUDGLFDO critics of the Machine Age. Wreaking havoc throughout the factory in a par RG\RIWKHVZDVKEXFNOLQJDFWLRQWKDW&KDSOLQ¶VIULHQG'RXJODV)DLUEDQNVPDGH famous, the Tramp unleashes a carnivalesque chaos that delivers a rich comic SD\RXW6LPXOWDQHRXVO\LWFRQ¿UPVKLVVWDWXVDV³PLV¿W´IRUZKLFKVRFLHW\SUH scribes a stint in a sanitarium as the only remedy.
Chaplin’s humorous critique of technology is not limited to the regimenta WLRQRIDXWRPDWHGIDFWRULHV7KHFURVVVHFWLRQYLHZRIWKH7UDPSEHLQJGUDZQ WKURXJKWKHJHDUVDQGVSURFNHWVLQWKHIDFWRU\¶VLQWHUQDOPHFKDQLVPDOVRSURMHFWV WKH7UDPS¿JXUDWLYHO\ DV¿OP VWRFNEHLQJGUDZQ WKURXJK WKHPHFKDQLVPVRI WKHFDPHUDDQGWKHSURMHFWRU7KXVUHÀH[LYHO\&KDSOLQ¶VLPDJHU\FRQÀDWHVWKH political objectRIUHSUHVHQWDWLRQLQGXVWULDOWHFKQRORJ\ZLWKWKHmeans of rep UHVHQWDWLRQFLQHPDWLFWHFKQRORJ\,QGHHGWKLV LPDJHVXSSRUWV:DOWHU%HQMD
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COLLEGE LITERATURE | :LQWHU
PLQ¶VSRLQWDERXWWKHGLHUHQFHEHWZHHQWKHDWULFDODQGFLQHPDWLFSHUIRUPDQFH ³7KHDUWLVWLFSHUIRUPDQFHRIWKHVWDJHDFWRULVGH¿QLWHO\SUHVHQWHGWRWKHSXEOLF by the actor in person; that of the screen actor, however, is presented by a camera. . . . Guided by the cameraman, the camera continually changes its position with UHVSHFW WR WKHSHUIRUPDQFH´ %HQMDPLQ 7KH7UDPS¶V VLQXRXV URXWH through the bowels of the factory mechanism reminds us that he is an image produced through the analogous machinery of cinematic technology, and reg isters Chaplin’s own equivocal fascination with technology: as both a yoke that EXUGHQVµPDFKLQHDJH¶ZRUNHUVDQGDWRRORIDUWLVWLFH[SUHVVLRQWKDWSURSHOVKLV own professional success.
The similarities between how Chaplin recalled his attempt to renegotiate his FRQWUDFWZLWK)LUVW1DWLRQDODQGWKLVUHSUHVHQWDWLRQRIWKH7UDPS¶VLVRODWLRQPXO tiply the meaning of this famous scene. Despite having eloquently explained that the extra costs entailed in making Shoulder ArmsZDUUDQWHG)LUVW1DWLRQDO to revise his contract, Chaplin surmised that he “might as well have been a lone IDFWRU\ZRUNHUDVNLQJ*HQHUDO0RWRUVIRUDUDLVH´&KDSOLQ7KXV WKHVWUHVVRIKLVDUWLVWLFOLIHLVUHÀHFWHGLQWKH7UDPS¶VVWUHVVIXODOLHQDWLRQLQWKH factory scene. Chaplin’s experience with the studio pointed a new direction in his career; in the following year, he formed United Artists with Mary Pickford, 'RXJODV)DLUEDQNV+DUROG/OR\GDQG':*ULWK MRLQHG ODWHUE\'DYLG2 6HO]QLFN)RUPLQJWKLVFROOHFWLYHZDVDVPXFKDSROLWLFDODQGDUWLVWLFVWDWHPHQWDV LWZDVDEXVLQHVVVWUDWHJ\)RUDVLWVIRXQGHUVWROGUHSRUWHUV8QLWHG$UWLVWVZDV D³GHFODUDWLRQRILQGHSHQGHQFHIURPSURGXFHUVDQGH[KLELWRUVRIµPDFKLQHPDGH¶ ¿OPV´0DODQG-XVWDVWKHVHDUWLVWUHEHOVHFKRHG$PHULFD¶VIRXQGLQJ SROLWLFDO UKHWRULF LQ WKHLU UHMHFWLRQ RI WKH W\UDQQ\ RI WKH+ROO\ZRRG VWXGLRV &KDSOLQIUDPHVWKH7UDPS¶VIDFWRU\H[SHULHQFHWRDUWLFXODWHKLVREMHFWLRQWRERWK industrial oppression and Hollywood’s production demands.
Nor do the multiple meanings end there. In addition to the scene’s obvious DSSHDOWRDZRUNLQJFODVVDXGLHQFHOLNHO\WRLGHQWLI\ZLWKWKH7UDPS¶VRUGHDOLW raises at least one other competing interpretation that signals Chaplin’s ambiv alence about the power of technology in society and within the industry that DRUGHG KLP FRQVLGHUDEOH DXWKRULW\7KH QHJDWLYH LPDJHV RI FRUSRUDWH SRZHU H[SORLWSRSXODUDQ[LHW\DERXWFDSLWDO¶VLQGLHUHQFHWRODERUEXWWKH\SURMHFWDV ZHOOKLVUHVHQWPHQWDWFRUSRUDWHVWXGLRKHDGVOLNHWKRVHDW)LUVW1DWLRQDO<HWWKH irony of these images is redoubled in light of Chaplin’s own total authority over KLVZRUNDQGWKRVHZKRZRUNHGIRUKLP)URPWKLVSHUVSHFWLYHWKHIDFWRU\ERVV is an equivocal characterization that represents both the studio bosses Chaplin UHVHQWHG DQG&KDSOLQ WKH¿OPPDNHU KLPVHOI7KH FRUUHODWLRQ H[WHQGV EH\RQG the comparable positions of authority held by the factory boss and Chaplin him VHOIDQGLVUHLQIRUFHGLQWKHZD\VWKDWWKH\ZLHOGWKHLUSRZHU)RUH[DPSOHWKH boss’s demands for “more speed” parallel Chaplin’s orders to his cameraman, Rudolph Totheroh. Much of Chaplin’s physical humor was derived from the 7UDPS¶VVSHGXS MHUN\PRYHPHQWVDQHHFWDFKLHYHGE\VORZLQJWKHVSHHGRI WKHKDQGFUDQNHGFDPHUDIURPWKHVWDQGDUGVSHHGRIVL[WHHQIUDPHVSHUVHFRQG
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WRIRXUWHHQRUVRPHWLPHVWZHOYHIUDPHVSHUVHFRQGZKLFKVWDQGDUGSURMHFWLRQ VSHHGZRXOGVFUHHQDVWKH7UDPS¶VK\SHUDQLPDWHGVW\OHRISK\VLFDOKXPRU6R MXVWDVWKHSUHVLGHQWRI(OHFWUR6WHHO&RUSFDOOVIRUDFFHOHUDWLRQRIWKH7UDPS¶V DVVHPEO\OLQH&KDSOLQUHSHDWHGO\KDUDQJXHG7RWKHURKWRVORZGRZQKLVKDQG FUDQNLQJRIWKHFDPHUDLQWKHVHLPSRUWDQWFRPLFPRPHQWVWR\LHOGWKHVSHGXS DFWLRQ0F&DEH
Chaplin was a notoriously demanding director, and his cameraman was not WKHRQO\RQHVXEMHFWWRKLVDXWKRULWDULDQZLOODQGVLQJOHPLQGHGGHGLFDWLRQWRWKH HHFWKHZDVDWWHPSWLQJWRDFKLHYH$V&KDUOHV&KDSOLQ-UUHFDOOHG
0XVLFLDQVHQGXUHGSXUHWRUWXUH'DGZRUHWKHPDOORXW(GZDUG3RZHOOFRQ centrated so hard writing the music down that he almost lost his eyesight and had to go to a specialist to save it. David Raksin, working an average of twenty hours a GD\ORVWWZHQW\¿YHSRXQGVDQGVRPHWLPHVZDVVRH[KDXVWHGWKDWKHFRXOGQ¶W¿QG VWUHQJWKWRJRKRPHEXWZRXOGVOHHSRQWKHVWXGLRÀRRU5RELQVRQ
7KHRSSUHVVLRQGHVFULEHGKHUH¿WVXQFRPIRUWDEO\ZLWKWKH¿OP¶VSROLWLFDOUKHWR ric. Chaplin’s demanding treatment of his musicians, as well as the other artists DQGWHFKQLFLDQVZKRPKHGLUHFWHGUHFUHDWHVWKHRSSUHVVLRQWKDWKHKDGREMHFWHG to in forming United Artists and that the narrative of Modern Times criticizes. 7KXV WKH¿OP¶V UHÀH[LYLW\ DUWLFXODWHV&KDSOLQ¶V RZQ FRQÀLFWVZLWK UHVSHFW WR SRZHUDQGWKHWHFKQRORJ\DVVRFLDWHGZLWKSRZHUDQGWKHVHFRQÀLFWVFRPSOLFDWH WKHUKHWRULFRIWKH¿OP¶VVRFLDOFULWLTXH
THE DYNAMO AND THE GAMIN
,IWKH¿OP¶VLPDJHVRIFDSLWDOLVWDQGODERUHUVXJJHVWDSRODULW\EHWZHHQ&KDSOLQ¶V role behind the camera and his representation on screen as the Tramp, then the DXGLHQFH¶VLGHQWL¿FDWLRQLVVLPLODUO\PDQLSXODWHGLQRSSRVLWHGLUHFWLRQV-XVWDV WKH¿OPSURPRWHVV\PSDWK\EHWZHHQWKHVSHFWDWRUDQGWKH7UDPSWKHIDFWRU\ ERVVDQGWKHVSHFWDWRUDUHDOOLHGDVREVHUYLQJVXEMHFWVZKRJD]HXSRQWKH7UDPS DVREVHUYHGREMHFW/LNHWKHERVVWKHVSHFWDWRUZDWFKHVWKH7UDPSDQGGHPDQGV a satisfactory performance from him. And when, for example, the Tramp is struck LQWKHKHDGE\DIDOOLQJEHDPLQWKHVKDQW\ZKHUHKHDQGWKHJDPLQ3DXOHWWH *RGGDUGKRSHWR¿QGGRPHVWLFEOLVVRUKHGLYHVKHDG¿UVWLQWRNQHHGHHSZDWHU the spectator’s laughter helps to establish the audience’s distance from him, even as they generally sympathize with him as a victimized laborer.
Conversely, notwithstanding the delight the spectator may take in watching WKH7UDPS¶VVXEYHUVLYHSOD\RQHFDQQRWHVFDSHWKHFRQWUROWKDWWKH¿OPH[HUWV over this very act of watching. The slapstick tempo inhibits a viewer’s critical HQJDJHPHQWZLWKWKH¿OPEHFDXVHWKHLPDJHVDQGWKHQDUUDWLYHWKH\FRQVWUXFW SURFHHGLQDQRUGHUDQGDWDSDFHGHWHUPLQHGE\WKHGLUHFWRU7KH¿OPWURSHVLWV control over the spectator not only in the factory boss’s control over the assembly line but also, and to a greater degree, in the image of the Billows feeding machine. 'DYLG-DPHVVXJJHVWVWKDW³D¿OP¶VLPDJHVDQGVRXQGVQHYHUIDLOWRWHOOWKHVWRU\ RIKRZDQGZK\ WKH\ZHUHSURGXFHGWKH VWRU\RI WKHLUPRGHRISURGXFWLRQ´
COLLEGE LITERATURE | :LQWHU
LQModern Times, the same holds true of the story those images tell about how they are to be received, the story of their mode of consumption. Thus, if &KDSOLQXVHVWKHDVVHPEO\OLQHDVDPHWDSKRUIRUKRZ¿OPDQGLWVYLVXDOHHFWV are mechanically produced, then he deploys the feeding machine as a metaphor IRUKRZWKRVHHHFWVRSHUDWHRQWKH¿OP¶VVSHFWDWRU
During the demonstration of the Billows feeder, when the camera shifts its IRFXVWRWKHHDURIFRUQRQWKHURWLVVHULH¿[WXUHRIWKHIHHGLQJPDFKLQH¶VWXUQ table, the spectator’s gaze is directed away from the Tramp to the mechanized IRRGWKDWKHVHHV7KLVVXEWOHLVRODWHGIRFXVH[SOLFLWO\VLJQDOVKRZRXULGHQWL¿FD tion with the Tramp in this sequence is to work. As the spectator gazes on the same rotating ear of corn which the Tramp is about to consume, one’s experience RIZDWFKLQJWKH¿OPDQDORJL]HVWKDWRIWKH7UDPSEHLQJPHFKDQLFDOO\IRUFHIHG although without the assault that he endures for our entertainment. The framing DQGFDPHUDDQJOHVWUHVVWKLVDQDORJ\EHWZHHQWKH¿OPDQGWKHPRWRUL]HGIRRG DQGWKXVDFNQRZOHGJHKRZWKHFDPHUDFRQWUROVWKHDXGLHQFH¶VJD]H)RUXQOLNHD printed text, which a reader takes in at her own pace, pausing to question or to UHUHDGLIVRLQFOLQHGWKH¿OP¶VVFDOHRILPDJHVDQGHGLWLQJSDFHQRWWRPHQWLRQ WKH HPRWLRQDO HYRFDWLRQV RI WKH VRXQGWUDFN FRQWURO WKH VSHFWDWRU¶V UHVSRQVHV by determining what she sees, how, when, and for how long she sees it. Georges 'XKDPHOH[SUHVVHGKLVGLVWUXVWRI¿OPIRUSUHFLVHO\WKLVUHDVRQLWVPRWLRQKH contended, replaced the motion of one’s own thought.
7KH¿OP¶VFOHDUHVW VWDWHPHQWVDERXWFRQVXPSWLRQHPHUJHZKHQWKH7UDPS begins his relationship with the gamin. Immediately after having escaped the long arm of the law together, they observe a suburban homemaker waving her EUHDGZLQQHU R WR ZRUN $OWKRXJK WKH 7UDPS LQLWLDOO\ PRFNV WKLV VFHQH RI GRPHVWLFFRQYHQWLRQDOLW\KLV MHVWJLYHVZD\WRDGD\GUHDPLQZKLFKWKHJDPLQ DQGKHVKDUHDSHUIHFWPLGGOHFODVVEXQJDORZ+LV IDQWDV\RI WKHLUDWWDLQLQJD piece of the American dream, a term whose coinage is attributed to James Trus ORZ$GDPVRQO\ D IHZ \HDUV HDUOLHU LQ JDOYDQL]HV WKHPERWK VHH$GDPV ,QWKLVQDUUDWLYHGHYHORSPHQW&KDSOLQSURMHFWVWKHLGHDVRI+RUDFH Kallen, one of the most enthusiastic theorists of the consumer cooperation move ment in the United States of this period and whose seminal volume Decline and Rise of the Consumer was published the same year that Modern Times was released. “In America,” Kallen writes, “the primacy of the consumer is a postulate of the foundations. ‘The American Dream’ is a vision of men as consumers, and the American story is the story of an inveterate struggle to embody this dream in the LQVWLWXWLRQVRI$PHULFDQOLIH´.DOOHQ
However, the Tramp’s version of the American Dream includes several dis WLQFWLYH XSGDWHV )LUVW DOO RI WKH VDPH SULQFLSOHV RI HFLHQF\ WKDW RUJDQL]HG the modern factory are present in the home he imagines, including a cow who appears at the kitchen door as if on a conveyor belt to provide milk automatically RQFXHZLWKRXWWKHODERURIPLONLQJLW7KLVUHÀHFWVWKHLQURDGVWKDW7D\ORULVP was making into American culture beyond the industrial sector. After World :DU,,WKHHPSKDVLVRQKRPHHFLHQF\DQGGRPHVWLFODERUVDYLQJPDFKLQHU\
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ZRXOGDFFHOHUDWHIXUWKHU6HFRQGWKH7UDPS¶VIDQWDV\UHÀHFWV7KRUVWHLQ9HEOHQ¶V concept of “pecuniary emulation,” the propensity to indulge in escalating “con spicuous expenditure” out of a desire to conform materially, supporting a sense RI VRFLDO EHORQJLQJ 9HEOHQ $FFRUGLQJO\ WKH7UDPS¶V IDQWDV\ DQG the gamin’s mutual embrace of it show how they have internalized the desires VSRQVRUHGE\WKHPDVVSURGXFWLRQDQGFRQVXPSWLRQRIWKHµPDFKLQHDJH¶)LQDOO\ the utter incongruousness of the Tramp’s daydream to his life here or elsewhere in Chaplin’s representation of him is noteworthy. The Tramp had not heretofore expressed anything close to this acceptance of conventionality. Indeed, a large PHDVXUHRIKLVDSSHDOLVQRGRXEWDE\SURGXFWRIKLVLQGLHUHQFHWRWKHSUHVVXUHV WR FRQIRUP:KDWPDNHV WKH7UDPS¶V H[SHULHQFHGLHUHQW LQModern Times is the motivation that the gamin inspires in him. No sooner do they bond than he begins to imagine a life together, which prompts him to proclaim his willingness WRZRUNWRUHGRXEOHKLVHRUWVDVDSURGXFHU LQRUGHUWKDWVKHPD\HQMR\WKH EHQH¿WVRIEHLQJDFRQVXPHU
The Tramp’s daydream conveys this quite clearly in the comfortable furnish ings and conventional aesthetics of the fantasy bungalow, and especially in the JDPLQ¶VPLGGOHFODVVPDNHRYHU*RQHLVKHUZDL¿VK3HWHU3DQFRVWXPHWDQJOHG hair, and soiled face; instead, the Tramp imagines her in a stylish dress and an DSURQDIDVKLRQDEOHFRLXUHDQGPDNHXSHPERG\LQJFRQWHPSRUDU\VWDQGDUGV RIIHPLQLQHEHDXW\,IZHFRPSDUHRXU¿UVWJOLPSVHRIWKHJDPLQRQWKHGRFNV stealing bananas and distributing them to hungry children while striking a SLUDWH¶VSRVHDVVKHFOHQFKHVDNQLIHEHWZHHQKHUWHHWKWRKHUVW\OLVKGRPHVWLF image in the Tramp’s daydream, we can track the source of the Tramp’s awak ened motivation to work. The fantasy itself registers the allure of the prevailing tenets of material consumerism.
The consumerist ideal reaches its climax, appropriately, in the department store sequence. This important choice of PLVHHQVFqQH WKH VSDFH WKDW GH¿QHG modern American consumerism, gives visual presence to the opulence of com mercial goods provided by mass production. The department store scenes, more over, emphasize the role of women as consumers. Like the Tramp’s daydream RI KRPH RZQHUVKLS WKLV HSLVRGH UHÀHFWV KLV HDJHUQHVV WR VDWLVI\ WKH JDPLQ¶V needs and wants. Department stores had long recognized that women exercised considerable economic power in their role as the purchasers of domestic goods. 0DUVKDOO)LHOG WKH VXFFHVVIXO&KLFDJR UHWDLOHUKDLOHG DV D ³PHUFDQWLOH JHQLXV´ 'HQQLVKDGGUDZQWKHOHVVRQIURPKLVPHQWRU3RWWHU3DOPHUWKDW ZRPHQFXVWRPHUVVKRXOGEHWUHDWHGZLWKXWPRVWUHVSHFW7KRXJK)LHOGUHFRJ nized women’s power to a degree considerably short of Henry Adams’s rever ence for Venus and the Virgin, he acknowledged his appreciation for women as consumers in a motto later adopted as the title of his biography, Give the Lady What She Wants! . Thus, the department store became an extension of the home as woman’s sphere, a gendered space catering to women responsible for PDWHULDOO\RXW¿WWLQJ WKHLUKRPHV DQG IDPLOLHV LQ WKH LPDJHRI UHVSHFWDELOLW\ 5HÀHFWLQJWKHLPSRUWDQFHRIWKLVFRPPHUFLDOLQVWLWXWLRQWKHGHSDUWPHQWVWRUH
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in Modern Times thrills the gamin with its abundance, both creating and satisfy LQJHYHU\FRQVXPHUGHVLUH,QWKHFDIHVKHHQMR\VWKHRQO\FRPSOHWHPHDOWKDW she’s ever shown eating, and from the gusto with which she devours it, we might LQIHUWKDWLW¶VWKH¿UVWVKH¶VKDGLQDYHU\ORQJWLPH,QWKHWR\GHSDUWPHQWVKH delights in the carefree experiences of childhood denied to one of her marginal existence. In the haute couture department, she swaddles herself in the luxury of a IXUFRDWREVFXULQJKHUZRUQDQG¿OWK\UDJRIDGUHVV$QG¿QDOO\LQWKHIXUQLWXUH GHSDUWPHQW VKH VOHHSV LQ DQ DFWXDO EHG IXUQLVKHGZLWK¿QH OLQHQV EHQHDWK D plush comforter that embraces her in its warmth, and surrounded by an excess of pillows. If the shanty she had found for them disappoints the expectations of the Tramp’s fantasy, the department store provides a glut of consumer goods that RYHUVDWLV¿HVWKHPDWOHDVWIRURQHQLJKW
Still, for all of its appeal to domestic satisfaction and its strategies of piquing women’s desires and facilitating their power as consumers, the department store is an institution in sync with mechanized culture. This large mercantile orga QL]DWLRQQRWRQO\EXUHDXFUDWL]HVFRPPHUFH LQWRGLHUHQW UHWDLOXQLWVEXWDOVR mechanizes the consumer’s exposure to its wares by using elevators and especially escalators to shuttle the shopper from department to department. The escalator SURYLGHV&KDSOLQZLWKDQHHFWLYHVLJKWJDJZKHQKHIDLOVWRHVFDSHWKHPLGQLJKW EXUJODUVE\DWWHPSWLQJWRUROOHUVNDWHXSWKHGRZQHVFDODWRU%XWWKDWJDJGRHVQ¶W EHJLQWRPHDVXUHXSWRWKHVLJQL¿FDQFHRIWKHHVFDODWRUDVDFRUROODU\WRWKHIDF tory assembly line. Where modern industrialism achieves the mass production of goods on a mechanical assembly line, the mechanized retail operation uses the escalator analogously to assemble consumers, constructing their desire for FRPPHUFLDOSURGXFWVE\WKHWDVWHIXODUUDQJHPHQWRIDEXQGDQFHDQGH\HFDWFKLQJ novelty in each department.
Of course, the Tramp and the gamin are not actual consumers in the retail sense; they have no real purchasing power, which in the circular logic of the Depression makes them both complicit in the cause of the economic stagnation and victims of it. Indeed, in Successful Living in the Machine Age GHSDUWPHQW VWRUHPDJQDWH DQG VRPHWLPH SKLORVRSKHU (GZDUG )LOHQH RHUHG DQ XQRUWKR dox analysis of the prevailing social dilemma that the Tramp and gamin’s life WRJHWKHUUHSUHVHQWV(PSKDVL]LQJWKHLPSRUWDQFHRIFRQVXPSWLRQQRWSURGXF WLRQDVDGULYHURIWKHHFRQRP\)LOHQHDGYDQFHGWKHQRWLRQWKDWWKHDELOLW\RIWKH LQGXVWULDODJHWRVDWLVI\KXPDQQHHGGHSHQGHGRQNHHSLQJZDJHVVXFLHQWO\KLJK DQGSULFHVVXFLHQWO\ORZDQGRQZRUNHUVKDYLQJDPSOHOHLVXUHZLWKRXWZKLFK ³WKH\ZLOOQRWEHFRPHFRQVXPHUVRQDVXFLHQWO\ODUJHVFDOH´)LOHQH In other words, without the means to consume, workers like the Tramp cannot provide the demand that production seeks to satisfy. It’s perhaps not surprising that a philosophical department store owner would recognize that a favorable ZDJHWRSULFHUDWLRLVQHFHVVDU\WRPD[LPL]HFRQVXPSWLRQ%XW)LOHQHDSSHDUVWR KDYHXWWHUHGKHWHURGR[\LIZHFRQVLGHU&KDVHDQG6FKOLQN¶VLQÀXHQWLDODQDO\VLV of the misplaced emphasis on production during this period. They referenced WKH GHSDUWPHQW VWRUH WR XQGHUVFRUH KRZ D QHDUO\ XQLYHUVDO ¿[DWLRQ RQ ³JURVV
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VDOHVWKH VDFUHG FRZRI WKH UHWDLOHU´ IHG LQWR WKH ³µPDNHZRUN¶ WKHRU\WKDW SURGXFWLRQLVJRRGLQLWVHOIUHJDUGOHVVRILWVYDOXHWRFRQVXPHUV´&KDVHDQG6FK OLQN Chaplin, too, would have been similarly sensitive to these condi WLRQVIRUFRQVXPSWLRQ$VD¿OPPDNHUKHZRXOGKDYHUHFRJQL]HGWKDWKLVRZQ SUR¿WGHSHQGHGXSRQSHRSOHKDYLQJOHLVXUHWLPHWR¿OODQGVXFLHQWH[SHQGDEOH LQFRPHWRFRQWLQXHWREHSDUWRIDWLFNHWEX\LQJDXGLHQFH
,Q WKLV UHJDUG WKH¿OP¶V UHÀH[LYLW\ZLWK UHJDUG WRFRQVXPSWLRQUHSUHVHQWV &KDSOLQ¶V RQJRLQJ FRQFHUQ DV D ¿OPPDNHU Modern Times, like all Hollywood ¿OPVLVDSURGXFWRIPDVVFRQVXPSWLRQ$VDSURGXFHURIVXFKSURGXFWVD¿OP maker must be concerned with the likelihood of return on the investment in production. But unlike other saleable merchandise, in which price is calculated ODUJHO\IURPFRVWWKHUHWXUQRQD+ROO\ZRRG¿OPLVGHWHUPLQHGQRWE\DFRVW price ratio but by volume of ticket sales.7KXVLID¿OP¶VSURGXFWLRQFRVWVHVFD ODWHUHWXUQRQWKDWLQYHVWPHQWGHSHQGVRQLQFUHDVHGFRQVXPSWLRQWKDWLVRQ GHPDQG6DWLVI\LQJWKDWGHPDQGZLWKDQ\JLYHQ¿OPLVDIXQFWLRQRIQRYHOW\ &KDSOLQDUHPDUNDEOHLQQRYDWRU¿UVWLQSDQWRPLPHDQGODWHULQGHYHORSLQJKLV pantomimic talent to construct sustained narratives, had an impressive record RI VDWLVI\LQJ DXGLHQFHGHPDQG%XWE\ KLV VFUHHQSHUVRQDZDVQR ORQJHU YHU\QRYHO$QGDV%HQMDPLQQRWHVWKHVFUHHQDFWRU¶VUHODWLRQVKLSWRWKHFDPHUD never enables him to forget the audience: “While facing the camera he knows that ultimately he will face the public, the consumers who constitute the mar NHW´%HQMDPLQ$OWKRXJK&KDSOLQFRQWLQXHGWRUHO\RQWKH7UDPS¶V silent pantomime, the market had been transformed by Hollywood’s leap into talking pictures.
Chaplin’s persistence as a silent actor long after the talkie had become the industry standard gave rise to a perception that he was resistant to innovation, clinging to an outmoded form of cinema. But Modern TimesLVDVLOHQW¿OPLQRQO\ the strictest sense; Chaplin adopted sound technology in a number of inventive ZD\V7KHHHFWVRIKLVVWUDWHJLFXVHRIVRXQGXQGHUPLQHWKHFKDUJHWKDWKHZDV WLPLGUHJUHVVLYHRUDQWLWHFKQRORJ\LQKLVFLQHPDWLFDSSURDFK,QGHHGModern Times includes a number of instances in which the sound of the human voice is heard, but the speech represented on screen is almost exclusively mechanically UHSURGXFHGE\SKRQRJUDSKUDGLRRUPRVWVWULNLQJO\LQWKHPHGLDWHGLPDJHRI the factory boss’s talking head. And this crafty use of the new cinematic tech nology thematically matches the narrative by implicitly criticizing the imbalance of power between a capital class that controls the technology through which it DUWLFXODWHVLWVGHPDQGVDQGDODERULQJFODVVVLOHQWO\VXEMHFWHGWRFDSLWDO:LWK RXWWKHDELOLW\WRWDONZRUNLQJFODVVLQGLYLGXDOVOLNHWKH7UDPSDUHUHGXFHGWR D¿JXUDWLYHVWDWHRI LQIDQF\LQWKHHW\PRORJLFDOVHQVH IURPWKH/DWLQ QIQV, PHDQLQJ³QRWDEOHWRVSHDN´DVWDWHWKDWKHRYHUFRPHVLQKLVVZDQVRQJFDEDUHW SHUIRUPDQFHDOEHLWLPSHUIHFWO\)RUZKLOHWKH7UDPS¿QDOO\UDLVHVKLVYRLFHKH sings nonsense lyrics in place of those he has failed to memorize. The story in WKH VRQJ LVSHUIRUPHGPRUHHHFWLYHO\ DV&KDSOLQ LQVLVWHGRI WKHEHVW DFWLQJ in pantomime rather than in words. The Tramp is a hit, and his success yields
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the elusive promise of steady work. In other words, to maximize the irony, the 7UDPS&KDSOLQ¶VVLOHQWSHUVRQD¿QDOO\VXFFHHGVLQWKHRQHMREWKDWUHTXLUHV him to use his voice. Although Chaplin may appear to have been stuck in prac tices upon which he had relied throughout his career, he instead employed the QHZVRXQGWHFKQRORJ\MXGLFLRXVO\WRDUULYHDWDQLQQRYDWLYHFULWLTXHRIERWKFODVV and the dubious merits of much sound cinema.
Of course, there was no turning back to the silent mode once the Tramp’s ORQJDZDLWHGYRLFHKDGEHHQKHDUGHYHQLIKHXWWHUHGRQO\JLEEHULVK%XWZLWKLQ Modern Times, Chaplin found himself precariously balanced between criticism of a society that had mechanized itself into an intractable economic depression, and artistic expression that relied on analogous methods of technological production. 7KURXJKWKHPHGLXPRI¿OP&KDSOLQGHSOR\VUHSUHVHQWDWLRQVRIWHFKQRORJ\WKDW RHUVHOIUHIHUHQWLDODQDORJLHVWRKLVFRQWURORYHUFLQHPDDQGWRFLQHPD¶VFRQ trol over the imagination of the spectators whose attention is dominated by the LPDJHVWKDWWKH¿OPSDUDGHVEHIRUHWKHP,QWKLVFRPSOH[RIWURSHVKHV\QFKV up Modern Times with the uncertainties of its moment.
Chaplin’s balancing act, appropriate for a physical comedian who often teeters on the brink of danger, enables us to see Modern Times DVDVXFFHVVIXO¿OPLQLWV RZQULJKW%XWLWDOVRUHDOLJQVWKHHLWKHURUFRQWHQWLRQVZLWKLQWKHFXOWXUHLQGXV try debate as both/and propositions. Granted, Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno have reason to criticize the “Culture Industry” as a powerful institution serving the capital interests of the status quo against the individual. But Chaplin’s ¿OPFKDOOHQJHVWKHLUVZHHSLQJJHQHUDOL]DWLRQWKDWWKHFXOWXUHLQGXVWU\³SHUSHWX ally cheats its consumers of what it perpetually promises . . . ; the promise, which LVDFWXDOO\DOOWKHVSHFWDFOHFRQVLVWVRILVLOOXVRU\´+RUNKHLPHUDQG$GRUQR 7RWKHFRQWUDU\WKHUHÀH[LYLW\RISURGXFWLRQDQGFRQVXPSWLRQWKDWModern Times employs asks the audience to recognize its critical engagement with mecha QL]HGVRFLHW\UDWKHUWKDQVLPSO\RHULQJ³DFRPPHQGDWLRQRIWKHGHSUHVVLQJ HYHU\GD\ZRUOGLWVRXJKWWRHVFDSH´+DYLQJFKDOOHQJHGWKHYHUWLFDORUJDQL zation of the studio system, Chaplin based his practices on artisans’ principles, not on the industrial hegemony that characterizes Horkheimer and Adorno’s view of modern culture gone awry. This is not to tip the balance in the direction RI%HQMDPLQZKRVHDVWXWHDQDO\VLVLQ³$UWLQWKH$JHRI0HFKDQLFDO5HSURGXF WLRQ´ LQFOXGHV WKH RYHUO\ FRQ¿GHQW FODLP WKDWZLWKLQ D SRSXODU DUW IRUP OLNH ¿OP³WKHFULWLFDODQGUHFHSWLYHDWWLWXGHVRIWKHSXEOLFFRLQFLGH´%HQMDPLQ 7RWKHFRQWUDU\EHFDXVHModern Times is a technological product that taps into popular anxiety about technology to evoke the audience’s sympathy for the 7UDPSDVDWHFKQRORJLFDOYLFWLPWKH¿OPDOOHJRUL]HVFLQHPD¶VDXWKRULW\RYHULWV audience while obscuring the actual power of its maker through his role as a beleaguered character who wins the audience’s sympathy. In other words, contra %HQMDPLQWKH¿OPHHFWLYHO\VKRUWFLUFXLWVWKHPHUJHURISRSXODUDQGFULWLFDO UHFHSWLRQ%\SURMHFWLQJWKHGLOHPPDLQKLVRZQWHFKQRORJLFDOO\LQYHVWHGFULWLTXH of technological society, Chaplin occupies a complex position not reducible to either of these critical poles.
Lawrence Howe | ESSAYS
2EVHUYLQJ WKLVG\QDPLF UHÀH[LYLW\ LQModern Times is not to argue that all ¿OPVRSHUDWHLQWKLVZD\EXWWKHSUHVHQFHRIWKLVUHFLSURFDOWHQVLRQLQ&KDSOLQ¶V ¿OPRHUVDQLUUHGXFLEOHUHVLVWDQFHWRSROHPLFVZKLOHPHUJLQJKLVWZRREMHFWLYHV entertainment and critique. As the product of a particular historical moment of transition in cultural attitudes about technology and about cinema, Modern Times marks an intersection of the technological production of material goods and art. Grave doubts had arisen about the promise of industrial technology to PHHW VRFLDO DQGHFRQRPLFQHHGV DQG VLOHQW¿OPKDGJLYHQZD\ WR VRXQG¿OP In that intersection, Modern TimesUHÀHFWVQRWRQO\&KDSOLQ¶VRZQSROLWLFDODQG aesthetic concerns, but also the complex meanings that technology had acquired in both the production of culture and the culture of production.
NOTES
I am grateful to the astute suggestions that my colleagues Mike Bryson, Regina Buccola, .LP5XQDQG-DQHW:RQGUDSURYLGHGRQDQHDUO\GUDIWWRWKHUHVSRQVHVWRGLHUHQW parts of my interpretation from my Roosevelt students; and to the constructive comments RIWKHWZRDQRQ\PRXVUHDGHUVRIWKHMRXUQDO6SHFLDOWKDQNVWR*UDKDP0DF3KHHDQG (OL]DEHWK/XNHQVDWCollege LiteratureDQGWR$UQROG/R]DQRDW5R\([SRUW6$6 I am not suggesting that the public was ignorant of his celebrity status. As Charles 0DODQGQRWHV&KDSOLQPDGHHYHU\HRUWWRÀDXQWKLVFHOHEULW\LQKLVVHULDOL]HGPHPRLU RIKLVZRUOGWRXUA Comedian Sees the World$QGLQDNew York Times article, “Ten Men Who Stand as Symbols,” which grouped Chaplin with the Prince of Wales, 0XVVROLQL6WDOLQWKH3RSH)RUG*DQGKL/LQGEHUJK(LQVWHLQDQG6KDZ&KDSOLQZDV presented as being able to personify oppositions: he was “the highbrow who happens to be a hobo, the duke who was only born a dustman, the utterly genteel who is utterly VKDEE\´0DODQG+RZHYHUWKHSURSHQVLW\RIDXGLHQFHVWRLGHQWLI\V\PSD thetically with the Tramp within the sentimental comic narratives of his invention LQGXFHVDVXVSHQVLRQRIDZDUHQHVVRIKLVRVFUHHQLGHQWLW\
'HVSLWHKLVHQWKXVLDVPIRU¿OPDVPHDQVRIDFKLHYLQJWKH³QHRWHFKQLFSKDVH´0XPIRUG FULWLFL]HGQHDUO\DOO$PHULFDQ¿OPPDNHUV IRUVTXDQGHULQJ¿OP¶VSRWHQWLDOE\ LQGXOJ LQJ³VFDUFHO\DGROHVFHQWIDQWDVLHVFUHDWHGDQGSURMHFWHGZLWKWKHDLGRIWKHPDFKLQH´ WKHUHE\PDNLQJ³WKHPDFKLQHULWXDOWROHUDEOHWRWKHYDVWXUEDQRUXUEDQL]HGSRSXOD WLRQVRIWKHZRUOG´0XPIRUG
3 Indeed, the original title for Modern Times was “The Masses.” It was abandoned because RILWVHFKRRIWKHWLWOHRIWKHUDGLFDOVRFLDOLVWMRXUQDO
See Maland, who describes Modern Times as a “case study of ambivalence about the rela WLRQVKLSEHWZHHQDHVWKHWLFVDQGLGHRORJ\´
,QFRQVLGHULQJWKHUHFLSURFDOUHÀH[LYLW\LQModern Times, I am indebted to Robert Stam’s UHPDUNVRQDOOHJRULHVRISURGXFWLRQDQGVSHFWDWRUVKLSFKDSWHUVDQGModern Times appears to stand alone in combining the two. To be sure, Keaton deployed the one in The Cameraman DQGWKHRWKHULQSherlock Jr. EXW,FDQWKLQNRIQRRWKHU H[DPSOHFRQWHPSRUDQHRXVZLWK&KDSOLQRUODWHUWKDWGHSOR\VERWKLQRQH¿OP
7KHVHLQWHUGHSHQGHQWIRUPVRIUHÀH[LYLW\SRVLWLRQWKH¿OPEHWZHHQWKHWZRSROHVWKDW David James ascribes to a much later distinction in the historical development of the PHGLXPEHWZHHQLQGXVWULDOFLQHPDZKLFKHPSKDVL]HV¿OPDVFRPPRGLW\DQGDOWHUQD tive cinema, which reimagines and restructures the relationships among those engaged
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76FRWWZHGVODLVVH]IDLUHHFRQRPLFVDQG&DOYLQLVPWRKLVWHFKQRORJLFDOYLVLRQZKHQKH declares that:
)ORRGVDQGGURXJKWVDUHWKHZDUQLQJRI3URYLGHQFHWKDWZHFLWL]HQVRIWKLV&RQWL QHQWKDGEHWWHUPHQGRXUVLQIXOZD\V$JURWHFKQRORJ\LVRQWKHPDUFKZLWKLWV)DUD GD\)OXLG)HHGLQJ3URFHVVRUWDQNIDUPV'URXJKWVZLOOIRUFHWKHIXUWKHUHFRQRPLF liquidation of farmers in the United States and Canada.
This forcing is seen as a providential blessing for it simultaneously compels the LQWURGXFWLRQRQDFRPPHUFLDOVFDOHRIDJURWHFKQRORJ\E\ZKLFKPDQIRUWKH¿UVW time in his history will no longer be dependent upon the fertility of soil and the vagaries of the weather. Technocracy wishes to express its thanks to this providential DLG6FRWW
Although the title of his article quotes Roosevelt’s famous phrase, his antagonism toward New Deal policies could not have been more pointed. He singled out only these IHZZRUGVIURPWKHSUHVLGHQWLDOVSHHFKDV³VLJQL¿FDQW´DQGGLVPLVVHGWKHUHVWDV³LUUHO HYDQW´6FRWW
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machines and machine design in the work of a wide array of visual artists. Indeed, &KDSOLQKLPVHOIVHUYHGDVDUHDGLO\LGHQWL¿DEOH¿JXUHIRUDUWLVWVZKRWDSSHGLQWRWKH ethos of the ‘machine age,’ as can be seen in Hart Crane’s explicitly attributed poem ³&KDSOLQHVTXH´DQGLQ)HUGLQDQG/pJHU¶VSDLQWLQJ³&KDUORW&XELVWH´7KH ODWWHU LQVSLUHG/pJHU WRFROODERUDWHZLWK*HRUJH$QWKHLORQDQDQLPDWHG¿OPBallet Mécanique LQZKLFKWKH7UDPSLQWHUDFWVZLWKDYDULHW\RIWUDGLWLRQDODUWREMHFWV such as the “Mona Lisa.” Sherwood Anderson’s Perhaps Women, a meditation on the ‘machine age’ as an assault on masculinity, includes an account of his visiting a factory DWQLJKWZKHUHKHZLWQHVVHVWKHJKRVWO\LPDJHRIWKHODWHVKLIWZRUNHUV)ULJKWHQHGE\ WKHLPSRVLQJSUHVHQFHRIDURDGEXLOGLQJPDFKLQHKHLGHQWL¿HVZLWK&KDSOLQWRH[SUHVV his sense of vulnerable impotence:
I became a Charlie Chaplin that night by the mill gate. I was, to myself at least and IRUWKHWLPHWKHUHLQWKHKDOIGDUNQHVVMXVWWKHJURWHVTXHOLWWOH¿JXUH&KDSOLQEULQJV upon our screen.
+H&KDSOLQWKHOLWWOH¿JXUHZLWKWKHFDQHSXWWLQJWKHKDWEDFNFRUUHFWO\ on his head, pulling at the lapels of his worn coat, walking grotesquely, standing EOLQNLQJWKXVEHIRUHDZRUOGKHGRHVQRWFRPSUHKHQGFDQQRWFRPSUHKHQG
%UXVKLQJKLV FORWKHV DV ,ZDVGRLQJZLWK D VRLOHGSRFNHWKDQGNHUFKLHI³KH ZRXOGKDYHEHHQ´,WKRXJKW³MXVWWKHRQHWRUXQDV,KDGGRQHIURPDQLGOHURDG PDNLQJPDFKLQHWKLQNLQJLWDPDQKLVTXLFNUDWKHUIUDJLOHPLQGDQGIHHOLQJXSVHW KLVH\HVGLVWRUWLQJWKLQJVDV,VRRIWHQGR´$QGHUVRQ
6HH)RXFDXOWIRUDQDQDO\VLVRIWKHSDQRSWLFRQ¶VRSSUHVVLYHVFUXWLQ\+H also stresses the importance of “disciplinary power . . . exercised through invisibility; at WKHVDPHWLPHLWLPSRVHVRQWKRVHZKRPLWVXEMHFWVDSULQFLSOHRIFRPSXOVRU\YLVLELOLW\´ 7KHFRUUHVSRQGHQFHRIWKLVSRZHURIYLVLRQLVFHQWUDOWR¿OP,Q&KDSOLQ¶VQDUUD tive, the prison is ironically the one place the Tramp comes to prefer.
6HH+LWHZKRGHYHORSVDFRPSOH[DUJXPHQWDERXWWKHLPSRUWDQFHRIHDWLQJDQG WKHGHSULYDWLRQRIWKH*UHDW'HSUHVVLRQWKDWGUDZVRQSRVWVWUXFWXUDODQDO\VLVRIKLV WRULFDOLQÀXHQFHVVXFKDVWKHHFLHQF\REVHVVLRQLQLQGXVWULDO$PHULFDLQWKLVSHULRG
Lawrence Howe | ESSAYS
Dan Kamin also observes this allusion in a caption under a photograph of this image, but he sees this as merely reinforcing “Chaplin’s confrontation with sound movies” in this ¿OP-XOLDQ6PLWKPRUHSRLQWHGO\UHDGVWKLVVFHQHDV³DSOD\IXOFRPPHQWDU\ on the internal and external pressures upon Chaplin to keep up his level of productivity, WRNHHSWKH¿OPVPRYLQJRQKLVRZQDVVHPEO\OLQH´6PLWK+RZHYHUDOWKRXJK Chaplin did announce rather ambitious plans for his output, he had settled into a much more deliberate pace which slowed his output considerably in this period of his career. So he seems not to have responded to those particular pressures. In fact, it seems hard to imagine that Chaplin would have considered his own process under United Artists WREHDQDVVHPEO\OLQH7RWKHFRQWUDU\WKHFRPSDQ\ZDVIRUPHGE\¿OPDUWLVWVZKR resented being treated as interchangeable parts in the Hollywood machinery, for the express purpose of reclaiming control of their art.
:HPLJKWDOVRQRWHWKDWWKLVJOLPSVHLQWRWKHLQQHUZRUNLQJVRIWKHIDFWRU\EHOW PDFKLQHUHSOLFDWHVWKHHPSKDVLVRIWKHHDUO\DGYHUWLVHPHQWVIRU(GLVRQ¶V.LQHWRVFRSH DQG9LWDVFRSHLQWKH8QLWHG6WDWHVDQGIRU/XPLqUH¶V&LQHPDWRJUDSKHLQ)UDQFHWKXV VXERUGLQDWLQJWKHFRQWHQWRUHHFWRI¿OP³WRWKHSHUIRUPDQFHRIWKHDSSDUDWXVDQGWKH GLVSOD\RILWVPDJLF´-DPHV
The Billows feeding machine sequence is complemented by the later factory scene LQZKLFKWKH7UDPSDVVLVWVDVXSHUYLVLQJPHFKDQLF &KHVWHU&RQNOLQ LQSUHSDULQJD decommissioned plant to resume production. Reversing the terms and conditions of the visual rhetoric, the Tramp’s incompetence in the later episode leads to the mechanic being devoured into the machine, not the Tramp. The reversal is extended when the lunch whistle blows, for it is not the Tramp who is fed, as in the demonstration of the Billows machine, but rather he who feeds the supervisor trapped in the machine. The Tramp’s role reversal from eater to feeder corresponds to the split between Chaplin’s positions as both character in and creator of the narrative.
:DOWHU%HQMDPLQUHIHUHQFHV'XKDPHO¶VGLVWUXVWRI¿OPDVPDQLSXODWLQJWKHVSHFWD WRU¶VWKRXJKWSURFHVVDOWKRXJKLWLVDQRWLRQWKDW%HQMDPLQUHMHFWV+HDUJXHVLQVWHDG that the interruption to the spectator’s typical “process of association . . . constitutes WKHVKRFNHHFWRIWKH¿OPZKLFKOLNHDOOVKRFNVVKRXOGEHFXVKLRQHGE\KHLJKWHQHG SUHVHQFHRIPLQG´%HQMDPLQ
Veblen makes a comparable point, noting that “vicarious consumption” and “vicarious OHLVXUH´DUHIXQFWLRQVSHUIRUPHGFKLHÀ\E\WKHZLIHLQERXUJHRLVIDPLOLHV9HEOHQ
Of course, the stimulation of desire begins even before a shopper enters the store with advertisements and the spectacle of window displays. The analogy of windows to movie screens is particularly apt with department store displays. See Lancaster who attributes WKHVKRZPDQVKLSRIUHWDLOGLVSOD\VWR/)UDQN%DXPZKRDGDSWHGKLVHDUO\ZRUNPDQ DJLQJKLVIDPLO\¶VWKHDWHUVWRKLVLQYROYHPHQWLQ&KLFDJRUHWDLO/DQFDVWHU
,QDGGLWLRQWRPDNLQJWKLVSODLQLQKLVLQWURGXFWRU\FKDSWHU)LOHQHIRFXVHVLQFKDSWHU on the importance of buying power to a sound economic system.
5HMHFWLQJWKLVWKHRU\&KDVHDQG6FKOLQNEOXQWO\DVVHUWHGWKDW³0DQGRHVQRWOLYHWR keep money in circulation; money circulates to help him live. If it does not, the whole HFRQRPLFV\VWHPKDGEHVWEHVFUDSSHGDVWKHODVWZRUGLQWRSV\WXUY\QRQVHQVH´&KDVH DQG6FKOLQN
(SVWHLQ¶VUHFHQWDQDO\VLVRI+ROO\ZRRG¿QDQFHVUHYHDOVDPXFKPRUHFRPSOH[DUUDQJH ment of licensing agreements in the contemporary era.
COLLEGE LITERATURE | :LQWHU
7KHGHPDQG IRUQRYHOW\ LVQRWH[FOXVLYH WR¿OP9HEOHQ¶V DQDO\VLVRI WDVWH DQG IDVK ion emphasizes the transitory qualities of novelty that generate shifts under a “canon of reputability” under which “anything will be accepted as becoming until its novelty ZHDUVR´9HEOHQ
In the opening scene of City Lights&KDSOLQPRFNVWKHLPSRUWDQFHRIVSHHFKE\ distorting the orations of civic dignitaries at the dedication of a statue into a cacophony of squawks, subtly ridiculing the enthusiasm for the cinematic innovation of talking pictures. However, this opening satire of talkies in City Lights is undercut by the end of WKHVWRU\7KLV¿OPH[SOLFLWO\HPSKDVL]HVWKHUHOHYDQFHRIYLVLRQE\HQDEOLQJWKH7UDPS WREHPLVWDNHQE\DEOLQGZRPDQ9LUJLQLD&KHUULOODVDPDQRIFRQVLGHUDEO\KLJKHU means. Structured around the disparity between what she imagines and what the audi ence can see, City Lights FRQYH\V WKHSDWKRVRI WKH7UDPS¶V VDFUL¿FH LQ IXO¿OOLQJKLV beloved’s dreams by giving her the money to restore her sight, and thus the means both to see and to elevate her status from street vendor to the proprietress of a legitimate ÀRZHU VKRS+RZHYHU WKH IXOO LURQ\ RI WKH HQGLQJ WXUQV RQ WKH DELOLW\ RI WKH QRZ VLJKWHGZRPDQWRUHFRJQL]HWKH7UDPS¶VYRLFHDYRLFHWKDWZHFDQQRWKHDUFRPLQJ from the disheveled Tramp she now sees before her. In this epiphany, she realizes the true class identity of the man who rescued her. Thus, while the power of the spectator’s YLVLRQDVRSSRVHGWRWKHEHORYHG¶VYLVXDOGH¿FLWJHQHUDWHVWKHFRQÀLFWWKHVWRU\¶VUHOL ance on her ability to hear what we cannot exposes the approaching limit of Chaplin’s HQJDJHPHQWZLWKWKHVLOHQW¿OP
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LAWRENCE HOWELV3URIHVVRURI(QJOLVKDW5RRVHYHOW8QLYHUVLW\LQ&KLFDJRDQG the author of 0DUN7ZDLQDQGWKH1RYHO7KH'RXEOH&URVVRI$XWKRULW\&DPEULGJH +LVVFKRODUVKLSFRYHUVDZLGHUDQJHRIWRSLFVIURPWKH1$0(63URMHFW¶V $,'60HPRULDO4XLOWWRWKH¿OPVRI$OIUHG+LWFKFRFN
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