Understanding Social Issues Through Charlie Chaplin

Who is Charlie Chaplin and how we can understand social issues from him? 

Charlie Chaplin is one of the greatest actor of all time. He is largely considered as the greatest comic artist of the film and one of the most important people in motion picture history. He is a British comedian, producer, writer, director, and composer. The modern times is regarded as one the finest work of him.it was released in 1936.it is movie about the industrial society, movie tells the story about the man who is born in industrial society and shows us his struggles.

What was the social structure and what role each member of the society played at that time?

The first scene of the movie starts where Charlie Chaplin is working at the factory. He is assigned to tighten the screw. This was based on one of the 14 principles of management given by Henri Fayol: The Division of Work states that if workers are given a specialized task to do, they will become skillful and more efficient in it. After Fayol came up with this theory, it revolutionized the production process. Every industry did this, dividing the work and assigning specialized tasks to workers. It was cost effective, so every industry adopted it. This theory divided industrial society into three parts:

1) capitalists (who owned the factory)

2) Managers

3) Workers 

In the first 10 minutes of the movie, we can see the difference between the first two and the third. Workers are working hard while the managers are watching what the workers are doing. The scene where Charlie and the girl were looking at the home The men were going to work and the women were doing the work of the home. This scene tells us how, at that time, most of the women were working at home while men were the only source of income for the households.

What was the economic situation at that time and what was the impact of this economic situation on the normal people and society?

The movie is based on the 1930s period. At that time, a great depression was going on. The film discusses the depression and how it affected people and society. In 1930, there were lots of protests in the United States by union leaders because of unemployment. Unemployment was a huge problem during that time. Unemployment leads to people having less money, and because they have less money, they can not fulfil their basic needs. and that is the reason why there were lots of protests.

Due to unemployment, the crime rate has increased in the USA. We can see that from the one scene of the one man getting shot. The movie also demonstrates how hunger leads people to do anything. In the boat scene, the girl tries to steal a banana and, after that, one piece of bread.

What does the movie show us and what can we learn from it?

This movie shows the life of the labour class. How they struggled at the time of depression ,At the scene where some mob was robbing the mall and Charlie was the watchman, we learned that the members of the mob were the labourers who had to do this because they were forced to leave their job.

The scene of the girl and Charlie talking about how they will build a small house together is heartwarming. They imagine themselves living a happy life together in a small house. This scene shows us how we humans need the support of other people. In difficult times, we need the support of other people. That is why humans built the concept of family and society. so he can feel secure and safe. We can see this in the movie where the girl was feeling sad and Charlie was there to support him.

the movie gives us a new perspective to look at our life and tells us that whatever the situation is  always look forward to it. The people we are attached to or the people we love makes our life meaningful and worth living.