Charlie Chaplin's 1936 silent comedy Modern Times has the classic tramp navigating an increasingly complex and frightening modern world of industrialization. There are many messages and things that a 21st century audience can take from this film; despite the fact that technology has increased much more than in the 1930s, the same themes resonate. Audiences in the 21st century can often feel like Chaplin's Little Tramp character, constantly trapped and threatened by these cogs and large buildings. In one particular scene, Chaplin is conveyed along a series of gears, his body swimming through the twists and turns of the movement of the machinery. This is a perfect metaphor for how much technology has learned to control us as much as we control it. We are very much dependent on these gadgets, just like in the world of Modern Times; Chaplin represents us, often getting lost in all of the darkness and lack of nature found in contemporary society.
In order to update this 1936 situation for the 21st century, we would imagine Modern Times and the Chaplin character as a man getting lost in the same kind of workplace, but this time all of the analog technology and gears are replaced by cell phones, the Internet, Bluetooth ear devices, and more. Mention would be made of the tramps' inability to find individuality or connection with other human beings, just as in the existing film (but with much graver overtones). The actual factory job might be changed to a draining call center job, as manufacturing is disappearing in America, but the same jokes can still be made of Chaplin's dehumanization as he goes to work.
Works Cited
Chaplin, Charlie. (dir.) Modern Times. Perf. Charlie Chaplin. United Artists, 1936. Film.
