Modern Times are Hard Times

Modern Times, A Charlie Chaplin film, is a “story of industry, of individual enterprise-- humanity crusading in the pursuit of happiness.” The film focuses on the divide between the boss and the workers of society. It expresses Chaplin’s hatred for a newly developed technology based on work environment, where productivity outweighs skill and craftsmanship. Chaplin wastes no time developing the plot and then introducing the conflict in the film. This linear progression was seen throughout most of classical Hollywood, but this film would not have been nearly as effective if he had done so. His film is radical and expresses an intense personal feeling that Chaplin felt he must express.
With this said, I feel the opening seen, set in the factory, is a strong example of his dislike for the new technological innovations. The characters that he uses in the factory show the diversity of people that can perform the simple tasks that are required to prep the item for the machine that does a majority of the work. He places himself, a small framed man, right next to a much larger to emphasize the lack of strength and skill it takes to perform this minute tasks. Also the all knowing, all seeing boss plays a crucial role, even though he is not shown as much. The idea of being watched constantly from a higher power is what kept the workers moving. For example, When the “little tramp” tries to take a break, he clocks out and goes into the bathroom. Almost instantaneously the screen flashes up with the boss that says get back to work. The differences between the two show in the outfits they are wearing and the amount of physical labor they are each doing. The workers are in work clothes white t shirts, pants, and look dirty and sweaty probably from the heat, the fast paced working environment, and not having breaks. On the other hand, the boss is wearing a suit, sitting behind a desk watching over the workers from a television screen, and exerting no physical activity what so ever. The main focus in this scene is the assembly line/belt and how it functions. If one person slows down the production slows down and if the boss orders them to be sped up the workers must immediately adjust work faster so the assembly line functions efficiently.
This scene is just foreshadowing the central meaning that is expressed throughout the film. The authority of society is vested in a small group of people who control the masses. Their has been a hierarchy instituted in society that formed out of technology. With technology increasing, the need for workers becomes less and the jobs they perform are merely assisting the machines. The people at the top of the hierarchy perform none of the manual labor; they are in charge of hiring and firing at the companies expense and finding people that will work for the lowest wage. Another idea that Chaplin is trying to emphasize is the idea that “time is money.” The faster things get done the more they products they can produce. From an economic standpoint, more products for consumers equal more money companies, but not their workers. The amount of products does not directly affect the people making them, because they don’t get more money if they produce more products., but because jobs were limited workers had to comply with what the bosses wanted in order to stay employed, because unemployment was worse than being in jail. This is represented when Chaplin goes to jail and wishes to stay because in jail, you have the essentials for life, which are not always promised if you were unemployed. In a time where technology is replacing hardworking employees and only the men at the top are reaping the benefits, one must do what is necessary to live.

Throughout the years people have argued about controversial advertisement and what it is that makes them controversial. The Standards for these ads have changed over time but some argue that it has gotten out of control. In today’s society many ads have been seen as controversial especially in relation to gender roles. Over the last couple weeks, I have studied many “questionable” advertisements and a majority of the arguments that arise around how women are expected to be in real life in comparison to how people look and act in advertisements.

There is a standard code of ethics that apply when producing an advertisement. They mainly revolve around making advertisements appropriate for society as a whole in no relation to age, sex, gender, ethnicity, nationality, etc. What one might deem appropriate another may not. Advertisers have been known to push the line of what is considered appropriate in order to gain more attention from the media. One of the main issues in controversial advertisement revolves around the negative portrayal of women.

The sole purpose of advertising is to engage consumers in order to sell a product. Media images are directed towards men which in turn encourages women to view themselves through the eye of a man. This idea definitely pertains to the image of body shape. “Especially fashion photographs generate enormous dissatisfaction among women because they create unrealistic expectations that most women are unable to meet.” (Gender Race and Class in Media, Crane 314) This causes an issue when people start to think about what people consider the “ideal” body type.
Going off the image of an ideal body, what is considered normal for women? These ideas that advertisements project as an ideal body begin to alter the ideas of what is considered average for a woman. This, in turn, starts to make women question themselves if they are considered ideal or average or even over weight. This body image then ties into the questionable clothing and the over sexual positions that are portrayed in advertisements. What was once considered questionable has changed greatly over the decades in order to conform to society now.
In 1980,Brooke Shields, 15, did an advertisement for Calvin Klein Jeans. The advertisement was viewed as controversial because of her young age and the photo bared her stomach and she was placed in risqué poses. Calvin Klein is not the only designer that has run into issues of controversial advertisements. Dolce and Gabbana has shocked many people world wide with their border line advertisements.

They have depicted various types of violence in their ads and they also push the line of the dominating male role. Their ads have shown everything from models holding knives to bullet wounds through models heads. They even went as far to feature a border line rape scene. When advertisements like these are featured it brings up the question of what they are really selling in these ads: the clothes or the fantasy?

Their have been many quality of life studies done which ask people what they are seeking in life and what would ultimately make them happy. “It is primarily ‘social’ life and not ‘material’ life that seems to be the locus of perceived happiness” (Gender Race and Class in Media, Jhally 251). With that said, in order for advertisers to sell a product they must promote that social factor that the consumer desires and then connect it with the product they are trying to sell. Many advertisers use the opposite sex to sell products because it engages a sexual fantasy. When addressing this issue, two advertisements that I saw stuck out the most. Two advertisements in particular stuck out to me in relation to using sex to sell a product. The ad for alpine plastic surgery company.

It is targeting both men and women even though breast augmentation is just for women. It is implying that men fantasize about women with fake breasts so woman should get them to become more sexually appealing to men. It is also offering the “opportunity” to have a women that has breast like this. The other image I found extremely interesting was this Tom Ford Cologne ad.

It uses very “intense sexual images to try to sell product. It puts the idea in guy’s heads that by wearing this cologne, they can get this sexual fantasy. The advertisers use the social aspect of sexual fantasy to sell their product., sex is not a direct result from this product. So why do these advertisements keep getting aired? The answer is “SEX SELLS” regardless of the over all outcome.

Some questions arise from the idea of controversial advertisement. The main question is who are these ads actually affecting? But the answer to this question differs from country to country, class to class, person to person, etc. The idea of mass advertisement has been an issue for years, but it might never find a universal resolution.