Charlie Chaplins Modern Times is a comedy, but there are many important messages that Chaplin is telling the audience about life during the 30's in america.
1930s America was the start of the depression. Americans were out of work and when they did get work it was hard and often not enough to support their family's. This is reflected a lot in Modern times, there are the obvious things such as the heroins father being out of work and rioting and then more subtle references such as Chaplins character enjoying life in Prison more than the outside world, we understand that not only is Chaplin getting fed in prison but also has the safety of his cell. We understand why Chaplin is so reluctant to stay and although in the film it is a comical aspect it gives us something to think about the 30s in America.
Chaplin even explicitly makes fun of the American Dream, this idea that if you worked hard enough you could build yourself a home and have the perfect family, The tramp and Paulette Goddard's characters watch eagerly as the 'perfect couple' say goodbye to each other. The Tramp says the line "We'll get a home even if we have to work for it". But by this he doesn't mean the kind of work that pays like a job, because there are no jobs, they have to resort to stealing. This is amusing in the film, but also moves us as we know, as did American audiences when the film was realised that this is a realistic approach to being able to survive. Its what makes Modern times more meaningful that just a comedy, its a story about hard work, no matter how hard you work or try you still cant reach that dream. In a way its extremely tragic and we are left with wondering what will happen to the couple. Could the tramp end up like the father? Will they get caught by the police? We are left unknown, much like the Americans were when they could not get jobs, what was their fate?
Chaplin was giving us more than just a comedy when he wrote and directed Modern Times.
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