Soupçon, In Memoriam Series, V. Iii

                            Soupçon III                                                        In Memoriam Series                                                           V.iii   

It can be argued that "Modern Times" is interesting because of its depiction of womanhood. In most of his films, Chaplin treats women in a rather gallant fashion, that is to say, in the typical traditional way as good, mild, sweet, kind.

Ellen in this film is quite a cookie. When the tramp first comes across her after the wreckage of his shipbroker job, she is an orphaned street urchin. She, is, moreover labelled as a thief. The Tramp saves her by declaring himself a thief, albeit in his determined effort to return to the jail.

Next when we meet her after his release from the jail, she is a café dancer. In other words, some riffraff, she is no genteel, or gentle, lady. Yet her resourcefulness, though minor and rather petty, finally sees them on the way to some space far away from all the city shenanigans to the repetitive rhythm of machines! 

Charlie Chaplin, in brief, is showing us that it is the common man, and woman, whom the machine-obsessed modern times vanquish. A comment worth our serious note-n-notice in the AI era of today!

Pratima Agnihotri