Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times into our society today

The characteristics of modern society portrayed in the film that persist to this days, are many. The film opens with an image of a batch of sheep moving, the next scene shows crowds of people mobilizing in the streets, this shows the incredible but real similarity that exists between us and animals, where everybody is moving in a single metropolitan area, from one side to another to reach our destiny.
Even today exists production’s plants, for example to produce kitchens. Within these working online, where if a worker fails,  it all fails, as a delay or stop the production, also people have different functions, working individually in order to assemble different parts of the product. Finally, it is truly a collective, but individual responsibility, one could say that were’re just one more piece of machinery.

The characteristics of most of the jobs that exist today, mainly the lower and middle class, are the same as those presented in the film, such as a predetermined program, working standards and guidelines, the presence of a chief who is to obey immediately and claims, it also monitors each workplace, ensuring that everything is in order and working properly, finally, unlike the other workers, has a specific individual, such as an office, with better conditions for their duty. Also, the end of the work remains the same. It seeks to improve the productivity of man, decreasing free time, resulting in new inventions for this (for example, is an invention to feed the workers while they do their work, and thus able to “get ahead of the competition,” “reduce unnecessary costs “and” save energy “)” If it is not practical, not interested. ”
Subordinates are also monitored every worker in the workplace, to monitor whether they comply with their work, this way, each employee must be informed (through cards, for example) that give each movement (toileting, lunch) .
Just as there are commonalities in the usefulness of the work, it produces the same effect on most people, unhappiness and dissatisfaction difficult to remove, it tells people that they should “try to be calm and avoid strong emotions.”

The film presents a society made up of people who desperately want to belong to it, and its persistent and continuous attempts to belong to society. To think the same way that if one does not work, you can not achieve this goal, “we must work to serve and contribute something for the good of society.” People have the same desire for a future uncertain but hopeful. They have the same projects and future plans (having a job, a house, raise a family, own property comfortable and good food, fine clothes, etc..) And the same conception of happiness, and this is one type material. There is a mentality of: “Everything we can get it working.”

Currently exist in parallel with the above, similar features as the figure of institutions governing society, such as police, acting as the highest authority, impose fear and order. As a result of economic inequality and social situation, people are protesting for freedom, equality and unity through strikes, protests, demonstrations, etc..
Finally, criminal offenses occurring on the streets, creating a social insecurity. This creates the need to build prisons as a way to control and “cage” to those who make and cause disturbances. Within these prisons are created forms of coexistence between identical and homogeneous individuals .

       Do you feel like this sometimes?  →