Modernism

Modernism and the cinematic art of Charlie Chaplin in the early twentieth century.

In all the seriousness of Modernism there was one person who was able to get the modern world to finally laugh at its new technological self and subliminally question if this new modern reality was a good thing. Charlie Chaplin's entrance into Hollywood allowed his open-minded humble perception of the world to be shared, which enabled people of many nations, economic statuses and political parties to be brought together. He brought sanity to the modern society. Chaplin's representation of a dualistic character which he conveyed in many of his films, presented a stylized view of the attitudes of the time. The dualistic character was the 'innocent fool and the humble workman'.  

Chaplin commented on the film: “It [the picture] started from an abstract idea, an impulse to say something about the way life is being standardized and channelized, men turned into machines—and the way I felt about it.”