ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOR

ASSIGNMENT

CHAPLIN IN MODERN TIMES

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Modern times which was filmed in 1936 was a theatrical presentation of the great depression and
effects of increasing industrialization through Charlie Chaplin’s eyes.

The great depression which led to mass unemployment and social issues and economic crisis, it
began in 1929 during Hoover’s presidency. Change of presidency led to change in the deals made to
improve the lives of the citizens but it wasn’t until 1935 that this change came about to be seen,
hence the movie depicts this confusion of living in changing presidency and changing ideas for better
living conditions which is depicted by the roles of two ordinary people juggling life with the events
they are encountered with.

The movie carries a comedy genre wherein a little tramp in his oversized black shoes, toothbrush
face moustache, larger than head hat, cane and all black clothes is seen working in electro steel
factory wherein speeding up of the work and some other instances lead him to have a nervous
breakdown and he is sent to off. On his return, He is faced with multiple challenges which lead him
to jail which he in turn ends up getting comfortable in and when released early, reluctant to re-join
the real world , trying to end up in jail again , he comes across the second character – The gamin ,
who is being pursued by the justice juvenile for protection after the death of her father in labour
fight. And when the two characters meet a new adventure begins.

The film was the last of it’s time technically a quasi-silent film. No customary dialogues were
included, however voices through machines, big brother screen and Chaplin’s voice in the last scene
in the form of a gibberish song were found to be heard.

Chaplin never included language or dialogues in his movies because it meant for him limiting the
audience of the movie because what is a dialogue in one language is nonsense in other.

The movie begins with a statement – the story of industry, of individual enterprise- humanity
crusading in the pursuit of happiness which was a comment on the general theme of the movie. The
scene that follows shows herds of sheep running in one direction compared to the crowd of men
which follow the same pattern of herding signifying the then condition of the workers in factories –
being degraded, used without a sense of humanity which probably were one of the reasons for the
emergence of the discipline of organisational behaviour. And amongst them we can easily trace
Chaplin in the black clothes who is going to cause problems. (like a black sheep in a herd of white
sheep.

INDUSTRIALIZATION was one of the main themes that I found to be ruling the movie, wherein the
workers were hired in huge numbers and placed in an assembly-line working situation, working to
their optimum potential for beyond minimum wage. They were not entitled to use their break time
because it hindered with company’s production which was evident when the tramp couldn’t smoke
during his break. The industries cared only about their production hence any improvement made in
the worker’s workstyle was completely for their selfish motives and not out of care for the workers.
Evidence being the feeding machine which was tested on the tramp to look at the possibilities of
improving the work potential of the workers wherein they could work even during their lunch break
with no need to feed themselves because the machine would do it for them. Correlating this theory
to that of Fredrich Taylor who in 1883 carried out his time and motion studies at two steel plants
with the aim of coming up with optimal numbers for worker’s work capacity and practices such as
soldiering (published in 1913). Taylor’s theories – Taylorism was inhuman in the sense that he
wanted to speed up the work and reach optimal numbers of production not by caring for the
workers and making their work easy but just by coming up with technology to prevent any hindrance
in the work of the employees of which the feeding machine was a great example till it started
malfunctioning.

The assembly line working had instilled a motion of working in the workers which they could not get
rid of, it had become imbedded in them, and in the tramp’s case it led to his nervous breakdown.

One particular scene from the movie that shouted industrialization was the scene where the tramp
got dissolved into the belly of the machines which was a great metaphor of how the machines were
ruling the people and industrialization was feeding on humanity.

One particular instance in the movie also shows ROBOTIZATION wherein when the tramp gets work
again in a JETSONMILL factory, we see machines taking over all the manual work that was earlier don
by hands, and that left even lesser jobs for the employee class. As a result, the labour walkout
happens and he loses his job again.

UNEMPLOYEEMENT was another major theme which prevailed in the movie which came as a result
of capitalism during that time which led the people to take the streets in the urge to protest against
the system and demand for liberation and freedom from the system of being treated indifferently
with the machines being pushed to reach it’s mental and physical limits to attain the capitalist’s goal
of growth. Prevailing to this theme, the two characters try to find a job to fulfil their dream of living
together in a house leading a simple life which they make pretend for a while in Hooverville (the
slums and shacks in the times of Hoover’s presidency). Following this theme, another satire appears
in the movie wherein the tramp’s innocent action of picking up the flag dropped from the truck
makes him the communist leader and lands him in jail.

However, in line to the timeline of studies conducted in 1930’s to improve this condition of the
employee class was the Hawthorne studies conducted by Elton mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger who
also put forward the movement of Human Relations in order to bring a wind of change in the
treatment styles of the workers. The studies were divided into four parts: The illumination studies,
the relay assembly room experiment, the interviewing program and the bank wiring observation
room experiment. And the studies implied the following:

1. Workers will work harder when being watched and that will lead to a greater production
income.
2. Relationships between workers and their superiors were very important. It not only showed
increase in work quality but also inclusion in the process of decision making.
3. Asking from workers about their opinions showed them that they mattered and hence
increased positive attitudes amongst them.
4. And lastly the bank wiring study allowed for communication to go around in many ways.
Upwards, downwards, sideways etc.

This brought forward a new wave of ways of doing thing after the great depression which led to
improvement in working styles and job satisfaction.

In regards to the theory that correlates with the movie, I found Maslow’s theory of needs to be
in sync which states that man works to fulfil some basic needs and, in that direction, goes up
fulfilling one need after the other. This theory condenses needs into five basic categories.
Maslow ordered these needs in his hierarchy, beginning with the basic psychological needs and
continuing through safety, belonging and love, esteem and self-actualization. In his theory, the
lowest unsatisfied need becomes the dominant, or the most powerful and significant need. The
most dominant need activates an individual to act to fulfil it. Satisfied needs do not motivate.
Individual pursues to seek a higher need when lower needs are fulfilled. And the factory owners
fed on these basic physiological needs of the workers to let them have enough to survive and
keep working for them in hope that someday they will get more.

Vroom’s expectancy theory can also be related to the working tides of modern times wherein
the tramp worked hard with the expectancy of getting a job if he did good and keep the job by
doing a good work there. The expectancy theory places an emphasis on the process and on the
content of motivation as well, and it integrates needs, equity and reinforcement theories.

Victor Vroom's (1964) expectancy theory aims to explain how people choose from the available
actions. Vroom defines motivation as a process that governs our choices among alternative
forms of voluntary behaviour. The basic rationale of this theory is that motivation stems from
the belief that decisions will have their desired outcomes.

The motivation to engage in an activity is determined by appraising three factors. These three
factors are; Expectancy, Instrumentality and Valence. Vroom supposes that expectancy,
instrumentality and valence are multiplied together to determine motivation. This means that if
any of these is zero, then the motivation to do something will be zero as well.

Coming back to the movie one major theme which we can’t go by mentioning was – hope, which
kept the characters going and kept the tramp which portray every working class in the city
always expect for something better to happen even when he was in jail. It shows an optimistic
attitude that an ideal working-class individual keeps, hoping for a better future, a future that will
carry him past all his mis happening and misfortunes.

Ending with the ray of hope when the gamin exclaims – “what’s the sue of trying?” and the
tramp replies – “Buck up, never say die, we’ll get along! “

And they smile and move on to the unnamed roads in hope for a better future ahead.

- Skp162e0390
- Aishwarya garg
- B.A. (hons) psychology