Modernism

One of Chaplin’s biggest issues with modernism and the advancement of technology was the obsession with efficiency that came with it. In a conversation with Gandhi before producing the film, Chaplain came to see that technology that only considered profit had ruined lives and caused unemployment. Because of this, he tried to use the film to dramatize the problems with excessive technological efficiency. We see early on that the President’s desire to speed up the factory more and more is what causes the Tramp’s breakdown, but he even more poignantly criticizes efficiency with the feeding machine sequence. The use of a “mechanical salesmen” is meant to demonstrate that efficiency can quickly become ridiculous, as this technology is used to standardize the sales pitch, but takes away a job from the salesmen even though they need to be there anyway to show off the machine. The machine itself is also ridiculous—in an effort to increase efficiency, it turns the workers into animals who feed at a trough, and takes away a great deal of their freedom. The final punch line in the scene is when the President rejects the machine, not because of the harm it caused his workers, but simply because it is not practical or efficient enough.