Modern Times Review

written by Aizat. (Work)

I was really excited as I watched over the first two scenes of Modern Times video that featuring Charlie Chaplin as the main character. In fact, I even laughed pretty hard at the time I watched that movie not just because it was funny, but how it amazed me with so much connections with all the readings that we have done so far.
In this video, it portrays clearly with somewhat in Braverman reading when he says about the existence of division of labor derived from the earliest innovative principle of the capitalist mode of production. When we talk about the division of labor, we know that it is separated to two different matters which is the social division of labor in general and the social division of labor in detail. Again, in this video, the social division of labor in detail plays its main function in dividing up industrial workers such as Chaplin to do a specific task on his entire day apart from the overall production process. Well, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing to do because as we can see the result of the introduction of the social division of labor in detail in the industrial process helps a lot in increasing the means of production and the productivity produced by the workers. Nevertheless, I cannot agree to all benefits bring by this system up to the extent when it eventually altering jobs so that work becomes less important or less complicated and thus can be easily handled out by deskilled workers. Yes, these conditions do increase the job opportunities especially for many unskilled workers out there, however, in reality, things that they do not truly realize are that their chance or right to voice up their concerns regarding works that they do become zero. Subsequently, these workers have no other choice but have to accept the fact that they being paid by relatively low wages and if not they can be easily terminated or replaced with someone else who desperately need a job. Braverman wrote, "the subdivision of the individual, when carried on without regard to human capabilities and needs, is a crime against the person and against humanity". I agree to that the most without any further explanations but just based on the above example.
Also what saddens me when I get to watch this video are about the way capitalist economy forces people to use their labor energy up the maximum level just simply because it wants to gain a full profit out of each worker and consequently neglect the necessity of maintaining the employees welfare. Such example, we saw on the second part of this movie when Chaplin suddenly and unexpectedly acting very awkwardly as the result of the high tension swirled in his head or to be more exactly, in the workplace itself. Why is this happening to him? Answers to that, the social division of labor which was being practically applied by the based capitalist owner of that factory caused him to work harder and harder and, continuously employees monitoring by the employer caused the workers to work in great pressure.