Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin stars in the movie City Lights, a silent, black and white film, made in the 1930's. Chaplin, who portrays the character of a tramp, is the comic hero throughout the movie. It is odd that the film casts a tramp as the comic hero. Usually, no one laughs at a poor tramp; people tend to have pity and sympathy for a tramp or not even associate with one. Many of Chaplin's actions are common everyday routines for him, but his actions and gestures provide humor and comic relief in the film making him the comic hero. Henri Bergson discusses the comic in "Laughter". Bergson writes about the comic by breaking it down into different parts such as the comic in general, the comic in character and the expansive force of the comic. The Webster's Dictionary only goes as far as defining the comic as "an amusing person." Bergson, however, chooses to stay away from giving the comic a distinct, dictionary-like definition; instead he describes it, gives examples and dives deeper into the comic's meaning and purpose (62). Through diverse roles and Charlie Chaplin's simpleness, many aspects of humor grow out of accidental happenings and coincidence. Bergson provides reason and understanding to back up what people think is funny.
The first part of the comic, which is the comic in general, kind of describes itself; this information is general to all comics. Comedy can be expressed in many ways, but laughter always accompanies it (71). Laughter always happ...

Charlie Chaplin

Login

Join