"Modern Times" and "Big Automobile Factory"

Since elementary school, we were taught that “Industrial Revolution” was a turning point for the entire world. Even we can attribute the World Wars to the industrial revolution and the beginning of mass production which started a competition between those leading revolutionist countries. After more than two hundred years, we are still under the influence of this movement. Of course, many aspects have changed since the first factory was established; however some of them are exactly the same even today. While watching “Modern Times” by Charlie Chaplin and the documentary of Mercedes “ Big Automobile Factory”, one can easily notice these differences and similarities between manufactoring in 1930s and at the present.




To begin with the differences, development in technology has totally changed the devices used in the factories. The scenes with huge thoothed-wheels in the factory in “Modern Times” show that the technology was still depending on mechanical energy on those days. In addition, laborers had a direct effect on operating those machines by moving some levers or pressing some buttons. On the other hand, robots take place of the wheels in “ Big Automobile Factory”. Digital technology has been involved in every stage of the manufactoring and what the laborers have to do is just to control the work of the robots. Another difference between two factories is the safety of the workers. Charlie Chaplin and his friends have only their tools and ordinary clothing but nothing for protection. However, every worker has a special clothing and equipment in each department in the factory of Mercedes showing the progress in the employees’ rights.

The major similarity between the two films is hidden in a common motif: the band. The band symbolizes the continuity of production in both films. We first see Charlie Chaplin skrewing something on a band each time in a hurrier way as the boss ordered. The band should never stop even if he itches or a bee fizzes around him. Likewise, the montage band in the documentary should never stop. One of the laborers who carries items from the storage to the band tells it explicitly: If the band has to be stopped because of a fault of the workers, the loss is unrecoverable for the company. Another similar point in both factories is the variety of the departments according to the feature of the labor. In the documentary there are many different departments such as the place where the framework is built, or where they are stored, or where the car gets its colour. Similarly, we understand that there are some different departments in the factory of “Modern Times” as the boss appears on the screen and orders the “fifth” department to speed up.

To conclude, although “Modern Times” and “Big Automobile Factory” seem totally irrelevant according to their genres, they are good sources if one wants to evaluate the transform of manufactoring in a 80-year-period of time.