Thursday, April 10

During class today, we looked at a short film by Charlie Chaplin which approaches several serious topics from a comedic perspective. "A Dog's Life" was created in 1918 and is quite impressive for its time. The film follows the life of a man, played by Chaplin, who is clearly a tramp. This homeless tramp is driven to steal in order to survive after he is unable to find employment. The film clearly mocks the wealthy as each of the wealthy characters are portrayed as stupid. What is interesting about the film is its optimistic perspective, as the film has a happy ending and Chaplin never gives up during the film. This perspective is clearly reminiscent of the American dream.