Hope you ejoyed the Modern Times as much as I did (why do you think it is called the Modern Times?). Each time I watch this movie I find something new. Of course, there is more than just some funny scenes of a black-white movie! It covers main elements of the 20th century urban society. You can see the ongoing class struggle, and the emerging American dream or how role of women in the society is very nicely criticised. I have to laugh hard about that woman coming out of her house to say goodbye to her husband, who is obviously going to his work in the morning. They live somewhere in the suburbs as its a house with a garden (with a drive way). She is jumping with an amazing joy to say goodbye to her husband and go back into her home-based life. Poverty and unemployment are the main problems that Chaplin tries to point out and strikes as a reaction of the urban working class...We notice Taylor's time management there in the factory and what assembly line and Fordist efficiency is all about (quite exaggregated of course). Mass production and mass consumption patterns are visible as well. Of course, this movie is not made for academic purposes (but sure Chaplin would have been happy to know that young people watch (or forced to watch :)) his movie even in the 21st century). Watching this film with geographers lenses is different than just watching for fun. And that was the whole exercise about. Hope you could capture some interesting elements for your essay assignment. Remember: I don't need you to copy information from the internet but just try to comprehend the Fordist period's characteristics by reading your chapter and some other extra material that you may find elsewhere and then to connect that knowledge to what you've seen in the movie. I appreciate you reading more stuff so please go explore google.scholar to find some interesting reading materials on this topic.
Comprehending the dynamics of urban development in the 20th century in just one lecture is not possible and you'll hear more on Fordism in the future. So it makes a lot of sense to read the chapter 'The making of the 20th century world' just one more time to comprehend the challenges and opportunities the century offered for cities (and also to get some hints.
And yes, next week our screen will be full of colorful ideas on cities. Cities lecture will be on Monday and two student-led seminars will take place on Thursday. The presenting teams for Thursday had very interesting ideas so I can't wait to see what they will show us on Thursday!
See you on Monday...
Dr. Tuna Tasan-Kok
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