American film comedy and issues of social class in America

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American film comedy and issues of social class in America

        Issues of the social class have been an important element of American film comedies. Since the silent era until the current day, comedy films tend to focus on many contemporary common social class issues in America.
        During the silent era of film, the three well known comedians, Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. Throughout his films, Chaplin’s character is portrayed as a lower-class man, who is trying to climb the social ladder and better his position in society. His dress reflects his attempt to give the appearance of higher social status. His costume has all the elements of a gentleman, however his appearance is ridiculous because the pieces of his suit do not fit together. He wears a bowler hat, and carries a cane, as gentlemen do, but his coat is too tight, his pants are too large, and his shoes are too large - like a clown's. His mustache also gives the impression of an upper-class man, in modern style, but the sophisticated look differs from the long beards of the older, wealthy elite.
        In his hit film “immigrant” Chaplin plays the role of a European immigrant to America. Chaplin attempts to obtain a new life for himself by coming to America. He is a poor immigrant, but tries to appear to be of a higher class in order to impress a woman on board the ship. First he gambles to get more money, intending to keep it for himself, but he ends by giving it to the woman, thus giving her the impression that he is a man of means. Later in the film, they meet again in a restaurant, where he attempts to imitate the manners of a gentleman. He uses his silverware, but he uses it incorrectly, using his knife in place of a fork. He orders food for the woman, making it seem like he can afford spending extra money, but in actuality, he cannot even pay for his own.
        In his film
The Count once again Chaplin is portraying a lower-class citizen in the role of a tailor's assistant. After losing his job, he goes to get food from his mother who works as a cook for a higher-class family, which exemplifies his lower social status. Then he tries to pass himself off as a count to get the attention of a woman by the name of "Miss Moneybags", which implies that he is only interested in her money. Throughout the rest of the film, he competes with his former boss to seem more upper-crust. At dinner he fails horribly when trying to eat watermelon like a gentleman. The watermelon gets on his ears so he ties a napkin around his head, which is a telltale sign of his lack of breeding.
        In his film
The Count once again Chaplin is portraying a lower-class citizen in the role of a tailor's assistant. After losing his job, he goes to get food from his mother who works as a cook for a higher-class family, which exemplifies his lower social status. Then he tries to pass himself off as a count to get the attention of a woman by the name of "Miss Moneybags", which implies that he is only interested in her money. Throughout the rest of the film, he competes with his former boss to seem more upper crust. At dinner he fails horribly when trying to eat watermelon like a gentleman. The watermelon gets on his ears so he ties a napkin around his head, which is a telltale sign of his lack of breeding.
        In
Modern Times Charlie plays a factory worker who is victimized by machines; in one scene he serves as a human guinea pig in an experiment involving a machine designed to feed workers automatically, which malfunctions.

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        Class issues are agin discussed in Frank Capra’s film “It happened One night”. The film It Happened One Night contains two major contrasting characters who display the different classes. Claudette Colbert's character Ellen Andrews shows the high class society while Clark Gable's character Peter Warne represents the working class society. The characters display the differences between the two classes.
        The upper class is
Ellen Andrews- Ellen Andrews displays the high class society during the nineteen thirties. Aspects of her higher social status are shown through her father's yacht, the power her father is able to use in order to track ...

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