Date: 09/09/2021 Shift: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Q. No: 110

Silent era comedies were full of prat falls, sight gags, and the classic “slipping on a banana peel” slapstick. Cinema icons Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd built their careers upon this slapstick form of comedy, but where Chaplin differs is how his brand of comedy affected audiences on a psychological level.

There are many different theories of humour from philosophers, but the one that seems to make the most sense within the context of silent era slapstick comedy is that of English philosopher Thomas Hobbes’ “superiority theory”. It suggests that humans take delight in other people’s misfortunes as a way to feel superior. We laugh at the muscle-bound dude who slips and falls in front of his date, because he’s big and we’re not. We laugh at the bumbling crooked cop who accidentally cuffs himself to a radiator, because he has power and we don’t.

However, this wasn’t the case for Chaplin’s iconic character, The Tramp. Instead, he made audiences laugh because they related to his suffering, and laughter. The way Chaplin incorporated tragedy into his comedies gave audiences someone they could truly identify with as they struggled to survive the Great Depression.

Chaplin’s comedic explorations into the human condition transformed comedies, from a mere novelty into a poetic art form. His films were able to address real issues in a way that made them easier to talk about. They were funny because The Tramp wore big shoes and a tiny jacket, but they were great because he was too impoverished to afford anything else—something audiences could really understand.

It makes one of Chaplin’s most famous quotes more poignant than ever: “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.”