Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tragedy of the Common Man?
When the unnamed doorman in The Last Laugh is demoted to bathroom attendant, his world collapses. At the end of the film he is estranged from his family, fellow workers and neighbors and only the night watchman gives him succor. Is this film a tragedy in the Aristotelian sense? Is it an indictment of the society of the time? Or, to put the point another way, whose fault is the doorman's downfall?
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ReplyDeleteTo be an Aristotelian tragedy, the man's downfall would have been brought about by a flaw in his own character. So I think we can definitely exclude the possibility of this being an Aristotelian tragedy because clearly he could not have helped growing older and frailer.
ReplyDeleteIt's more possible that this was a criticism of the society of the time. However, it seems to me somewhat unreasonable to critisize the boss for demoting the old man: Yes, the work that the old man now had to do was degrading, but the basic principle behind the demotion was one that we still live by today. What I mean to say is that in this day and age, people also have to give up jobs when their age no longer permits them to perform their duties (it's called retirement!) So can we really regard this man's story as a criticism of society AT THAT TIME if the reason for the demotion is one that has governed humans for thousands of years and still governs us today? I would say, we cannot chalk up the doorman's downfall to be anybody's "fault". In my eyes the movie is rather a depiction of an unfortunate fact of life to which all eventually succumb.
I actually disagree with Maya. I believe that this is an Aristotelian tragedy in the strictest sense. In our freshman year humanities class Dr. Ialacci defined a tragedy as a dramatic poem that involves a mimesis, a complete action, and a catharsis typically facilitated by a character’s harmartia, most frequently hubris. This film clearly mimics society at the time of its production and involves a complete action so it meets the first two criteria for a tragedy. The reason that this film is not being viewed as a tragedy is because the critical flaw is being mistaken. The doorman’s critical flaw was not his age but rather his pride. The doorman was crippled by hubris. Loosing his job was only the catalyst for his fall. Excessive pride was the real source of his despair. The doorman understood that it was reasonable for him to be demoted because he could no longer perform his job, yet he allowed his life to collapse. In this way, the fall is almost entirely a creation of the doorman. The audience experiences a catharsis by following the doorman as he falls down. By mimicking experiences they have had and witnessed this film causes a release of emotion and a cleansing of sorts.
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