Chavlin

The Los Angeles Times has an unusual article in the front section today about how populist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is using Charlie Chaplin's mega-classic film Modern Times as a tool to teach workers all about the abuses of capitalism. Thousands of workers have seen the film in industrial locations, and some results have already come:

Chavez's adversaries in the business sector scoff at the Chaplin film screenings as an example of the president's simplistic, outdated and decidedly business-unfriendly economic policies.

But for poultry plant worker Maldonado, Charlie Chaplin has made a difference at work.

Inspired by the film and the talk from Labor Ministry officials, he demanded gloves and soap from his employer — and got them. But the assembly line still goes too fast, he said.

Metalworker Miguel Moreno also has seen some improvement. "We have more power because we know more," he said. "They've given me earplugs for the noise, at least."

For those who want a taste of the film itself, here's a trailer from the recent Kino restoration:

Chaplin still genius

I'm always impressed with how Chaplin's movies transcend time, how his Little Tramp character speaks simply and directly to any audience, virtually any age, even 75 or more years later.

And Chaplin always sided politically with the Proletariat worker, leading to his exile from America during the Red Scare era. As film critic/historian Richard Schickel says in the article:

"Chaplin would just love that his film is still relevant to modern social conditions, that a modern-day leftist politician in Latin America would find this film to be a useful tool."

Even if one might argue with Hugo Chavez's politics, there's no disputing his taste.