
Charlie Chaplin’s Scandalous Life and Boundless Artistry - prismatic
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/charlie-chaplins-scandalous-life-and-boundless-artistry
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guybrushT
I had the good fortune of reading his autobiography. I highly recommend it. It
explains the events described in this article (eg the ostracization;
allegations of being a communist; attacks on his character; the affairs;
seizure of his wealth by the government and the fact that he had to stay away
from the country that he loved and called his home for majority of his life).
I truly walked away feeling deeply pained and felt sorry for him -- here was a
man born into extreme poverty (the scene in one of his movies where the tramp
eats a shoe due to extreme hunger, was a part of Chaplin's childhood). His
mother went insane (became catatonic) due to hunger. As a small boy he saw his
mother being taken away by the police and put into an asylum. And this person,
spent his entire life making people laugh.

He was born to make us laugh. I think instead of focussing on his shortcomings
and marriages, it is far more important to focus and discuss his craft.

The lookup Hanna speech [1] at the end of the great dictator is must read /
listen. One of the best monologues in movie history. Tell me if this speech
doesn't move you!

[1]
[http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechthe...](http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechthegreatdictator.html)
(added link)

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dopeboy
That Hanna speech is amazingly moving. To add to the dramatic effect, watch it
with the 'Time' track from Inception overlaid. You will get goosebumps:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXsoakk3GRk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXsoakk3GRk)

~~~
TeMPOraL
Thanks for the link. I only new the speech from this mix, which while
different in style, also gave me goosebumps:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe5wW-g6FgU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe5wW-g6FgU).

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guard-of-terra
"In 1952, in the midst of McCarthy-era paranoia,.. his reëntry permit was
revoked"

You know why? What tipped the scales is high profile British writer listing
him (along with some other people) as potential communist in a secret list
submitted to Intelligence.

You know who compiled that list? George Orwell.

~~~
morsch
Details:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwell%27s_list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwell%27s_list)

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sdsykes
One thing I find interesting about Chaplin is that he also composed the music
for his films.

[http://www.charliechaplin.com/en/biography/articles/205-Chap...](http://www.charliechaplin.com/en/biography/articles/205-Chaplin-
as-a-composer)

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vessenes
I was peeved to read about his lawless character with young women in the
article. I only knew about his fourth wife, a famous New York socialite who
left J.D Salinger for Chaplin, essentially. Oona O'Neill (yes, that O'Neill)
was something like 18 or 19 when she married Chaplin, but they stayed married
until he died over 30 years later.

The article makes it sound like he just raped his way across America, and
perhaps he did -- I wouldn't know. It does note that he was accused of this by
a Nazi sympathizer, but says that the accusations were essentially true..
About the man who made "The Great Dictator".

The journalist doesn't bother to mention that he did settle down for what was
by most accounts a loving relationship, and must have been a successful
marriage by any standard.

~~~
soylentcola
From what I understand, many of his early marriages were a result of affairs
with young "starlets" which resulted in pregnancy and subsequent marriage to
avoid legal issues or further career damage. Those early marriages didn't last
since they were only based on necessity but when he married O'Neill, they
actually made a stable couple.

It's interesting to read about as it's the sort of thing you see in so many
other stories about "stars" sleeping with groupies or other admirers, often
below the modern age of consent. I've wondered before how much of that has to
do with the stereotypical entertainer's lifestyle or what it says about
arrested development in performing artists.

~~~
vessenes
Indeed. It seems to be historically common for people in power.

I'd propose that what's different in the last two hundred or so years is that
the middle class exists, is large enough and is literate enough to impose its
values on 'upper class' citizens, or at least has a large enough media
platform to shame them.

In the west, Victorian middle class citizens really took up the idea that
social improvement was tied to comportment. We see this kind of thinking all
the time still, for instance, I just got an e-mail from Quora with the title
"Why do billionaires dress so badly?"

Top answer: because they don't have anyone to impress.

