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 (that is, does he fall because of some tragic character flaw?)? Is it an indictment of the society of the time? A study of the inevitable effects of aging? Or, to put the point another way, whose fault is the doorman's downfall?
I do not think this film is a tragedy in the Aristotelian sense. The main character does not experience any kind of growing character flaw instead he only becomes old enough where he cannot be a doorman anymore. I think this film is much more an indictment of society then, which only respected those who were useful in an economic sense or wealthy. Given that this film was recorded in the roaring 20s where many people were trying to get rich in the stock market or in real estate, the movie makes a lot of sense for the time. This is proven when people respect him at the end of the movie because he is wealthy and when people respect him in his neighborhood because of his status as a doorman at a fancy hotel. I think the doorman's downfall was his own fault, as he based his entire character identity around that one job, illustrating how even he was part of that same societal system. I also do think his downfall was due in part to the lady who told everybody that he was a janitor. However, I think they would have found out eventually anyway, so the lion’s share of responsibility is still his own. I also think there is a moral to the story. The Night Watchman was the only person who was kind to the former doorman and thus the doorman was friendly to him after becoming wealthy. I believe the film is telling us to be kind to those who don’t have much as they could repay the favor in the future.
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ReplyDeleteThe unnamed doorman in The Last Laugh was quickly pushed away from his respected life to no fault of his own. Human society places too much emphasis and importance on being young. So, just like everyone else, the doorman inevitably aged, and he could not keep up with demands. Assuming the doorman had this job since he was young, this is when he gained all his respect. When he was younger, he fit the job better, he would have been stronger and had more pride in his looks. During this time, society built the expectation of his pride too high. Then as he grew older, his pride collapsed as much as society created. The world does not offer a welcoming hand to the elderly because everything is fast-paced. When the owner of the hotel noticed that the old doorman could not keep up, he had no choice but to do what was best for business. He found a more youthful doorman who could keep up with the speed of society. This is not the fault of the old doorman, the new doorman, or the hotel owner, but this is an inherent problem with cultures around the world. When gossip quickly spread throughout the doorman’s hometown, the people quickly turned against him and shunned him. This is reflective of society quickly getting rid of the old, and moving onto the new. The hometown quickly turned to the new generation to favor the doorman’s daughter and her husband. Lastly, the doorman's demotion left him to work as a restroom attendant. This paints another picture of society viewing the elderly as the bottom of the barrel. And at the bottom of the barrel, they are not very useful to the rest of society. Overall it is no one’s fault for the doorman being estranged from his hometown, but instead the collective mentality of the modern human world that the doorman lived in.
The failures of the doorman in the 1924 film, The Last Laugh are a direct result of the cutthroat economic system and are not due to his shortcomings. The ideology rooted in the economic system is illustrated in the community. Such a competitive economic system is backed by the idea that a person’s worth is determined by their economic potential. This concept trickles down to society, as shown by reactions to the doorman before and after his termination. Before, the doorman is proud and boastful of his position, which is illustrated through his greetings and salutes to everyone he encounters in his neighborhood. The people of the community have a cheerful disposition towards the doorman. One example of this is when two young ladies grab onto his arm, smiling joyously up at him while he walks them to their car. However, everything goes awry once he is terminated from his role as a doorman. With no changes other than his loss of employment, not only did the entire neighborhood begin to lose the cheerful disposition that previously existed, but the ex-doorman himself lost all of his former confidence. This shows that everyone in the community, including the doorman, valued him for nothing beyond his job. This ideology creates the cutthroat working environment, which is responsible for the doorman’s eventual termination. If a person’s value is simply determined by their economic potential, then the youngest, strongest, and smartest workers will be the most valuable to a company. Therefore, when the doorman gets to the point where his age holds him back, it is in the company’s best interest to replace him with a worker of more “value.” This ideology considers no other factors and offers no loyalty to a doorman who has spent years working for the company. This cutthroat dogma is the sole reason for his termination, as he is told that the decision was based on his “age and fragility.” The combination of this principle and the doorman’s self-worth being wholly based on his employment status, are the reasons for his downward spiral. This economic system and social values are responsible for the doorman’s unfortunate termination, which was no fault of his own but rather that of the society that raised him.
ReplyDeleteThe unnamed doorman, in The Last Laugh, directed by F.W. Murnau does not portray an example of a tragedy in the Aristotelian sense because his character was never shown to be a part in his downfall. In my opinion, this film’s message is supposed to show how once you are in poverty it is nearly impossible to escape it in addition to how the world revolves around efficiency. The audience finds out that the unnamed doorman lives in a lower class neighborhood, however the doorman is respected through his job, even though he cannot escape his neighborhood. The doorman falls solely because of his age. The film is supposed to represent society, and at this time, and currently, the older you are, especially at a physically demanding job like this, the more your job is at stake. When the doorman was younger and more physically fit, the job suited him better. No matter how driven you are, as expressed when the doorman pleaded, begged, for his job back, your efficiency trumps. No matter how devoted you are, expressed when the doorman was having dreams of showing how strong he is by lifting luggage with one hand and earning his job back.The older doorman ended up getting replaced by a stronger, younger, doorman who was able to easily lift the luggage. In conclusion, the doorman’s predictable fall can be blamed on society itself. If society valued determination over strength the doorman would have kept his job, however our society cannot function without the stronger, faster, working class.
ReplyDeleteThe downfall of the unnamed doorman is an example of profound commentary on the unfair state of economic utility, and places the doorman’s downfall blame on society. The beginning of the movie shows one long continuous shot of the hotel where the doorman works. The camera follows the elevator, the rotating door, and the general lively nature of the hotel. This shot is then immediately contrasted with a high angle shot of the doorman viewing, with a sense of dread, a large suitcase atop a car. It portrays the doorman as small in the face of a challenge that would have been doable years ago. After the doorman struggles to bring the suitcase inside, he takes a long break for rest and water. The inherent problem with taking breaks in his environment is that life continues to be just as lively around him. The doorman’s manager swiftly recognizes this, and begins to act by constructing a letter informing the doorman that, due to his age and condition, he has a new position in the washroom below the hotel. The doorman is both literally and figuratively relegated to the lower brackets of society, when he is forced to work as a washroom worker down a long set of stairs far below where the rest of society is. Due to the doorman’s age, he has now become overlooked, and displaced from the rest of society because he lost his economic utility. The commentary on economic utility is further strengthened in the pride the doorman has for his job. The doorman always wore his uniform whether he was working or not, and even performed an impressive heist to steal it back, evading other sleeping hotel workers. In addition to this tracking shot of the sleeping workers adding suspense, it can also be interpreted as a representation of the utility that the doorman still has. The doorman cares deeply about his work, and shows tremendous motivation to maintain his job. This scene is also a double-edged sword, because of its portrayal of the other workers as incompetent as they are unable to notice and catch an elderly man even as he runs past them. Rather than employing motivated workers regardless of age, in order to maximize efficiency and to accommodate to the high-speed life shown in the hotel, the doorman spends the remainder of the movie in a state of depression and despair down in the washroom. The doorman’s economic utility has been viewed to have run its course, and now he spends the rest of his life being neglected at the bottom of the barrel. The film portrays economic utility as a system that is not individualized, that rather looks at age as a metric for efficiency despite the fact that elderly workers, like the doorman, are still motivated to work even at his age. Ultimately, In some instances, like in the heist scene, the doorman even has the upper hand over the young workers. Although the doorman was unable to perform rigorous work, the belief in economic utility expiring once someone reaches a certain age, led to his immediate demotion rather than accommodating to his needs and utilizing his motivation and eagerness as a doorman. Without the societal view of age’s correlation with economic utility, the doorman would’ve been able to work hard, in one way or another, at the job that was his identity until he deemed himself to be unfit.
ReplyDeleteThe downfall of the doorman in The Last Laugh is not due to his personal flaws but rather more of a brutal reflection of how economic values were so cold-blooded. In the beginning of the movie, the old doorman was a well respected and hardworking employee for the hotel. A continuous shot of the doorman walking back and forth and carrying luggages for guests portrays his dedication towards his job. Soon after, he decided to take a break, as he just finished carrying a large suitcase, which may have worn out his back a little. During his rest, his actions were spotted by someone who seems to be the manager. The manager, without any sort of hesitation, jotted down the doorman’s incapability and demoted him to the washroom attendant. The reason for such a decision was simply because the doorman was old and incapable of being the most efficient worker. Rather than considering his contribution to the hotel over the past few years, his passion for the job, and the significance of the uniform for the doorman, the manager weighed economic values over human values. The Last Laugh is a movie created in 1924 by German director F.W. Murnau. At this period of time, Germany was in terrible economic conditions, thus it is only reasonable to assume that industries were trying to maximize efficiency and profits. This movie can be directly interpreted as how the economic values during that time, and even to this day, leaves no room for emotional attachment. When it comes to pure business thinking, humans are like heartless robots that make decisions purely on statistics and logical reasoning. The irony behind economic values is that such values are created by humans for the wellbeing of ourselves as a human being, and yet these values are the ones that are stripping away the humane parts of humans, and that is emotions and sympathy.
ReplyDeleteThe film is both a tragedy in the Aristotelian sense and a criticism of German society. Although the most direct reason of his downfall is his demotion, the former doorman values his previous occupation too highly, letting it define him entirely. The film criticizes the over-capitalistic nature of German society by showing the ruthless treatment of workers. Despite having worked as a doorman for the hotel for more than twenty years, the main character is demoted in an instant due to his old age. The unempathetic employers see him only for his current and future labor potential and not for what he has already done for the hotel. He is simply an old tool which is not fit to be a doorman anymore, and thus he is demoted to the job of a washroom attendant. However, the film criticizes more than just the upper-class employers. It also criticizes the ordinary people of society, like the neighbors of the doorman. Like the employers, they value too highly a person’s status, position, and class in society. Before being demoted, the doorman was well-liked by his community, but after being demoted, his neighbors all shun him and laugh at him. One might have expected his neighbors to feel pity or empathy towards the former doorman because he had been unfairly treated by his employers, but they instead contribute to the over-capitalistic atmosphere in German society of valuing people only for their economic status by treating him as worthless after he is demoted. Lastly, the doorman himself is also to blame, making the film tragic in an Aristotelian sense. Like his neighbors, he derives too much meaning from his position as a doorman. His misery at the end of the film is not only caused by how he is treated by his employers and his neighbors, but also by the fact that he had based his entire identity and personality on his position as a doorman. For example, when he dreams while drunk, he imagines himself as a doorman hoisting a trunk high into the air with all around him in admiration. He finds too much meaning in being respected by others as a doorman. For him, his human worth is determined by his position. For this reason, when he is first demoted, he steals the uniform back because he wants to feel again like the doorman he once was. When he is finally working as the washroom attendant, he is an empty man, but his emotional pain is caused not only by the societal emphasis on economic stature and utility but also by himself because he allows his economic status to define him.
ReplyDeleteIn the silent film, The Last Laugh, the unnamed doorman’s downfall is due to the mockery and abandonment from his community rather than some tragic character flaw. The unnamed doorman has no control over keeping or losing his position as a doorman because he inevitably grows old and weak which leaves him physically incapable of performing his job. The unnamed doorman receives a letter explaining the reason behind his demotion, and it specifically states that he is fired because he is “old” and “decrepit” which aren’t major character flaws. Instead, aging is inevitable for everyone and isn’t a unique flaw of the unnamed doorman. After receiving the news, the unnamed doorman attempts to prove his worth by trying to lift up a piece of heavy luggage. Unfortunately, he naturally isn’t able to prove himself to his employer as he fails to pick up the luggage, but in the eyes of his family and neighbors, he hasn’t failed just yet. No one in his community or apartment complex, other than himself, knows about his demotion to washroom attendant, so everything seems to be fine. The unnamed doorman is still respected when he attends his family member’s wedding. In fact, the unnamed doorman steals the show when he enters the wedding and receives plenty of praise due to his prestigious uniform and appearance of a doorman. He is seen enjoying himself and very little sign of ruin is present. The downfall truly begins when a woman, who appears to be a family member, discovers that the unnamed doorman now works as a bathroom attendant. After this scene, the unnamed doorman carries a somber expression on his face and he enters a feeling of depression as he has been found out and exposed. The situation only gets worse as his neighbors find out, and they welcome him home with a series of laughter and ridicule. These neighbors are the biggest contributors to the unnamed doorman’s downfall because they exploit and amplify the man’s misfortune to the point where he is essentially shunned from his community and left to see himself as worthless.
ReplyDeleteThe fall of the doorman in the Last Laugh is not due to any flaw within him. Rather it is because the society around him and that he worked for deemed him unfit for the role he was given due to his age. We see from the very beginning of the movie that he is unfit for the role of doorman because the luggage has become to get too heavy for him to lift on his own. He struggles to lift it even though in his eyes he thinks he’s as strong as ever. This is shown again when he is demoted to a washroom attendant. In an attempt to prove he is still capable, he lifts a much smaller luggage box over his head, right before toppling down to the ground. It is here we see that both his old age and society have deemed him unfit for his position, and the cracks start to show to his downfall. However, from here I believe that it is partially the doorman’s fault for his downfall, especially within his own community. After he is demoted to washroom attendant, he goes back and steals the uniform in order to fool his neighbors into thinking he is still a doorman. This inability to come to terms with his demotion sends him down a spiral after the secret comes out, as he is shunned from his community. Ultimately the doorman’s downfall can be attributed to many different factors. At first, it was due to the decline in his age and the expectations of society around him. But after his demotion, it’s his inability to let go of his former self out of shame that drives him farther down into despair.
ReplyDeleteThe tragedy of the doorman is due to the vicious cycle of society where the decline of the economic ability of the doorman leads to his fall; however, the importance placed upon one's job and the reputation that is built upon the doorman's occupation is the main reason for his downfall. Due to the doorman's age and weakness, he was moved jobs to the washroom attendant. The main reason that this change is a tragedy for the doorman is because of the reputation he has gained due to his position as a doorman and the uniform he wears. His demotion is only a tragedy because the people of his community do not respect him anymore. The hotel could have easily let him go and hired a younger person for both the doorman and the washroom attendant position, but instead they still kept him on staff despite his flaws. The scene where the woman with the soup comes to see the former doorman and screams when she sees him in the washroom exhibits how the reputation and respect of being the doorman has disappeared. Instead of being the tall and proud doorman who walks through his community and waves to people and helps small children, he is a disgrace and walks hunched over while being laughed at by his neighbors. The audience does not know whether the former doorman would be able to live off of his new job as the washroom attendant, but what we do know is that his community has shunned him and his life is in tatters because of it. We also see when his community has shunned him when he returns to his home and his neighbors are all holding back laughter and judging him. The Last Laugh tries to get the viewer to feel and empathize with the doorman while at the same time making a statement about how society believes the worth of someone is solely based off of their occupation or position.
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ReplyDeleteThe doorman’s downfall is jointly society’s fault by promoting malicious values and the doorman’s fault for internalizing society’s harmful values.
ReplyDeleteFirst, society is partially responsible for the doorman’s downfall because the doorman loses all societal value as he ages and loses his prestigious job. When the hotel manager sees the doorman struggle to carry a trunk, he decides to fire him. In the doorman’s termination letter, the reason for his demotion is due to this “age” and “frailty” which exemplify that one’s utility determines their ability to keep their position, regardless of their commitment or past achievements. Because the doorman’s society characterizes being older with a depreciation in value, the doorman ultimately loses his beloved job and his downfall ensues shortly after.
Furthermore, the doorman’s community mercilessly mocks the doorman behind his back once they learn that he is a washroom attendant. While the doorman is suffering, his community is feeling a sense of enjoyment because of his downfall. This harmful sentiment (Schadenfreude) leads the doorman’s relatives and neighbors to shun him and look upon him with disdain after finding out that he has lost his job. Because the doorman himself is part of this community, he inevitably feels an overwhelming sense of shame and insecurity when thinking about his neighborhood and family finding out that he has lost his prestige.
Second, the doorman himself is also responsible for his downfall because he internalized society’s malicious sentiments after losing his job. To avoid his community’s judgment after losing his job and being stripped of his fancy attire, the doorman sneaks into the hotel and steals the suit that he used to wear for his job. He takes the suit to maintain appearances within his community because the community treats him with respect over his job and attire. By doing so, the doorman believes that he will be able to avoid being characterized as useless and undignified by his community. However, his actions only fueled his insecurity over losing his job, tormenting him into accepting his lack of utility and only having death to look forward to as a washroom attendant.
The silent film The Last Laugh is an artifact from the German expressionist movement which reflects the flaws of societal values in Germany at the time. German expressionism is an artform that comments on elements of society by evoking an emotional response from its audience. The film in particular highlights the flaws of social norms regarding social status and how one's occupation determines their status. Although the protagonist of the film plays into the social hierarchy of occupation-related status, this established superiority complex forces him to choose between being ostracized or falling in line. While some might argue that the doorman is responsible for his own pitfall since he lies about his career, he is faced with the risk of being abandoned if he deviates from the social norm of the time. Consequently, it is not surprising to see the doorman follow the social order in order to belong to a community. The protagonist is merely a product of the social system of the time. His downfall was always inevitable due to the misplaced values of his fellow constituents. The doorman was bound to become too old and fragile to continue working as a doorman, it would only be a matter of time before he would lose his title and become frowned upon by society by something beyond his control. Furthermore, it is the ostracism from his community that caused the former doorman despair, not the demotion itself. After his demotion he attended some sort of gathering where he pretended that he was still a doorman. During the event, he was still in a good state of mind and appeared unbothered by his job title. He was only in complete distress once he saw how his community viewed his new title.
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