Friday, September 30, 2016
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 (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?
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ReplyDeleteI believe that this film has some aspects from the Aristotelian sense of tragedy, encompasses society at that time, and shows the inevitable effects of aging. The reason that this film reflects an Aristotelian aspect of tragedy is the fact the doorman seemed very full of himself. Arrogance may have been the doorman’s major flaw. He expected that people salute him and say good morning to him every day. There were also many shots of him fixing his uniform, hair, and mustache. He cared about his reputation and when he was demoted he seemed to care less about the fact that he was demoted, but that other people may know about it. This film also reflects the society at that time. The Last Laugh portrayed society as a group of judgmental and almost materialistic gossipers. Although, the film only exhibited “society” as the people who lived in the village, and customers at the hotel they still displayed these attributes. The doorman’s friends and family thought very highly of him until he got a lower level position. Also, when his fancy jacket was taken away from him, he seemed to care about the jacket more than his actual job. It seems that one of the only reasons people looked up to him, was because of his expensive looking jacket. When one person learned that he lied about his job position and lost his jacket, the news spread like wildfire and the whole town thought he was a joke. Finally, the film depicts the inevitable aspect of aging. The reason he was fired was because of his age, and there is nothing wrong with that so the doorman cannot be blamed for being demoted. He can be blamed for being the laughing stock of the village. He tried to hide the fact that he was demoted, and if he just confessed that he was demoted and why, people would understand.
I believe that the doorman’s tragic downfall in, The Last Laugh, is not just a direct result of a severe character flaw but instead is a result of his entire personality being a flaw. This is not to say that he wasn’t a kind or good person; it was the way he valued himself that caused his eventual downfall. This flaw was that the man considered himself nothing more than a doorman. His entire life, personality, and enjoyment was invested in his job as a doorman, and when he lost that job he lost everything he knew of himself. The movie further influences this idea by not giving him a name other than doorman. The doorman put all his self-worth into his job, and as a result he thought everyone else also valued him for his doorman status, particularly his neighbors. This is why he tries to hide his demotion from them by stealing the suit and continuing to try to live life like nothing happened. I believe this is why his neighbors lost respect for him, and laughed at him when they found out. From the neighbors perspective it is like finding out that this man who claims to have a great job, who you have no reason to doubt his claims, has actually just been working in a bathroom. For all they know he might have never even been a doorman. Looking at it from their perspective, it is easy to see why the neighbors began to be skeptical and distance themselves from him. In Conclusion, the doorman’s downfall came not because of some outside influence but because the man was incapable of valuing himself for something other than being a doorman.
ReplyDeleteThe unnamed doorman’s downfall is the result of his tragic flaw in his character and the dated society of the time. The doorman’s entire character is shown to be dependent on his job. He genuinely enjoys his job and is respected and loved by his colleagues, family, and friends. However, his demotion causes his world to go upside down. Due to his entire personality revolving around being a doorman, he is in complete denial. An example of his denial would be when he steals the suit and attempts to continue living like nothing has happened. While it works for one day, he is eventually discovered, and is humiliated by his former friends and family. Even worse, he struggles working in the bathroom, with no hope for reuniting with his family and friends. The shock of the sudden removal of his life’s work has clearly taken a toll on his physical and mental health. The society of the time is also a cause for the doorman’s downfall. When he is discovered, everyone he knows completely turns their back on him just because he works as a bathroom attendant. His family rejects him in shame while all of his neighbors constantly humiliate him. This reaction would probably not happen today. Instead, family and friends would come together to support and care for him until he can get back on his feet. In conclusion, the downfall of the doorman was the result of the society of the time and his personal flaws in his personality.
ReplyDeleteI believe the fall of the doorman is caused by his aging, but the way in which he is humiliated and treated is because multiple factors. Although the man at first looks as if to be in healthy condition and not too old, this is the reason why the hotel demotes him. I do not believe they had a problem with his attitude, cooperation or commitment, it was truly based on his ability to perform his task to the best of his abilities. The doorman was seen as a glorified person in his neighborhood and with this job came his status. Children adored him, women were head over heels for him, and the community thought very highly of the doorman. When the hotel demoted him he understood how badly this would affect the views people had on him and a factor that made his situation worse was that he attempted to hide the truth. The doorman would have been viewed differently from his community no matter what because of the importance this society placed on social ranking, but I believe if the doorman was honest with his family from the beginning the spread of gossip and twisting of the story would not have made it such a humiliating situation. Gossip about his demotion caused his total embarrassment, and because of the amount of shame he had, he fell even harder than needed. The reason of his demotion and fall from his position was his aging and inability to perform his job, but the downfall of himself as an individual and esteem was brought upon by his attempt to hide the truth, ideals of the society and the rapid spread of gossip
ReplyDeleteWhile some may have come to the conclusion that the downfall of the doorman was due to his arrogance, I would have to kindly disagree. It’s understandable that his jolliness could have been taken as narcissistic, since it seemed that he expected people to salute him back and greet him; however, I feel that instead of arrogance it was pride that the doorman displayed. I feel that his positive attitude and jovial actions were result of him being satisfied with the position he fulfilled. In fact, I feel that the director purposely proposed the doorman as a jolly character to emphasize his downfall and display his change of mood once he encountered his downfall. Instead of arrogance being a factor in the doorman’s downfall, I would have to agree with Annie who feels that age was the main factor. One of the many pieces of evidence that age was a true factor of the doorman’s downfall was the letter of devotion the doorman received from his boss. I think the doorman was so traumatized by the letter, because he took so much pride in his job and still felt he was capable of doing the job. Once he tried to pick up the suitcase to demonstrate his strength, he too had come to the realization that age was reason of his downfall, because he failed to pick up the suitcase. Another piece of evidence that showed how age was a factor of the doorman’s downfall was earlier in the film, when the doorman fell asleep during duty. The doorman didn’t fall asleep from laziness or choosing to do so; he fell asleep because he was aging and was unaware of the fact that he was falling asleep while on duty. Overall, I believe that the downfall of the doorman started not because of arrogance, but because of aging and life taking effect in his life.
ReplyDeleteI think that the film slightly reflected the Aristotelian sense of tragedy, however I think that the demise of the man was more a result of the inevitable effects of aging and the actions of society. The film reflected the Aristotelian sense of tragedy because of the way handled his demotion. I believe that his true demise in the film was a result of how he handled his demotion, not the demotion itself. While the demotion was a dagger to the man’s confidence, I believe that the way he handled it, trying to hide his demotion from everyone, truly was his downfall as the truth always comes out, and when it does, it looks worse if you hide it. The man tried to hide it for so long, and this just made the demotion much more embarrassing when it finally came out, resulting in greater humiliation and magnifying his demise. While this played a factor in the doorman’s downfall, I also think that his downfall was inevitable. Eventually, he was going to be physically incapable of doing this job, and the day finally came when he could no longer be suited for the job. This began the domino effect resulting in his complete downfall after losing his job and the humiliation that ensued. However, I think the main factor of the doorman’s downfall was the role of society. The doorman would have never been compelled to hide the fact that he was demoted if it wasn’t for the way society was. His own community expected so much out of him, and he felt that he was letting them down when he was demoted, so he hid the fact and tried to continue to impress them and be seen as a leader, and a man they look up to. If their expectations weren’t so high, maybe the doorman wouldn’t have had to hide the fact he was demoted, and maybe he would have been able to accept that this was inevitable due to his old age. Unfortunately, society didn’t allow him to make this choice, as portrayed the sense that he could only be who he was, if he had his prominent, original job.
ReplyDeleteThe Last Laugh portrays a man at the end of a career. Worn out from a career of lifting heavy baggage and standing outside all day his body has begun to dramatically age. As a result he is reassigned to a new job and becomes the laughing stock of his neighborhood. This character suffers a tragic demise though he does not posses a tragic flaw. He doesn’t have an issue with pride or fear he suffers from an ailment we all do, time. The film isn't an Aristotelian tragedy or actually I would argue a tragedy in any sense. Its simply life running its course sometimes its sad and other times it ends well. The director clearly wanted the movie to end with the Doorman siting in the bathroom having nowhere to go and living out the last of his days in misery. The director was trying to portray a reality that most aren't willing to accept old age, decline and finally death. That’s why the happy ending was added on to make sure everyone went home feeling alright and they could ignore the inevitable and be naive a bit longer. The Doormans downfall echoes through the ages because eventually we will all experience what happened to him in one way or another the movie itself is timeless. The Doormans demise is not his own fault it is not anyone's for that matter it is a side effect of what it means to be human. Something often overlooked in human nature is our inescapable tendency to grow old and the Doormans downfall is a direct result.
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