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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ReplyDeleteThe tragedy of the passionate doorman in "The Last Laugh" qualifies as an Aristotelian Tragedy since the cause of his downfall is his own fatal flaw... too much pride in his role in society. Before his downfall begins, the main character presents himself as a confident, alpha character in society anytime he is in his uniform as the doorman. He struts around, he lifts the heavy trunk, he salutes patrons of the hotel outside as a servant removes his overcoat, and pays no mind to the women of the neighborhood. In fact, he even calls for a taxi for two women (which turns into an interesting female vs. male societal gender switch later in the story). While it may not be clear at this point, as his downfall progresses and his uniform is revoked due to "age and frailty," it is almost as though his pride goes with his jacket. Even though losing his job caused him great grief, it was not the cause of the end of his life. Rather, the way he internalized the negative reactions of the women in his neighborhood, and patrons of The Atlantic bathroom, and the loss of pride as he became a bathroom attendant. Throughout the story, we see these women ridicule him as he tries to enter his home, and we see the iconic tracking shot with a blurring effect (to show his difficulty understanding his new reality) as he tries to walk down the street. All of the laughing citizens turn his simple walk into a walk of shame. In these moments, the main character allows the response of others to damage his pride; his sadness is not solely due to the fact that he lost his job. He demonstrates his fatal flaw again when he is working in the restroom. If he were so concerned about losing his job, he would be happy to have another job as a bathroom attendant! However, he allows the mean man stepping on his foot and the lady from the neighborhood running out and reporting to the neighborhood to kill his pride, since he is not in his all-important doorman uniform. The loss of the main character's role as the doorman in society prompted his own personal pity party, which involved a loss of self respect which translated to his actions, his emotions (the close-ups of him on the stool in the bathroom and feverishly trying to regain consciousness after his dream), and thus a response from those in the community. This excess of pride in title and uniform is a common theme even in today's societies of the world, but rarely does this swelling pride lead to death like it does for the doorman in "The Last Laugh."
ReplyDeleteIn The Last Laugh, F. W. Murnau tries to depict the futility of society by showing the tragic decline of The Doorman’s life as he loses his job. In a sense, Murnau wanted to show how quickly people in society could change up on somebody, and how quickly society can change from a supportive, celebratory environment to an invalidating, prosecutive environment.This can be seen when the doorman is the most popular man in town, while he still holds his job position. Whenever he got back from work, everybody around him celebrated. Those he walked past would pay respects by removing their hats and bowing, and he would reciprocate. His character was portrayed to be kind and friendly, early on in the movie. Thus, it made it even harder to accept once he lost his job and everybody switched up on him. It was almost as if he didn’t deserve the treatment he was receiving. True, he was prideful, but when he was placed into positions where he had to hold towels for people in the bathrooms who took as much notice of him as they would a normal towel hanger, he simply could not comprehend the state of life he had fallen into, which the movie tried to depict visually by blurring the screen.. Despite his kind nature, he still ended up in a bad situation. Then, without caring for who he was as a person, everybody he knew began to reject him. It was as if those he lived with back home didn’t care about who he was and his personality, they only cared about his uniform. This ignorance of who he was as a person showed how invalidating society can be, and the fact that such a nice man was forced into such terrible circumstances also shows the futility of society. It shows how society really does not care who you are, and that no matter how good of a person you are, you can end up in just as bad of a situation as the next person.
ReplyDeleteIn F. W. Murnau’s The Last Laugh, the doorman’s downfall is the fault of the society he lives in; through his story, the film argues that contemporary German society over-glorifies uniforms.
ReplyDeleteThe doorman receives constant adoration and praise from the society around him while in uniform. Near the beginning of the film, two young women leaving the hotel lock arms with the doorman and giggle immediately upon seeing him, showing their respect and adoration for him. Similarly, when the doorman enters a building in the neighborhood he lives in, his neighbors shower him with respect, with the men removing their hats and the woman bowing. The men and women do not remove their hats or bow for any of the other people who enter the building, none of which, importantly, are uniformed. As a final example, even though other residents of the doorman’s apartment building clean their clothes by roughly waving them in the air or against their balconies’ railings, the female family member of the doorman meticulously scrubs dust off his uniform, carefully examining it for any imperfections. All these scenes not only show that the society depicted in the film admires uniforms and those who wear them, but more eerily, that it does not offer this same glorification for those who generally wear ordinary attire.
Our unfortunate doorman is “demoted” to the latter group when he loses his previous position, is forced to turn in his uniform, and becomes a bathroom assistant. In his new job, where he does not wear any distinguishing uniform, the former doorman is subject to ridicule and outright disrespect. A patron of the hotel disrespects the former doorman by absentmindedly waving his shoes towards him for a shining, telling the protagonist how to groom his suit, and angrily complaining to the hotel manager about him. Even those who used to respect the former doorman now ridicule him. When the dejected protagonist sulks in the corridor of his apartment building, his neighbors, who were once so admiring, can barely conceal their laughter at the sight of him. The former doorman’s potential love interest assumes an expression of complete disgust when she sees the man she thought to be a uniformed doorman wiping the floors of the hotel bathroom without a uniform. Clearly, the former doorman is no longer worthy of respect in society’s eyes when he does not wear a uniform.
The uniform and society’s view of it is the sole factor in the former doorman’s downfall. There is no great intrinsic difference between being a doorman and a bathroom assistant; both jobs involve backbreaking menial labor, but only one of them entails wearing a uniform and consequently receives societal admiration, at least in 1920’s Germany. It is no wonder, then, that faced with rejection from friends, family, strangers, and therefore society in general, the former doorman sleeps alone, despondent, on a chair in the bathroom. Murnau extrapolates the doorman’s story to all of German society with his only intertitle at the true director’s end of the movie: “in actual life, the old man would have little to look forward to but death.” Thus, the former doorman’s story is a true reflection of “actual life” in contemporary German society, one which over-glorifies uniforms and those who wear them, but leaves those who are otherwise equal but do not wear them to look forward to little but death.
In F.W Murnau's movie, the Last Laugh, he is laughed at and made fun of a great deal by his coworkers and people who are around him, due to him not having a uniform. For example, when he goes to visit the women wearing his doorman attire, he is respected and given food and hospitality. However, when he isn't wearing said respectful attire, he is laughed at. This is shown when the lady goes to give him food, only to find that he is on the floor cleaning the bathroom as a janitor. Despite the woman not being of any higher class than the old man himself, she still makes fun of him and scolds him for being on the ground, groveling as a janitor.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it's not just society who leads to the man's undoing. Rather, it functions in tandem with that Aristotelian idea of a tragic character flaw leading to someone's fall. For instance, when he is wearing the doorman attire, he is saluting and waving at everyone who passes alongside him. In other words, he's acting as though he is above these lower class people, and despite him simply being a doorman, he's acting like a soldier who has earned many accolades from a war whose coming home. It seems as though he treats those around him as lower. This very ideal comes back to bite him once he's discovered in the bathroom, and in the first ending when he basically is castrated to sitting alone in the bathroom forever.
This leads to the final point of this man being an allegory for German Society in the early 1900s. That the Germans only really value the uniform and the stature of a person. They don't care about how talented that man may be, or how he may have been a great doorman. It's all about his current situation as a man that leads to his undoing and depression, and is why the film encapsulates the tragedy and underappreciation of the common man.
Chloe Katz
ReplyDeleteI believe that in the film the Last Laugh, the ending is a parody of a happy ending because the original ending already had a hopeful outlook. I believe that the director/writers wanted the ending to be happy (without overwhelming the viewer and remaining realistic), which is why they ended with a scene of someone showing the man kindness, even though he didn’t have wealth or status. With the original ending, they wanted to show that he didn’t need wealth or status to be viable- he simply needed people to care about him and love him regardless of his status. Following his demotion, he was stripped of all love, humility and admiration, but he began to regain it at the end when the nightwatchman was empathic and helped humanize him. This ending is what the creators wanted to illustrate, with a simple, uplifting message of hope and empathy. However, the new ending simply illustrates karma, as the man elevates his status by sheer luck and brings with him the only man who was ever kind to him- they are now having “The Last Laugh”. The ending is set as a fantasy scenario of luck and fortune- and it also depicts now that he has money, everyone is being kind to him. However, the ending is simply a hyperbole of the real ending, because the movie studio did not think it was enough for him to simply be shown humility regardless of status. The tracking shot simply emphasizes this, it details the man’s newfound opulence in contrast with his old life, and shows the stark, unrealistic difference between scenes three minutes apart in the movie. The rags-to-riches ending of The Last Laugh is simply a parody of happiness and luck- the real ending is still happy, as it provides the viewer with hope.
In the movie, “The Last Laugh”, F.W. Murnau expresses the idea that one’s life can change forever in simply one day, and that is just how society was. In the beginning of the film, we see a doorman (unnamed) who seems larger than life. He was incredibly prideful, and he would often have a smile or look of swagger on his face. He was truly proud of his position and his uniform. The members of his neighborhood had a great deal of respect for him, so they often showed it to him when he would return home from work. One day, everything went wrong for this man. The doorman soon became too old and too frail to work as a doorman, so he was replaced. Even though the man was already crushed, things got worse when he was demoted to a bathroom attendant. When word got back to the neighborhood about his demotion, everyone laughed at the man and turned their backs on him. Humiliated enough, the former doorman’s family decided to kick him out as well. The old man then had to struggle through life until the very end. This gives us all the realization everything is not just rainbows and sunshine, and a lot of that has to do with positions as well as class. In this society, everyone seems to want to be your friend when you’re high on life and doing well. This saddening change in the doorman’s community shows how quickly people will switch up on you without truly knowing you for you. It shows how society doesn’t truly care about you, it only cares about your position.
ReplyDeleteThe unnamed door man in the “The Last Laugh”, directed by F. W. Murnau, goes into a downfall throughout the movie due to how society treats people as they grow older. The start of this downfall of the unnamed doorman being replaced by a younger doorman because he was given a letter from his boss saying his age and frailty was affecting his job performance and that he would be demoted to working as a bathroom attendant. From there, the unnamed doorman’s family and his neighbors find out about his new job and his neighbors laugh at him and his family kicks him out, and he shamefully walks back to the hotel. When he makes it back, he gives the night guard his doorman uniform and walks him back to the bathroom, and before the night guard leaves he places on the unnamed (ex-)doorman some sympathy. The unnamed doorman did not have any character flaws that started this downfall, other than growing old but everyone has that eventual flaw, but that was a main factor of him losing his job that led him to being laughed at and returning to his spot in the bathroom. However, it is how society reacts to aging and the side effects that come with it because people want to have people who are much fast and stronger than the last, and that tends to be people who are younger. So, society would be the one to blame because it diminish the value older people have on society forcing them to change their careers based on their age. Overall, there is no one person to blame for his downfall, except the overall population that is to blame for the unnamed doorman’s downfall.
ReplyDeleteIn The Last Laugh, the downfall of the passionate doorman is an Aristotelian tragedy because his demise is a direct result of his character flaw: placing too much importance on his job. At the beginning of the film, the doorman acts confident and prides himself on his job. He stands, in uniform, in front of the hotel at which he works, The Atlantic, saluting people as they walk by and holding an umbrella for people in the rain. Due to his role at the Atlantic, the doorman perceives himself above others in his social class. He pays no attention to the women in his neighborhood and orders around hotel attendants all day long. However, one night while performing his duties, the doorman makes a fatal mistake. After carrying a large, heavy suitcase inside, he stops to rest and drink a glass of water. Unbeknownst to the doorman, his boss observes him taking a break and hires a new doorman the next day. The doorman is shocked to see that he has been replaced and rushes to his superior’s office only to receive a note declaring that he has been fired due to “age and frailty”. Symbolically, one of the hotel attendants rips off the doorman’s uniform - figuratively and literally stripping him of his pride. While losing his station as the doorman may seem like the most crushing outcome, the worst is yet to come. The hotel retains the doorman in a new position - a bathroom attendant. Even though the doorman believes his downfall was his demotion, the real problem is how he views himself and the way hotel guests and the neighborhood women perceive him. The film depicts the iconic moment when the doorman returns home after the women in his neighborhood learn of his demotion, and all of their laughing faces are superimposed onto the front of the screen. This is an extremely low point for the doorman who previously believed he was better than those women but now must face the reality that they are his equal. Also, while cleaning the floors in the bathroom is a humiliating job, it is preferable to termination. But, the doorman fails to recognize this fact because he is too caught up with the loss of his position as a doorman. After his demotion, the doorman often stops in the middle of his job duties to contemplate his position. This is illustrated when a man asks him to clean his shoes in the bathroom. The doorman polishes one shoe but stops while working on the second shoe, much to the surprise of the hotel guest who looks down to find the doorman staring into oblivion. The main character’s inability to complete simple tasks stems from his failure to move on from his demotion. The loss of the main character’s job as a doorman instigated a loss of self-respect, which is reflected in the scene when the doorman sits alone in the bathroom, eating his dinner and looking downtrodden. His reaction caused those in his neighborhood to also look down upon him, contributing to his overall feeling of worthlessness. Overall, the doorman’s flaw of placing all his pride and self-worth into his job ultimately leads to his downfall and eventual death.
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ReplyDeleteSociety, not the man, is responsible for establishing a hierarchy that favors wealth and status above all else; it creates an irresistible trap for the doorman causing his fall from grace to be severe. From the audiences first glance at the character, the doorman is seen in a position of power as he leads and organizes the front end of a luxurious and active hotel, and his tall stature and prominent garments solidify his position. The first fundamental flaw of society’s priorities is seen upon the doorman’s entrance of his community where his neighbors tip their hats in to give their respect to his perceived authority. Such measures placed the man on a pedestal in society which set him up for his inevitable failure as his growing age brought with it fragility and sluggishness that would make his current occupation nearly impossible to pursue. While important, his ill given position and thus authority in his community is merely an effect of the root cause of societal shortcomings. The true issue is society’s emphasis on status which leads him to make his career central to his relevance in society and his own life. The doorman allowed his career to dominate every facet of his life hence tying his family, community, and purpose to his job. The synergy is evident within his dawning of the doorman robe while away from his post as he frames his reputation solely within his outfit and its inherent status it holds. Without his suit, he carries a weak and crippled demeanor almost as if his soul lies within the outfit itself and losing it means letting the detriments of his age take over. If society had not placed such pressure on success and wealth, then the doorman would have never let his career seep so far into his life. Therefore, while the flaw within doorman certainly exists, the cause of that flaw is society’s fault. The doorman is not an isolated case. As the movie concluded and the doorman had his great reversal of fortune, the nightguard was treated to a feast due to his generosity and care to the man at his lowest point in his misfortune. However, the hotel staff’s care and fair treatment towards the night guard only lasted as far as to impress the now wealthy former doorman and ended abruptly when he had left the night guard at the table. Thus, central to the movie and society is the theme that respect is not earnt but rather bought, and it extends to how high one can fill the lines of others pocket or to one’s perceived significance. In summary, society’s fundamental flaw in forcing the decision-making calculus of individuals to prioritize one’s success and status made the doorman’s downfall harder and more unforgiving.
ReplyDeleteThe Last Laugh is not a tragedy in Aristotle’s terms because the doorman's failure is not because of a character flaw, however, the doorman could have prevented his downfall if he set himself up for a better future. The doorman was very old, and it was harder for him to complete his duties, so his boss thought he needed to switch to a better job. Losing his position came with a lot of humiliation, as is shown when his whole village finds out. As he walks home, without his doorman uniform, everyone starts watching and laughing at him. His own family even shuns him, and he ends up feeling very sorry for himself. There used to be a lot of respect for the doorman, and whenever he came home, the whole town would salute him as he walked by. The doorman lost his job because he was too old, but that was not his fault. His aging is not a character flaw, and he should not be punished because of it. This plot shows how society is only kind to those with jobs that society deems respectable. Nothing changed about the doorman after losing his job except his title, but that is not how the villagers were treating him. They acted as if he was a different person, just because of the change of his title. Although the doorman could not have done anything about this age, he could have planned and acknowledged that he could not be a doorman forever. He could have decided to retire or started to transition into another job as well as talked about it with his family, so they were not ashamed of him, although it was very unnecessary to shun him. The doorman’s downfall is not one person’s fault, but it was destined to happen. The Last Laugh is not a tragedy because the doorman does not have any character flaws that caused him to lose his job, however, he should have planned better in advance for the day to come where he was too old, even though his peers had no reason to disrespect him for his age.
ReplyDeleteThe Last Laugh ascends beyond the dichotomy of the flaws of one man; rather, it provides an expressionist portrayal of the German national psyche in the late 1920’s. The nihilistic and sublime presentation of the film serve to bring the audience a taste of the castration of the German pride following the debilitating Treaty of Versailles.
ReplyDeleteFrom a surface level perspective, the film seems rather linear and straightforward: the story of an old man tragically falling from grace due to hubris. The comparison is obvious to the classic Aristotelian tragedy. However, it is important to remember that German Expressionism during this time was not so two-dimensional. In paintings such as The Scream and Streets of Berlin we can see that expressionists sought to transcend the linear homogeneity of the Classical Era and explore themes that could only be experienced ethereally. That is why it is essential to look below the surface of expressionist films and explore the sensations enclosed, especially in a film as subtle as The Last Laugh.
The film evokes sensations of pure misery; one feels emasculated while watching a protagonist so thoroughly quashed by his condition. The Last Laugh serves as an allegory, providing an expressionist portrayal of the state of German people post-WWI, our protagonist the personified German state and its inhabitants. Following the loss of WWI and Treaty of Versailles, the German people were not only forced to pay enormous reparations to the Allied countries, they also had to give up their national pride: the military. For a country founded on imperial roots, taking the military was like ripping the soul out of the nation, humiliating its people. The fact that our protagonist wears what looks like a general’s uniform, salutes all that pass him, and has a beard identical to that of Otto Van Bismarck serves only to solidify the allegory. At the start of the film, we see him at the forefront of an opulent hotel – the metaphorical height of the Empire - frantically dashing to aid guests with their luggage. However, as we see him confront and insurmountable challenge - a huge trunk of luggage – he is eventually crushed and forced to retreat and surrender. His downfall to the ranks of bathroom servant serves to complete the allegory, the metaphorical Treaty of Versailles in the form of a demotion letter from his boss is what sends him down the spiral to dissolution.
From the sensational perspective, the film serves to disorient and confuse the audience at every opportunity. Whether it be the warping of the building after the doorman steals the uniform or the superimposition of the laughing faces as he stumbles away to his home, the viewer feels dazed and horrified at the images being presented. Those sensations are deliberate on the part of the director, to bring the audience directly into the mindset of the German national following the war. Confusion, bewilderment, even dread all commanded the national psyche of Germany following the disintegration of the national pride. To feel humiliated is to feel German, and the film does an excellent job evoking those emotions.
So then what does the upbeat ending represent? The ludicrous way the doorman gains his pride back coupled with the fantastical nature of the scenes afterwards provide a satirical and nihilistic commentary on the optimism of rising Nazism in Germany. It was perhaps in the belief of many Germans at the time that Adolf Hitler would come to raise them from their misery into a fever dream of opulence and strength. The director seeks to provide his last political commentary here, presenting the scenes in such an unbelievable way that the viewer cannot do anything but reject the false hope provided by the rising political star. In the end, The Last Laugh seeks to bring the viewer directly into the ethereal German experience following WWI to provide a subtle political commentary on the psyche of an entire nation.
The Last Laugh should be considered an Aristotelian Tragedy, as the doorman's great pride and attachment to his profession and status made his downfall much harder; however, the movie is an interesting case of an Aristotelian Tragedy in that the fatal flaw of the doorman is heavily influenced by the society around him. In the early stages of the film, the doorman is shown to don his uniform very proudly as he confidently waves at people and escorts women to taxis. As he returns to his apartment, the doorman also takes pride in people tipping their hats and showing respect to him and his uniform. While this praise makes the doorman happy, it also makes him exceedingly attached to his uniform and profession, as both of these symbolize his status and value in society. This leads to the doorman's self-worth becoming increasingly intertwined with his value in his society, as he craves the respect and adoration that he receives from his community. However, when the doorman is demoted to a cleaner due to his age and fragility, he is devastated because that means he will not retain the same respect and status that he had earlier. Because of this, he makes the tragic decision to steal the uniform and try to wear it in his apartment complex to regain his status. While he still maintains his respect and thus, his self-worth for some time, his facade quickly unravels and he is made fun of by his entire community because of how, while he pretended to be someone of high status, was now a mere bathroom cleaner. The shame caused by this incident causes his own family to shun him, leaving the doorman without any status or self-respect, with the only person caring for him being, ironically, one of the individuals of lower status that he hoped to avoid becoming.
ReplyDeleteMurnau’s silent film, The Last Laugh, is a tragedy in the Aristotelian sense, because the doorman’s fatal flaw is his insatiable hunger for honor; however, because the doorman is representative of all of Germany and because others are to an extent guilty as well for ridiculing him, the film is able to additionally critique society, Germany, and capitalism at large for its misplaced honor and lack of stable social order. There can be no doubt that the key item lost by the doorman that leads to his depression is his honor and not any of his material conditions. When the door attendant initially losses his job he goes back home without telling others and while still wearing the uniform only to be greeted with a great party, including salutes, wine, and ultimately beautiful music. While this scene is certainly intentionally shaky and disorienting, it is arguably one of the happiest in the movie for the doorman even though he has lost his job. The monetary or material conditions surrounding him were never important and if he received this same level of honor for the rest of his life regardless of his actual job he would be satisfied. All it takes to transport him to a dizzying milieu of pure pleasure is others offering him their utmost respect. However, it becomes abundantly clear that this is not a sustainable way to live because the next day the old man is spotted working in a bathroom rather than his honorable, usual spot. He sinks, defeated and depressed, and still attempts to walk home in his military uniform because he is that desperate for honor. Of course, this is to no avail as the surrounding people have gossiped to each other and know of the man’s shame. They proceed to haunt the man as ghoulish faces dancing and laughing around him, it is as if the doorman is already dead and is being tormented in a hell of his own creation. Ultimately, he receives food and shelter out of pure pity after his walk of shame or crossing over his own river of Styx into his new life. While it is easy to see the old man as a victim of the times or of his surroundings, he has created for himself a life of seeking honor above all else which is wrong and disordered as even Aristotle himself would say. The doorman chooses to go around in his doorman uniform at all times of the day, to solute nearly every person he passes, and to define himself around his job and his social standing. By doing so, he sets himself up for the inevitable fall from grace that occurs when he ages and losses his job. His depression and anger at his boss upon firing is completely unjustified then, because if it was not that day then it would be another when his age would catch up to him, in other words this was a man angry at the wind for knocking down a house he made out of cards. However, this is not to say that others did not fail the door attendant, because while certainly he needed to construct an identity outside of his job and desiring respect, his friends and family still must respect him in some sense. One day the women looked up to the doorman, even flirting and smiling with him, the next they were viscously mocking him and attempting to usurp his social status. This displays the rigorous class struggle in a society in which schadenfreude is encouraged and there is no true connection between the parts of a community.
ReplyDeleteAll there is, is unending jockeying for position and thus the old man can be blamed for caring too much about his position and the world around him can be blamed for nearly the same. However, there is also reasonable doubt as to how bad his ridiculing and fall from grace really was, if in one scene the building seemed to bend downward and fall on the doorman, the audience cannot truly know if his mocking was that of his own hellish fantasy or reality. In this sense, the director seems to tell us that it is unimportant because regardless of the real world the doorman has opened himself up to his collapse. Finally, while the film does critique the old man and society around him, it is also much larger than both, because this is above all else a German tragedy. The film was made in the 1920’s, right after the treaty of Versailles and the enormous embarrassment that the German people had just felt after losing World War I. They had been leading up to the conflict, one of the most powerful and prideful nations in the world, Hegel himself had just a few decades earlier called Germany the climax of all of human history and the ideological dialectic, but with their inevitable fall from grace came an international mocking. To make matters worse, their arch nemesis, the French, had embarrassed them and left their nation without much of its historic and proud military, without its intellectual vigor, and with shell-shocked and defeated young men. The Weimar Republic as a whole was that old doorman, an aging nation past its prime who placed too much pride in itself and its military. Furthermore, the door attendant particularly loved his military style uniform and his solute that was given to everyone he saw. These choices directly harken back towards the military excellence of the German people leading up to World War I. Thus, the film is in this sense critiquing the nation for being too proud of itself and too bold in its actions during the war. Furthermore, it is also a critique of the liberal capitalism that was collapsing in Germany at the time. However, this was not a Marxist critique, but rather a corporatist or right wing view of the failures of capitalism. Remember, that the doorman lost his material source of income long before he fell into depression. Furthermore, in the alternate ending when the man becomes rich he does not much care for his money, which he throws away like trash, all that matters to him is honor and the immaterial life of the spirit. In other words, Marx would claim that the way to solve this societal problem is to merely abolish the concept of money or distribute resources equally but if the doorman was disrespected or still lost his honor that would be meaningless to him. In one sense that might even demoralize him further, because he would lose his higher social position or the feeling that there is a need to strive for anything at all. Furthermore, The film opens with a quote that one day one can be a prince and the next he can be nothing. This quote indicates that the true problem with the social order is not that there is a social order at all as Marx would say, but rather because it constantly changes under capitalism and rewards people for the wrong reasons. That an old man can fall from grace so quickly and to suck immediate pain indicates a failure of the system and a false hierarchy for ordering society. Additionally, the constant camera movements and lurching of buildings indicates the lack of stability and constant twistedness of modern capitalism. Thus, the film is an Aristotelian tragedy about an old man or an old nation that cared too much about honor and who lives in a capitalist society that cannot properly and stably order society with its constant change and swings of power.
DeleteIn The Last Laugh the rules of society in combination with the zealous doorman’s own narcissism and dependence on his job results in his professional and social downfall. In the beginning of the film the doorman is represented as a macho, confident protagonist who thrives when sporting the doorman’s uniform. In his uniform, he walks the walk and talks the talk. As a doorman he demands the respect of the hotel patrons. Whenever he holds open the door, carries luggage, or acknowledges patrons, he would swell with pride and further buy into the concept that he was his job. One day, his task was to lift a heavy trunk to a patron’s room although this proved difficult for the doorman, leaving him out of breath and in need of a break. Without the doorman’s knowledge, his boss watches from afar, angry at him for taking a break and sipping on water. The next day he is fired for “age and frailty”. Instantaneously he feels the effects of his termination. As another employee strips the jacket from his body, the camera focuses on the doorman’s face, allowing the audience to see the pride physically leave him. From that point onwards, the doorman’s social and professional life continue on a downward trend. The patrons who previously salute the doorman now would not give him the time of the day. The women in his neighbor who once celebrated at his arrival now ridicule him and gossip about him. The film depicts the doorman’s confusing and overwhelming state of mind by blurring and superimposing the laughing faces of his neighbors and town with his own dissatisfied, contorted body language as he walks. This highlights how the doorman lets other people influence his mind state and future actions. The people in his life change their disposition toward him after he lost his job as the respected doorman. For that reason, losing his job is not fully responsible for his downfall, but how the doorman processed the responses of those in his community. Yes, they shame him for no longer being the doorman, but shortly after he gets a job as a bathroom attendant. There he serves similarly as a helper although the people he serves no longer acknowledge him, no longer does he have a presence. The film depicts the doorman’s struggle to accept his lowly position by blurring this scenes. He is still employed and living but his life is not the same. Why is his life no longer the same? In this society a doorman is highly respected, worthy of acknowledgement, while a bathroom attendant demands no respect and more often than not gets no acknowledgement because they are a placeholder for a towel rack, a soap dish, or a mint dispenser. This highlights how he needs the acknowledgement and respect associated with the doorman position to move forward in life. In summary, the doorman’s downfall can be associated with the actions of society along with the doorman’s need of respect associated with the job.
ReplyDeleteJack Spiegle… In “The Last Laugh,” the film is a tragedy in many forms. First off, the doorman’s downfall is inevitable due to his aging. We know the doorman is aware of his years taking a toll on him due to the scene where he dreams about being able to lift up a chest one handed in front of many people. This scene also tells us that he wants to look strong in front of many. In addition, as we see in the scene where he sits down in pain after physical labor, his aging has negatively affected his energy giving the hotel managers no choice but to put him in a job his aged body is capable of. Unfortunately for the doorman, his new job doesn’t have the glory his old one did. He no longer is the smiling face visitors see. His downfall is also cause by the indictment of the society at the time. In the scene where the woman is cleaning his doorman outfit, his job is respected in the community. However, his new job as a bathroom attendant is seen as a sign of uselessness among the community in the scene where he walks outside and is humiliated. When the movie was filmed, society saw this man as washed up due to his decline in the skill required for his job. In modern day I would expect that someone in a similar position would be respected for all they’ve done in their previous line of work. Back then, the community is portrayed as viewing this man as useless. Jack Spiegle
ReplyDeleteAlthough the character of the doorman inherits a significant amount of wealth towards the end of The Last Laugh, the film primarily alludes to the doorman’s storyline to be one of an Aristotelian tragedy due to the loss of purpose, ties with loved ones, and notion of self worth. Towards the middle of the film, the protagonist is faced with a new young and imposing doorman outside of the Atlantic Hotel, and is eventually called into his boss’ office to read the reasons for his reassignment to work in the bathroom, resulting in him losing his job in the process. The doorman then proceeds to be shocked, and trembles at the reality of losing his job and prestige. The instance demonstrates how the doorman solely attributes any sort of purpose to his job, and distorts his priorities to be centered around the prestige and financial backing that he gains from it, and results in a complete void of purpose after his reassignment. As a result of losing his job, the doorman is eventually disowned by his family, ridiculed by surrounding neighbors, and is perceived to have lost all sense of worth. Towards the end of the film, the doorman initially hesitates to enter into his apartment complex, and is eventually ridiculed and laughed at during the entirety of his retreat to his apartment. After escaping an overwhelming amount of laughter and mockery, the doorman is faced with the disappointed faces of his family members. As he tries to seek comfort and forgiveness for his job reassignment from his family, they simply ask him to leave, and disown him as a result. The doorman’s disownment only perpetuates his state of depression, and only reinforces sentiments of being regarded as a failure. The doorman’s inability to distinguish his job and social life eventually lead to a distorted view of his self worth. During the second ending of the film, the doorman is seen to be very happy, and enjoys the liberties of having an excess in wealth, food, and social prestige. The ending only reinforces the notion that the doorman fails to understand the concept of self worth, and proceeds to boast about his wealth by buying mass amounts of foods and accessories, and attempts to rectify his past struggles through mass consumption as a result.
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