Monday, February 9, 2015
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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The German expressionism film, The Last Laugh, depicts the downfall of an unnamed doorman. He is downgraded from his high-ranking and impressive job as a doorman to an unappreciated bathroom attendant in a short amount of time. While the reason for his “forced retirement”, which was his age and weakness, is legitimate, the doorman does not take the news well. He mopes around and seems to age throughout the film. He is defeated, and I believe that this is mostly his own fault. Before he was fired, the man is praised and looked up to by the people in his neighborhood. This is not because of the kind of person he is, but rather the job that he holds. The people admire him because of his high status as a doorman, and the man lets this get to his head. For example, whenever he walks around where he lives, he salutes to people like he has authority over them. Also, he acts as a hero toward the younger people, and he wants them to look up to them. After the man loses his job, he feels as though he lost himself. He built his whole image on his job, and after he is fired he has nothing left to offer. While it is wrong for the people in the neighborhood to make fun of him, the man could have chosen to hold his head high and look past them. If he would have done this, the people may have seen that he is an impressive man because of his character, not because of his status.
ReplyDeleteThe silent film, “The Last Laugh,” examines the concept of old age and its effects on the ordinary man. The film illustrates the downfall of an unnamed hotel doorman, who is meant to depict the middle class laborer. As part of his job, he must unload the clients’ luggage from the taxi. Although this might seem like a simple task, it can be extremely challenging for a man suffering from old age. As the doorman goes to retrieve a client’s suitcase, he finds that it is too heavy for him to lift. A younger middle-aged man comes to the doorman’s assistance and unloads the suitcase from the taxi with ease. The contrast between the old doorman and the young man distinctly exemplifies that old age is the reason the doorman cannot lift the luggage. It is apparent that the doorman can no longer fulfill his duties as a doorman due to his old age, and as a result, he is demoted to a bathroom tenant; a rather disgraceful job. Thus, by no fault of his own, the doorman’s downfall begins. When he was a doorman at a luxurious hotel, he was highly respected because of his position. He used to trot down the street wearing a sharp-looking uniform, and his neighbors would idolize him as if he was loyalty. Yet now that he is a bathroom tenant, he trembles down the street in humiliation. If old age had not prevented the former doorman from performing his duties, then he would still have his honorable position. Unfortunately, old age is unavoidable and can completely ruin one’s life.
ReplyDeleteIn the German film, The Last Laugh, the doorman’s tragic fall from respected hotel worker to belittled bathroom attendant is an allegory of the perceived evils of capitalism. An assiduous and dutiful man has his job, which is the most important part of his identity, stripped from him as he begins to age. While the hotel could have given him a less taxing yet just as respected position, they demoted him to become a bathroom attendant, which the protagonist takes very harshly. The doorman’s fall from grace is an obvious critique of capitalism, as the hotel is not concerned with the doorman as a person, even though he was a respected and loyal employee, rather they are only concerned about profits and efficiency. In many ways, this story can be seen as supportive of communist ideals. The doorman’s job was the foundation of his identity; he was respected by his community and he respected himself due to his job. When he wore his uniform, he stood up straight, towering over others and walked with an air of righteousness. Yet, after he lost his job, the protagonist fell into a depression, indicated through his slouched posture, crazed demeanor, and anxiety. This not only shows that the capitalist system that was responsible for his downfall is both merciless and backwards, yet it also shows that social class is the most important part of one’s identity, a tenant of communist philosophy. The viewer is supposed to identify with the doorman, and thus empathize with him when he loses his job. The doorman’s fall does not stem from any tragic character flaw except for his age, which should have gained him respect, not disgrace. The creators of this film obviously had a political agenda which they expressed in subtle yet effective ways; any viewer, regardless of the economic system of which they live in, would commiserate with the struggling protagonist, thus making the film’s techniques quite powerful.
ReplyDeleteThe doorman in The Last Laugh is demoted because of his own pride in the job; he shapes his identity and his life around this career where he feels important and superior. This doorman’s tragic flaw of self-pride in his career and caring about external identification holds him culpable for the tragic downfall. Subsequent to his demotion, he tries to maintain his superiority, act like he is still the doorman, and demands respect. The turning point is when people challenge his status by laughing at him. When he is the washroom attendant, they laugh and he is humiliated; furthermore, his pride is eradicated so he feels and recognizes himself as inferior. This humiliation about his demotion ultimately makes himself conscious, and redefines him according to his new job. Before, his self-worth was centered around his career as a doorman; consequentially, his self-worth is centered again around his career as a washroom attendant. This leads to his downfall and insufficient self-worth. I believe that the producer shows this because one aspect cannot define a person’s life and one’s self-worth shouldn't be all encompassed by a job. People are more complicated and need to be identified by their beliefs and character. To elaborate, the ending is made up of the unnamed doorman as a rich man with a superfluous amount of goods. I believe that he utilizes this scene to showcase that people cannot be defined by what they own. His facetious perspective on money demonstrates the ridiculousness of individuality being comprised of what you own and not who you are. To me, the moral of the story is that one's ipseity needs to be made up of character and actions, not ones opulence of goods or riches; furthermore, it's like the infamous line goes: money isn't everything. This film is a tragedy with a man’s self-pride in his job as his tragic flaw that is used as a lesson for the audience on self-worth.
ReplyDeleteThe doorman’s downfall is not an Aristotelian one. He ends up as the laughingstock of the town through no fault of his own but rather because of the society he lives in. The Last Laugh uses the downfall of the doorman to illustrate the negative effects of capitalism on society. Although the doorman spends his whole life working his job and being a positive influence in his community, he inevitably grows old and is no longer able to contribute. Because of the competitive element of capitalistic society when he can no longer perform he is cast aside by his employer. The film insinuates that this is not something that would happen in a socialist society or another more community based society. Not only does he lose his job when he becomes incapable but he immediately loses the respect of all of his friends. The Last Laugh blames capitalist society for the doorman’s social fall as well. It effectively says that he puts too much of his self-worth into his profession and when he inevitably loses this profession, he is now worthless. What makes his situation worse is that at the time he needs his friends and family the most they abandon him. Because they have grown accustomed to the competition of their everyday lives, when they see their friend fall they use it as an opportunity to bolster themselves up by ridiculing him. According to the film, the society sets up its constituents to eventually fail and when they do these failures will be compounded by the lack of familial and relational support.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely have to agree with Patrick. The Doorman’s demotion was not his own fault but rather the fault of the culture of the time. This German film, made at the height of the Weimar republic, reflected the hardships that the recently defeated Germany had to go through following the First World War. During this time, Germany had to deal with hyperinflation, sanctions from the Treaty of Versailles, including seemingly unending reparation costs, as well as significant damage to their home state. Thus there was a culture of fierce capitalistic competition to get what little there was to go around. This means that for a lavish institution like the hotel at which the Doorman worked had to maintain its wealthy clientele and so had to provide excellent services to ensure its prolonged existence during those trying times. Thus it is unfair to blame the Doorman for being too old and frail to continue performing at such a high level. It is more a commentary on both the inevitability of time as well as a criticism of the cutthroat capitalistic society in which this film is based. Furthermore, the social implications in this film suggest that one’s self-worth as well as the worth placed upon you by others is based upon the success or failure of one’s occupation. We see this in two scenes, the first when the Doorman is leaving to go to his job and it appears as though everybody respects him. The second scene is when he returns home in disgrace after being fired and all of the respect that his neighbors had for him turned into scorn and almost disdain.
ReplyDeleteIn the film, The Last Laugh, an unnamed doorman works at a high class hotel and has a very respectable role in society, which is until he is reduced to a bathroom attendant due to his old age. I believe that the doorman’s downfall is the fault of no one other than himself. Although he was forced into retirement and had to turn to the unappealing job of a bathroom attendant, how he handles this downgrading of jobs is what I believe contributes to his downfall. While still working as the doorman, our unnamed character holds his self in high regards, and never fails to help out a child that has fallen and being picked on, or simply saluting his neighbors. His neighbors respect him as much as they do because the way he projects himself as a doorman. When he loses his job, the unnamed doorman cannot bare to return to his neighborhood and have his neighbors see him wearing anything less than his doorman uniform. In order to avoid having his neighbors discover his downgrade in jobs, he steals his doorman uniform back and begins a sort of charade with his community. It isn’t until his is caught by a significant other working as a bathroom attendant that he seems to become defeated. I believe that even though his previous job as a doorman made him respectable in his neighborhood, if he had simply withheld himself from lying about his downgrade in jobs, then the lash of shame from his community would have been significantly less. I believe that his neighbors found the most humor and shame in the fact that the unnamed doorman put on an act even though he had already lost his job, an act that his community found ridiculous and even more shameful then the demotion of the job itself.
ReplyDeleteIn The Last Laugh, much of the story revolves around how the people around the doorman view him, reflecting the amount of respect the community has for status and wealth. In the beginning of the film when he has his job, the doorman is seen through a low-angle camera, symbolizing his importance and stature. He carries a strong persona and presence. He is shown as being respected by the townspeople, or at least he is in his perspective. After he fails to get the trunk, (which is specifically shown through a low angle, to show its importance in the storyline) the camera angle changes and he is shown as weak. Then he is seen through a high angle camera, signifying his personal demotion. The uniform is always seen through a low angle, emphasizing how important it is in the doorman’s life. After being demoted, he is laughed at by townspeople because he let his uniform carry him so highly and based his self-worth on his job. As a washroom attendant he loses dignity even though economically it’s a better option because the value his community has for uniform is strong enough to make his change in jobs a sad demotion. Lotte Eisner wrote a review in 1964 where she said the film “could only be a German story”, due to the fact that the principle tragedy is him losing his rank which was very important in society at that time. This ties in with the theme of him being too proud to grow old and except his eventual physical and mental decay and death, which makes the story a tragedy. Society does not help him, being the other building block of the tragedy and maybe being a reference to how society and communities in many places today rank status and occupation as being very important and taking priority over a person’s well-being. He worsens his situation by stealing his uniform to feel normal again but by doing so makes him look foolish towards other people. His character flaw is that he is so much invested in his status that he lets it become his only redeeming trait and therefore he and his community lose respect for him, until the deus-ex-machina ending where he gains ample wealth and is respected again.
ReplyDeleteIn the last laugh it is clear to see how the doorman views himself in comparison to others. In the beginning of the film we see him as he makes his way from the elevator to his position at the door. This specific scene is interesting because in a quick glimpse we can see what his life is like and how he views himself along with how others view him. We can see how he views himself in the way at which he carries himself while taking on the role of the doorman. This feeling of being superior to others is one of the flaws he has and causes people to rejoice in his misfortune. It is clear that others in the hotel felt that he was acting in this way also with the scene where we see people laughing at his demotion. When he then gets demoted to being a to a bathroom attendant, this demolishes his self-confidence. In some ways I feel like he sees this and how people didn’t like him. Another thing, which I don’t think, the doorman notices was how age had a lot to do with the demotion of his ranking in the hotel. The doorman was noted to be having troubles carrying up some luggage and this is something that he needs to be able to do for his job. This may of contributed to him having a less physically demanding job of bathroom attendant. By him getting demoted it in some way put him in his place while also giving him a less physically demanding job, which is exactly what he needed.
ReplyDeleteI think that in this film, the story faults in that it is hard to blame the main character or anyone for any “tragic downfall.” It provides an awkward experience for the viewer because we are expecting a more clear-cut storyline with focused problem and climax. It was hard to enjoy the film and the story because of this awkward transition.
ReplyDeleteThere was a downfall, but it was not necessarily a tragic downfall. In the film, the man loses his job because of his old age. That does not necessarily provide for an interesting, climactic story for the viewer. There is definitely no tragedy here. There is nothing that could have been avoided.
The director put a lot of effort and noticeable care into presenting the climax of his story. This only successfully contributed to the awkwardness of the story that us viewers experienced, in my opinion. For example, when our main character was reading the letter about his termination as doorman, the text blurred, the music got suspenseful, and the entire feeling of the film changed. However, this was not really a tragic and suspenseful climax. While most of us did grow to love the main character, it was a little hard to feel bad for him. There was not any tragedy in his story. The experience he was going through is, unfortunately, pretty ordinary. Often, it is an experience of life that most people try not to think about.
The director carried out this film as if there was some tragic mistake made by somebody. I, however, did not buy the story and didn’t recognize it as an interesting or tragic. The lack of a tragic downfall and a legitimate climax made for what I thought was a fairly awkward story.
In the film, The Last Laugh, the unnamed door attendant loses everything he has known for his entire life. The reputation he has built up in his neighborhood is gone. The life at the hotel that seemed to comfort him is gone. The respect of his family is gone as well. The unnamed door attendant was demoted to cleaning the bathroom, which isn’t as highly respected as being a door attendant. I believe that the film is not a tragedy in the Aristotelian sense because the character didn’t exhibit a large character flaw that he could somehow control. The fact of the matter is that the doorman was aging. This was something that is simply inevitable when it comes to humans alike. All humans become old and lose aspect of themselves that help them in their day-to-day lives. However, I also believe in a way it was societies fault as to why the doorman lost his job. The society back then [doorman’s time period] can be compared to our society today. There is a continual need to improve and make things fast and better. There is simply no room for something or someone that is broken and unable to do something to the best ability that the hotel needs. There is also the sense that society plays a role in how a type of job is respected. Society makes it out to seem like the door attendant job is higher ranking and the bathroom job is less. In a way brainwashing people to think that was job is better than the other so that people should respect one person more than another. In some ways society contributed to the doorman’s downfall through not only being replaced but as well as how people thought of him.
ReplyDeleteThe German expressionist film, The Last Laugh, is not an Aristotelian tragedy whatsoever, but rather a tragic story about the effects of aging. No one person can take full responsibility for the downfall of the doorman, he is the only one to blame. The Last Laugh depicts the ultimate demise of an unnamed doorman as he deteriorates and succumbs to his elderly age. There is a distinct turning point where his aging intensifies, shown through his facial expressions and his all-around actions. At the beginning, the doorman is portrayed as strong and courageous. But by the end, he is constantly hunched over, and barely able to walk under his own strength. It is the doorman’s inability to perform his job, that makes others seem him as nearly useless, specifically the manager of the hotel. A specific example of this is at the beginning of the movie, when he struggles to take a large suitcase down from a customer’s car. Additionally, the camera angles during this scene portray the suitcase as an insurmountable challenge. Before being downgraded to bathroom attendant, the doorman was loved and praised by the people of his neighborhood. When he walked about the town, he would salute everybody in his immediate path. People respected his authority when he wore his uniform. It is quite sad that both his family and friends alienate him. I think The Last Laugh is trying to tell the audience that nothing is permanent, and age is not just a number. Life must go on and the younger generations must takeover, it’s just human nature.
ReplyDeleteThe unnamed doorman from the film, The Last Laugh, presents the downfall of a once heroic well-known doorman. The hotel has a very strict tolerance on their employees, they must always be working at their best possible ability so that the hotel stays on top and residents are having positive experiences. The film immediately shows a change in the doorman’s ability to work at a high pace rate. The scene takes place in a cold rainy night where the doorman has many people coming and going from the hotel with luggage. He is able to please the first couple of people very easily and show his ability to work under the weather circumstances but there is a fault. He becomes very tired and cannot perform at his best anymore, eventually he would come inside for a break to refresh himself. The manager of the hotel is left with no other decision except to hire a new doorman who is younger and stronger then the one now. This new doorman would erase the faults of the old one. The unnamed doorman never saw this day coming because he loved his job so much, to realize that someone new was going to come in would effect his future work ethic leading to his downfall. He confronted the manager and wanted to obtain his old job because without it he feels like he is nothing. The manager shows no sympathy because he knows the unnamed doorman cannot complete the tasks anymore because of his aging. His body didn’t have the strength it once did expressing he it getting “too old” for the job. At last when the doorman tries to show the manager he can still perform he attempts to raise heavy luggage over his head but he simply cannot and he drops it on his head, showing his failure. As it is hard to see the downfall of a once incredible doorman, his failure can only be judged as his own characters flaw of aging.
ReplyDeleteThe German expressionist film, The Last Laugh, is indeed an Aristotelian tragedy. It is a tragedy because the character, the unnamed doorman, falls because of a fatal flaw. In this film, the characters fatal flaw is his pride. Because of his pride he is unwilling to admit to his community that he has lost his job as a doorman. Now you may be asking yourself why losing a job is a doorman is such a significant thing. Being a doorman was a job that was admired by his community because it was a job that had a uniform and it was a kind job as the doorman was always there to help people because that was what he was paid to do. Now that he became a bathroom attendant, he no longer had a proud job with a uniform he could wear home to his community to show them what a wonderful person he was. But this is where his flaw enters the plot of the film. Instead of admitting to his neighbors that he had lost his job and would no longer be wearing the uniform, he pretends that he still works as a doorman and steals the uniform at night when he goes home so that his neighbors still believe he is a doorman. His pride results in his fall because he looks like an even bigger fool when his community finds out the truth about his employment.
ReplyDeleteAlthough many inferences can be made from the film’s story, the overall message can be narrowed down better by a process of elimination. It can always be said that the movie focuses on the effects of aging, as it seems that these effects are the sole cause (with no other visible underlying reason) of the unnamed doorman’s demotion. However, one could argue that it would be giving this aspect of the film too much credit, to call “the aging process” the goal of the director’s portrayal of events, as the aging (and subsequent demotion) is merely a catalyst for the true downfall, and is meant to bring forth the essential events later on. Furthermore, it can hardly be said that the character had a significant flaw which brought-upon his own downfall, seeing as his affable and overall positive demeanor in the start of the film is meant to portray him as an innocent protagonist, who later falls victim to a combination of age and a society which seemingly places a nonsensical value on an individual’s career. In this sense, it would make for the most meaningful message if the film’s moral to be a criticism the family and friends of the former doorman, whose reaction to their friend’s unfortunate circumstances was inappropriate and antagonistic, and is meant to be seen as such by those who view this film. Many people have mentioned that the reactions of both the main character and those in his life is far exaggerated (given the circumstances) compared to the expected outcome of the events, some taking it as far as to say that the doorman’s own reaction, (hiding his demotion from those around him) was the overall reason for his social exile. I would like to argue that this is not the case, and that rather than his reaction being a motivation for their cruel treatment, the cause of his secrecy was due to the fact that the unnamed man knew his friends and family enough to expect their cruelty, and was reserved about losing his job due to fear of their inevitable inappropriate reaction. Finally, it is probable that the society’s reaction was purposely exaggerated by the director with the intent of making a point by displaying a more extreme version of the real-life equivalent, making it more visible (and easier to take-away a message from) than if the portrayal was accurate to reality.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this movie was in a way to show how aging can effect one person but also at the same time the main character does fall from power because of flaws. The flaw I noticed was his pride in his job. He believed himself to be above others in his community and to show it he would always go out into public with his work clothes on (the door man suit) once he was fired from his position he went to such great length to keep his status in society. He would go so far as to steal from his most beloved work to make sure that he is still seen as this almighty man when he return home. I believe that it was the main characters fault for his down fall. As I said before if he had just taken the loss when he was demoted he would not have had to stress himself so much to keep the appearance. If he had not made his life revolve around his job maybe those around him would not have made such a big deal about him losing his job, such as his neighbor who was listening through the door and spread her finding to the whole community. Going back to the man’s aging. This film if one were to look at it as just a movie with no purpose and is just a movie of a man who apparently is aging. One could see by his lack of strength and posture. (aging in this movie was shown with extreme exaggeration because the actors could not express themselves with vocals) so to conclude the question yes, the mans age does not help his situation but it is ultimately his own self pride and obsession with his job that gets him into so much trouble
ReplyDeleteThe Last Laugh, directed by FW Murnau, is a tragedy in the Aristotelian sense. The doorman’s fatal flaw ultimately leads to his demise at the end of the film. In this film, the fatal flaw itself is that the doorman cares too much about what others think of him. After getting demoted from his ‘prestigious’ position as the doorman, he still continues to pretend that he is a doorman by wearing nice clothes and showing pride when near his neighbors. Like many other Aristotelian tragedies, the doorman’s fatal flaw comes from himself as opposed to the society around him. That being said, society helps add to the doorman’s misery and makes fun of him once they discover that he was demoted. Additionally, the doorman getting demoted by the hotel does not help the doorman’s situation and makes it worse. If we include the additional ending as part of the film, one might argue that the doorman’s rebound to wealth discredits the film from being a tragedy. I would argue, however, that the doorman’s rebound to wealth also fuels his sense of pride and adds to the idea that the doorman cares too much about what other people think. I believe that this rebound to wealth sets the doorman up for tragedy yet again and will ultimately result in his total demise. This film shows that while society can aid the struggle and demise of a character, it is ultimately the character himself who digs his own grave.
ReplyDeleteIn the film The Last Laugh, the doorman suffers a tragedy in a solely Aristotelian sense. He loses his job because of a flaw. His flaw is his age and his weakness causes his termination as the hotels doorman. The unnamed doorman takes the news of losing his job very harshly and nearly faints when finding out. The hotel must maintain its reputation and cannot have a weak and aging man as their ‘front cover’. The doorman, who adored his job, cannot bare the news. He goes to his boss’s office to prove that he can still lift the guest’s suitcases. As he lifts the suitcase in the office he begins to collapse under the weight. As his boss runs over to check on him, the doorman is in shock that he could not lift the suitcase. He immediately begins to realize that the hotel was right in dismissing him for his age and weakness. The doorman enters into a deep depression. He loses all of his energy, and his depression consumes his entire life. Society at this time considered all aging people to be very weak people. The Doorman became victim to this stereotype, a stereotype that ruined his life. It is nobodies fault other than life itself that this aging process happened to the doorman. He has fallen to this natural process.
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