By Emily Di Natale

After procrastinating for some time I finally watched Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (1921). As much as I love black and white films, there was something that held me back from placing The Kid on the top of my priority list. Possibly childhood memories of the characters in silent films running around in fast motion, accompanied by jaunty piano music. Also the fact that such films seemed more suited to the scrutiny of an academic thesis. But as I watched the film for the first time I was immediately absorbed. Beneath the surface of Chaplin’s famous antics is a dramatic story about a single mother, her abandoned baby and a generous pauper. The Kid, surprisingly, uses comedy to deliver a spiritual message: one about suffering, sin and compassion.

It begins with a woman being ousted out of a charity hospital holding her newborn. The caption on the next frame reads: ‘The Woman – whose sin was motherhood’. The following shot is a still image of Christ carrying his cross. The intended comparison is both curious and provocative. Another scene shows an artist in his cramped studio throwing a photo of the woman into the fire and then continuing to work on his painting. It is an interesting social comment for its time – a time in which women who bore children out of wedlock were considered a disgrace while the men were often able to continue their lives with little ramification.

Out of desperation the woman eventually leaves the child in the car of a wealthy owner, hoping that her baby will be given a better life. In an unintended turn of events the car is stolen and the thieves leave the child in a squalid back-street. It is here that Chaplin – a loveable tramp – finds the baby and gives it a home. At this point in the film the sorrowful violin music of the first few scenes is replaced by a cheerful, upbeat tune appropriate to the comedic character for which Chaplin is famous. Chaplin, the director of the film, wanted to blend ‘slapstick with sentiment’, something which he successfully achieves in The Kid.

The serious opening scenes are followed by less sentiment and more slapstick as, five years later, we watch the orphan boy break neighborhood windows so that his adopted father can make a living by repairing them. Chaplin and the boy also become involved in an entertaining police chase and a comedic street brawl.

More social commentary occurs when the Orphanage Asylum, personified by a grim looking gentleman, takes the boy away from Chaplin in order to provide ‘The Proper Care’. By this time the boy’s mother has become a famous actress and performs charity work in the slums, where she has met her son unknowingly, and finally finds out who he is. An advertisement in the newspaper offers a reward for his return, and the boy is once more stolen from Chaplin (who is hiding the child from the Asylum) and reunited with his mother.

Upon discovering the child gone, Chaplin returns home miserably, and falls asleep on his doorstep. His slumber is besieged by a bizarre dream sequence. People dressed in angel costumes dance in the streets. Peace and joy reign until demons enter the town (The caption reads: ‘Sin Comes In’). Chaplin and a lady are tempted by the demons into seduction and lust. The lady’s lover enters and jealousy soon follows. Chaplin, using his angel wings, flies away from the police who shoot him down. At this point the sleeping Chaplin is woken up by the policeman, who, instead of chasing or arresting him (for once) leads him to the home of the actress where Chaplin rejoins his adopted son.

I was at first perplexed by the dream sequence, which did not seem to have much to do with, or add to, the plot line. But later on I reflected that the film seems to invite us to consider the difference between actual wrong-doing and society’s idea of sin. The mother in The Kid lacked the support of a society that viewed her as a morally loose woman; as a result she felt forced to abandon her child. In the eyes of her world, she was a sinner because she gave birth out of wedlock. However the film asks us to consider instead the humanity of the woman and the innocence of her child. It also hints at the need for the father to take responsibility for his actions (shown in the less than flattering portrayal of the woman’s lover).

In the dream sequence the film identifies actual sins: lust, seduction, jealousy, unnecessary aggression and violence. They are obvious within the dream sequence but in reality they are often the private misdeeds to which society turns a blind eye. It is the public sins that are easily snagged and displayed, to the ruin of reputations and lives. How often do we see this today, where a person’s misdeed is paraded before the world simply so that a particular media outlet can garner views and make money.

The Kid provides a more merciful view for its time. It highlights the importance of support when it comes to single mothers, and the necessity of caring for those in need, be it physically or spiritually. Charlie Chaplin, with all his comedic antics, makes a kind and caring adoptive father. He symbolizes us – or society – when it comes to the plight of the less fortunate, and what our response should be.