Should we cancel Charlie Chaplin? He was born into abject poverty and became the highest-paid actor in the world. Now new archive material highlights the shadows in his life.
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Dark side of the world's greatest movie star
Should we cancel Charlie Chaplin? He was born into abject poverty and became the highest-paid actor in the world. Now new archive material highlights the shadows in his life.
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It is the ultimate rags to riches story. Charlie Chaplin was raised in the slums of South London in extreme poverty. At the age of 4, he was sent to a workhouse.
His only refuge was the stage. He was a brilliant actor. He joined a vaudeville troupe. In 1914, while on tour in the USA, he was spotted by a Hollywood producer. It was his big break. By 1916, he was a megastar: the most famous actor and director the world had ever seen.
A new documentary tells this extraordinary tale. But The Real Charlie Chaplin also reveals unpleasant truths about his private life.
His first two wives, Mildred Harris and Lita Grey, were only 16 when he married them. Chaplin had known Grey since she was 12. He married her in secret in Mexico after she became pregnant.
This new information has divided commentators. Critic Deborah Ross says "he was plainly a monster." But others have rushed to his defence. His granddaughter Kiera is one of them. "It was a different time with different mentalities", she says.
We live in the age of cancel culture. Should Chaplin join the list, his films tossed onto the rubbish heap of history?
Some believe he should. The young Chaplin lived in a different time. But bad deeds do not necessarily become less bad over time: historical atrocities remain atrocious. Every time we watch one of Chaplin's films now we sanction his behaviour.
Others disagree. Some of the greatest art has been created by bad people. Ben Jonson killed a man in a duel. Caravaggio murdered someone over a tennis match. Paul Gauguin married a 13-year old. Yet Jonson's plays are still performed, and Caravaggio and Gauguin's works hang in the world's greatest museums. Artists may commit evil deeds. But their artwork is separate from them.
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Should we cancel Charlie Chaplin?
Yes: Chaplin's actions caused an untold level of misery to his young wives, but he was never punished for it in life. The only way we can extract an element of justice is to shun his work.
No: Chaplin did some terrible things in his life. But the good outweighs the bad. While he harmed a limited number of people, he also brought an incomparable amount of joy to millions across the world.
Or... We can cancel the living. But it is impossible to boycott Chaplin. The man himself is long dead. And his work is so enduring and influential that it has become an unalterable part of the DNA of film.
Keywords
Workhouse - An institution where those unable to support themselves financially were housed and forced to work. Lambeth Workhouse, which Chaplin visited on several occasions, is now London's Cinema Museum.
Cancel culture - A movement to withdraw support from public figures or celebrities who have done things that aren't socially accepted today. The idea of cancelling someone stems from a 1981 song by the disco band Chic, Your Love Is Cancelled.
Dark side of the world’s greatest movie star
Glossary
Workhouse - An institution where those unable to support themselves financially were housed and forced to work. Lambeth Workhouse, which Chaplin visited on several occasions, is now London's Cinema Museum.
Cancel culture - A movement to withdraw support from public figures or celebrities who have done things that aren't socially accepted today. The idea of cancelling someone stems from a 1981 song by the disco band Chic, Your Love Is Cancelled.