The old story of boy meets girl, boy saves girl, and finds good fortune that enables him to provide for a family is a story as old as time. It is no wonder that Old Holly Wood took the story and ran with it.
In the Charlie Chaplin film that we watched in class, I was reminded of a concept from sociology class that deals with the how the media plays out fairytales. The basic idea behind the Heterosexual Imaginary concept is easy. Basically the stars/lovers are white and find their happily ever after that ends with a family. I think that this film follows this patter to the tee, and probably was one of the first films that inspired others to follow the same plot line.
It is not that I think that these kinds of love stories are bad, or hurtful. I just think that in current times, we could modified the basic template of a love story to allow other races and sexual orientations to have half the spot light. In no way am I blaming Charlie Chaplin for the way things are now, I just think it is interesting that the same plot formula is still being used today. I think this is a mark of the power of Holly Wood.
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