Artistic Corner

“Hurting people hurt people”

This definitely sums up the life of Charles Chaplin. His abandoned childhood had led to many heartbreaks in the future.

Why does it seem like the people with the hardest childhood end up being one of the best comedians in the world?

I personally believe anyone who has experienced intense hardship don’t ever want someone else to be in pain like they had felt. That’s the case that I have found with Charlie Chaplin.

Charlie grew up in poverty. His dad was in and out of the picture. His mom had severe mental issues that was often in mental institutions. They were evicted every weeks and moved their things to another location. Charlie often had to fend for himself. He endured many hardships. He was definitely and isolated and neglected child. So, that explains a lot that he worked hard on becoming a great comedian, learning to make people laugh instead of cry.

Sadly, even when he found success in making people laugh in his career, his personal life suffered much. He never trusted women due to the fact of his own strained relationship with his own mother so he accused them of being unfaithful. Anything someone did, he just didn’t seem to trust them. He didn’t seem to trust anyone. If he only dealt with his own personal emotions, he could have had a better personal life as well. He didn’t always have to hide behind of the mask in the screen.

I understand Charlie Chaplin. Acting is basically pretending to be someone else. It reminds me of dissociation, kinda (when the mental health isn’t the greatest). When you feel so stuck in your own personal life, you’ll attach to another life that is greater and in this case especially, you can create your own character instead of confronting the hurt and heal your heart in a healthy way. His brother even told his second wife that Charlie didn’t really know what he was going through. If we ignore our emotions long enough, we could lead to burnout and defeat, sabotaging any good thing we could have.

I’m not saying any of this as an excuse for all of his wrongdoings especially when he paid for abortions to be done. There is definitely a time and place, and then there are always consequences to our actions whether we realize it or not. Since Chaplin never dealt with the effects from his own childhood, that same hurt affected his future relationships and ultimately career. I now see him of not knowing what he wanted for his personal life. He could want things right and good, but what did good look like when there has been so much baggage? When we don’t deal with our past, our future could get destroyed.