Sociology… a rather boring subject, at least at first glance.
We had two "serves". In the first year and in the third. At the first, we studied more the very essence of such a subject as sociology. It wasn’t boring, of course, but I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic.
The third course was a pleasant surprise. The teacher is a woman, about 37 years old, quite nice, kind, but with certain disciplinary boundaries and clear principles regarding many life issues. We studied the methods of sociology, its types, if you like. Sociology bordering on psychology and literature, and often philosophy. Not that boring philosophy that you are used to or will hear in classes, but ours, life, about daily matters!
And so, one of the ways to get accepted was to write an essay on the film. The film was called Modern Times… black and white, with Charlie Chaplin. And the film, I tell you, is good, and will put many current films and comedies to shame. But, actually, that’s not what we’re talking about. Naturally, I took up writing an essay, because I was always good with literature at school, and my grandmother, thanks to her, developed a love for this subject (she is a teacher of Russian and literature).
You just had to think a little about what to write about, and off you go..

The film “Modern Times” with Charlie Chaplin, despite its antiquity, seemed to me very interesting and relevant even in our time. I couldn’t even imagine that black and white, silent cinema could not only interest, but also make you laugh sincerely, convey the thought that was put into it, and even make you think. But, while writing the essay, I wondered how to connect the actions of the film with the topic of the essay. Yes, at the beginning of the film we are shown how Charlie Chaplin works on an assembly line, under what conditions this action takes place and how it is regulated, and if the whole film went in this direction, it would be quite easy to connect the film with what to write in an essay.
“But we only “control” Chaplin for the first 20 minutes of the film, and then he is on his own, deciding his own destiny and building his own path in life,” I thought, and suddenly I realized: a person is “controlled” absolutely everywhere and in everything! After all, management is not only when the boss tells us what to do. We can also be controlled by the law, norms of morality and ethics, society, parents, physiological and natural needs – absolutely everything that has meaning and importance for us can control, or even manipulate us.
The awareness and understanding that you depend on a lot, that you have no independence and, as such, freedom, made me despondent. From my further reflections the following question arose: “So how can you stop being controlled?? How to become free?». Partially, this is shown in the film. When Chaplin is sent to prison for the first time, where he later becomes the favorite of the head of this institution, and is later released, he commits another crime – he is driven by the desire to return to prison, because he felt comfortable there, he did not depend on anyone, and there were all the conditions for existence. But it is worth focusing on the moment when, at the moment of committing one crime, namely refusing to pay in a restaurant, he, having already been caught, calmly takes a cigar from the counter, a magazine, treats a beggar boy with something, and again refuses to pay, justifying this by the fact that he is a criminal and has already been arrested. Isn’t this freedom?? Paradoxically, while in shackles, he was free from all other shackles! He could do anything and no one could punish him for it at that time. All these frameworks, rules of conduct, morality – all this was invented by man in order to control others. And there are still those who come up with new “walls” to keep us under constant control and supervision. If you think about it, you can immediately list a dozen things that are now found in our daily lives, and which are very difficult for us to refuse. But it’s possible! So, the answer to my question is this: in order to feel free or become free, you need to break the boundaries – those “walls” that we build around ourselves. All these are just stereotypes, and if you cross them, that euphoria of freedom will come, about which many films have been made and a lot of books have been written. Unfortunately, the law defines many restrictions that will never allow a person who complies with it to feel truly free. But sometimes, breaking the law is worth it to feel real freedom, even if it is short-lived. By breaking the law – you get rid of the oppression of the system, from the oppression of power, for you these walls are broken, if you are alone – this is the absence of “relative” walls, you don’t believe in God and religion – so there are no “religious” walls, you don’t care what society as a whole and any individual thinks about you – congratulations, you are free!
– According to this characteristic, it turns out to be some kind of selfish bastard and criminal! – you say, and I agree with you. But sometimes, from time to time, every person needs just such a portion of egoism in order to understand that he is not a slave of this world, not a slave of the system, society and its products, but that he is a Man with a capital M, and that he himself has the right to rule over himself.
People who make a parachute jump for the first time in their lives feel this very freedom. Real, not fake. And it lies not in the fact that all the space around you is free, but in the fact that all your problems, principles, rules, conditions, frameworks fade into the background. There is only you and the parachute, there is nothing else in this world. Why? Because we are taking a step towards our destruction. Yes, we have a parachute, but until it is deployed, we are absolutely not sure of its productivity. For a person there is nothing more important than his own life, or rather death. True, there is one more thing that can replace the importance of one’s own life with the importance of the life of one or another person – this is love. And she is also mentioned in the film.
If for the sake of your loved one you will go anywhere and sacrifice anything without hesitation, and especially if it is mutual, then consider that you are a free person! No wonder they say that love gives you wings. This is absolutely the same feeling, the feeling of the absence of walls. You don’t care about any laws, nor the opinions of others, nor anything else, if you love so much. Only the life and happiness of a loved one are important, this is a priority, this is the meaning of life. But not everyone experiences exactly this kind of love, bordering on obsession and insanity.
The film, by the way, just describes the moment where Chaplin and his beloved finally cross all boundaries and escape together from the guardians of order and law. They run away to nowhere, but, nevertheless, they are free and happy.
And continuing my thoughts, new questions arise: “Why, in order to feel free, you have to break the law, put your life at risk, violate boundaries? Is there really no other way to feel truly free??». But the answers to these questions, unfortunately, will be answers to an essay on another topic.
And let it seem to you that I incorrectly revealed the essence of the question and did not understand the topic, did not sufficiently mention the details of the film and incorrectly formatted the essay, but I felt a little free. With a free mind.

The essay was written in one go, without re-reading, without editing, immediately closed and sent to a flash drive for printing.
I wrote this essay a long time ago, almost a year ago.
I was praised for the essay for a long time, but I feel that I won only with eloquence. I look forward to hearing your opinion.

Well what do you think?

Best comments

If for the sake of your loved https://wilberforceinstitute.uk/lay-betting-strategy one you will go anywhere and sacrifice anything without hesitation, and especially if it is mutual, then consider that you are a free person!

Doesn’t this sound like the greatest form of "not freedom"?

In essence: man will never be free. Not in any form. Man depends on everything. From other people to cigarettes. If you go against the system, and, I don’t know, become an ascetic hermit and live in the wilderness, you will stop depending on society, but you will have to get food, supplies, etc.d. You will be deprived of all amenities and the quality of life will be very questionable. If you get sick with something more serious than a cold, you will need a doctor who is not in the middle of nowhere. Somewhere you gain, somewhere you lose. Freedom will never be achieved. No one. You can, of course, indulge yourself with an illusion, but no more.

Okay, let it be your way: it’s poorly written. Many thoughts are stupid, incorrect, everything is subjective to the point of madness, and there is not much text at all..

Actually, he wrote about freedom, based on the film, and not about freedom in general. Well, you’re right, of course, a person is always dependent on something.

Even during the colonization of England and Spain around the world, the rulers of these countries realized that it was not possible to lock people in barracks and force them to work for free, it all ends in rebellion and revolution.

Then they came up with such a policy as “imaginary freedom”.e. a person works, it seems he earns money, but no one seems to force him to work. But a person earns little money, he only has enough to feed himself and save a little for a new thing; if he doesn’t work, he will die.

We have this policy right now in Russia, we have “imaginary freedom,” but otherwise we are all slaves of the West, all resources are sent there and from there we buy finished products, and people there live without extracting resources much better than us.

First thought – well done. But I would develop the idea of ​​freedom from a slightly different side. You finished her essay “With a Free Mind”. Laws, rules, orders exist to control human behavior, yes. And those who cannot or do not want to live by their own mind obey them unquestioningly. At my institute there are very, very many of these. “But in the example it’s done like this, and in the fish like this, but in the textbook like this”. They enrage in their absurdity. If your brain and mind are free from patterns, frameworks, and often rules and laws, then limitless opportunities open up for you. The simplest example that comes to my mind is Einstein. He had his own opinions on both science and religion. As a result, he raised physics to a qualitatively new level. The second example is that older teachers (and almost all people in general) perceive new information very poorly precisely because the brain is squeezed into the framework of patterns..
Something is starting to make me crazy again, I’ll go to bed