Modern Times (w/ Pedro Ángel Rivera Muñoz)

Rivka and Frank are joined by Pedro Ángel Rivera Muñoz (filmmaker, political writer, and activist) to discuss Charlie Chaplin’s anti-capitalist masterpiece Modern Times. 

The group unpacks how this 1939 cinema classic is more relevant than ever with its grotesque depiction of factory working conditions, its satire of the ruling class and state power, and the aspirational message of its ending. They also discuss the historical context of Chaplin as a political artist during the 1930s, and the retribution he received at the time. Rivka and Frank then chat about the impacts of commodification on their own work and artistic endeavors. 

A rough transcript of the episode is available here.

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What is Movies vs. Capitalism?

A movie-rewatch podcast that explores the politics of your favorite films through an anti-capitalist lens. Each episode, hosts Rivka Rivera and Frank Cappello are joined by a special guest for an irreverent yet critical discussion about a film and how it’s *obviously* a scathing indictment of late-stage capitalism. Fight Club? That’s about the degradation of modern consumerism. Office Space? A stark depiction of worker alienation. Antz? An animated kids movie about the military-industrial complex.

Movies vs. Capitalism examines the crucial intersection between pop culture and politics — an anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-patriarchal, anti-heteronormative, anti-imperialist analysis of your favorite talking pictures. It’s a middle finger to our rotting institutions and ruling-class proprietors who are slowly driving the human race into extinction.

But, like, in a fun way ;)