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The Morning GIF: the many sides of Charlie Chaplin

This fascinating GIF of the silent-movie comedian is far more than the sum of its parts. 

 

Lorraine Murphy

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Posted on Feb 8, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 9:43 pm CDT

Here at the Daily Dot, we have an unofficial tradition of sharing GIF images with each other every morning. Now we’re looping you into the circle. In the Morning GIF, we feature a popular—or just plain cool—GIF we found on Reddit, Canvas, or elsewhere on the Internet.

Charlie Chaplin, beloved Little Tramp of silent screen, champion of the underdog, and posthumous spokesperson for Anonymous, has been given the GIF treatment.

Are we the sum of our parts, or is there something inherent within us which transcends quarks and mere stuff? What makes a being human? That’s what this captivating, black-and-white GIF asks us. Yes, it’s heavy if you haven’t had your coffee yet.

The charming, rather wistful image is by the shockingly talented—and allegedly disembodied—Tom The Head. He’s creator of Downhill, a Tumblr devoted to his often absurd, invariably moving, and occasionally morbid original creations. His Twitter stream is particularly amusing, as he live-tweets his way through death. (He’s currently undergoing afterlife janitorial training.)

An example:

Ugh this group counseling session is going on forever. It’s like okay I get that I’m deceased, can I just get on with my life already?

Tom The Head seems to be having some trouble adapting, but at least he can face Chaplin knowing he did right by the little guy. And us.

 

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*First Published: Feb 8, 2012, 11:32 am CST