THE DICTATOR AND THE COMEDIAN

Yesterday (April 16) was Charlie Chaplin’s birthday.?

Considered one of the greatest actors and comedians in the history of cinema, Chaplin became a worldwide icon through his screen persona,?the Tramp. His career spanned more than 75 years during which he not only acted but produced his own films as well.?

Chaplin lived through both world wars. World War 2 and the persecution of the Jews, in particular, had a profound effect on him.?Parallels between Chaplin and?Adolf Hitler?have been widely noted: both were born four days apart, both rose from poverty to prominence, and both sported the same kind of toothbrush moustache. It was this physical resemblance that supplied the plot for Chaplin's film,?The Great Dictator,?(1940) which directly satirised Hitler and attacked fascism.

In it, Chaplin played both a Jewish barber, living in a ghetto, and Adenoid Hynkel, the dictator ruler of Tomainia, a parody of Hitler in Nazi Germany.?

Through a series of comedic plot twists, the barber ends up taking Hynkel’s place and gives one of the most memorable speeches in cinematic history:

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and the power (dictators) took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men live and die, liberty will never perish…

Let us fight to free the world…? to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness…. In the name of democracy, let us all unite!”

A more timely and pertinent message for the times we live in would be hard to find.