Charlie Chaplain teaches Euro History

If you’re like me, and I know I am, you would like to know more about the West’s legacy in film.  Tonight I was able to see a portion of a 1940 film starring Charlie Chaplain, The Great Dictator.

At first, all we knew about the film was that the main character looks just like a famous dictator.  Well, it didn’t take us long to figure out that dictator was Hitler.  I was puzzled when I first realized that this film was made in the narrow window of time AFTER Hitler had invaded Poland, but BEFORE the
United States entered the war.  The film was not merely a simple doppelganger movie, like the Parent Trap or Johnny Stecchino (Roberto Benigni, 1991 – I highly recommend it).  For anyone with a smattering of European history, it is a mental tricep-curl.

Clearly, this was before anyone knew what the outcome of the war would be.  It was also clear that filmmakers did not take Hitler or Mussolini very seriously.  The picture features shockingly funny scenes that are very politically incorrect, but in a way that was accepted in the 40s.  In one scene, Hitler and Mussolini end up gagging in pain after eating spicy mustard… that just happens to be English (Chaplain was British-born).  Go Brits.  Immediately after rolling around in spice-induced agony, Hitler attempts to tear several strands of cooked spaghetti in half, but only manages to stretch it like a rubber band before it snaps into Mussolini’s face.

Even though most Americans would have no idea of the sheer scale of horror achieved by the Nazis and their concentration camps until after the war, the film does acknowledge Hitler’s anti-Semitism.  Part of the plot revolves around the fact that Hitler’s look-alike is a poor, Jewish barber. 

The film culminates in the barber (who has been mistaken for, and elevated to the rank of Hitler – Hynkel, the movie version of Hitler) addresses the soldiers of the Third Reich.  In effect, he tells them that he has changed his mind and doe not want to rule the world as a dictator.  He goes on to talk about the inherent goodness of the world, and challenges the men to fight for a unified world.

Now, I do not believe that humans are inherently good, so I do not agree completely with all of his closing remarks.  Reese Roper, of Five Iron Frenzy, had a very valid point (at least, I consider it valid) about the Columbine massacre, which was very close to home for him.  He said that as much as people try to blame the incident on music or video games or bad parenting, he really doesn’t think that’s the problem.  He says that even though all those things are bad, humans are simply dark to begin with.  It takes something greater in a person’s life, greater than themselves, in order to strive against the darkness.  Not everyone fights for this, which is why I think Chaplain’s ending speech is admirable, but naive.

The man who introduces Chaplain’s character before his speech, however, rails against the Jews.  “They are inferior, and therefore, enemies of the state.  It is the duty of Aryans to despise them (sic).”  What I find frightening is that many of
Germany’s CURRENT policies toward minority groups who disagree with state-sanctioned schools and religions are not too terribly far off from this.  Surprisingly many of
Germany’s laws have not been rewritten since the time of the Fuhrer himself.

As always, I am amazed that after the Jews have endured persecution in all of Europe, and, after the advent of Islam, all over the globe, people still downplay their sufferings and claim that Zionists and Americans who support
Israel are paranoid and ignorant.  In the current conflict between Jews and “Palestinians,” people often claim that Muslims have endured just as much suffering as the Jews have.  First of all, they would have to suffer an awful lot to catch up to the Jews.  And secondly, Jews usually don’t torture and kill other Jews.

Perhaps the biggest question in my mind after viewing The Great Dictator is “why don’t we mock our enemies in this fashion nowadays?”  There would be, of course, outcry from Muslim communities if filmmakers began to vilify Middle Eastern leaders who are aggressive toward Jews and Americans.  But who says that all Muslims are lumped with those dictators?  I know it is a delicate thing, because the average Jo Schmo who sees such a media presentation and doesn’t question it (kind of like some people who watch the news and don’t bother to do their own research before vilifying certain American politicians – you won’t know who you are, because you don’t listen), would be likely to lump his Muslim neighbors with terrorists on the other side of the globe.  The flip side of this, of course, is that people flip the reasoning.  Instead of saying, “the terrorist is bad, and the terrorist is Muslim, but not all Muslims are bad,” people say, “Not all Muslims are bad, and that terrorist is a Muslim, so he can’t be that bad.”

Anyway… those are my reflections on The Great Dictator.

Plot summary: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032553/plotsummary

Movie Page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032553/

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