A Speech to Humanity. A brilliant speech by Charles Chaplin in "The Great Dictator".
In 1940, as World War II, which had begun a year earlier, extended its tentacles and advanced across Europe and the world, Charlie Chaplin wrote and directed a brilliant film, "The Great Dictator." Watch – and above all listen – here, with Portuguese subtitles, to the excerpt in which the film's protagonist delivers his famous "Speech to Humanity."
By: Oasis Team
Although conceived and created to be a satirical comedy/drama, The Great Dictator was actually a metaphorical portrayal of the state of our contemporary civilization, characterized by the power-hungry paranoia of some of our rulers.
The Address to Humanity, the film's high point, represents a call for unity, fraternity, and solidarity at a time in history marked by tyranny, the swelling of the world's great powers, the exponential growth of industries and technology, and the dominance of a culture of unsustainable productivity and consumerism. Chaplin also analyzes the so-called American way of life – a model of civilization in which the higher values of humanity are forgotten in exchange for another existential standard in which people only feel happy and fulfilled when they acquire material things and manage to achieve and exercise power.
Not surprisingly, because of this film and the message it contains, Charlie Chaplin was forced to leave the United States and flee to Switzerland, only managing to return years later.
Video: Charles Chaplin's "Address to Humanity" in "The Great Dictator".
Full translation of "Address to Humanity" by Charlie Chaplin:
“I am sorry, but I do not intend to be an emperor. That is not my job. I do not intend to rule or conquer anyone. I would like to help – if possible – Jews, the Gentiles… blacks… whites.
We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live for the happiness of others – not for their misery. Why should we hate and despise one another? There is room in this world for everyone. The earth, which is good and rich, can provide for all our needs.
The path of life can be one of freedom and beauty, but we have strayed from it. Greed has poisoned men's souls… has erected walls of hatred in the world… and has led us to march in goose-step towards misery and slaughter. We have created the age of speed, but we feel trapped within it. The machine, which produces abundance, has left us in poverty. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our intelligence, hardened and cruel. We think too much and feel too little. More than machines, we need humanity. More than intelligence, we need affection and gentleness. Without these virtues, life will be violent and all will be lost.
Aviation and radio have brought us much closer together. The very nature of these things is an eloquent appeal to the goodness of man… an appeal to universal brotherhood… to the union of us all. At this very moment my voice reaches thousands of people throughout the world… millions of desperate men, women, and children… victims of a system that tortures human beings and imprisons the innocent. To those who can hear me, I say: “Do not despair! The misfortune that has befallen us is nothing more than the product of greed in its death throes… the bitterness of men who fear the advance of human progress. The men who hate will disappear, the dictators will fall, and the power they seized from the people will return to the people. And so, while men die, liberty will never perish.”
Soldiers! Do not surrender yourselves to these brutes… who despise you… who enslave you… who regiment your lives… who dictate your actions, your ideas, and your feelings! Who make you march in lockstep, who subject you to a regulated diet, who treat you like human cattle and who use you as cannon fodder! You are not machines! You are men! And with the love of humanity in your souls! Do not hate! Only those who cannot be loved hate… those who cannot be loved and the inhuman!
Soldiers! Do not fight for slavery! Fight for freedom! In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written that the Kingdom of God is within man – not in one man or group of men, but in all men! It is within you! You, the people, have the power – the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful… to make it a marvelous adventure. Therefore – in the name of democracy – let us use this power, let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world… a good world that assures everyone the opportunity to work, that gives a future to youth and security to old age.
It is by promising such things that heartless people have risen to power. But they only mystify! They do not fulfill what they promise. They will never fulfill it! Dictators liberate themselves, but enslave the people. Let us fight now to free the world, to tear down national borders, to put an end to greed, hatred and arrogance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world in which science and progress lead to the happiness of all of us. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us unite!
Hannah, are you listening to me? Wherever you are, look up! Do you see, Hannah? The sun is breaking through the dispersing clouds! We are emerging from darkness into light! We are entering a new world – a better world, where men will rise above greed, hatred, and brutality. Look up, Hannah! The soul of man has gained wings and is finally beginning to fly. It flies towards the rainbow, towards the light of hope. Look up, Hannah! Look up!