Power of Words

While reading and reflecting the Gettysburg Address during Pod #4, I was immediately brought back to my prior semester of speech at Taylor. It was in the course, I had the chance to explore some of the greatest speeches given by man. These were speeches that caused astronomic changes towards the future of mankind. They would be the cause of a ripple in the course of history, some for good and some for pure evil.. Either way, it is safe to assume that through the power of words you can make an impact.

Although I've always been inspired by some of histories most powerful speeches, such as Winston Churchill's “We shall fight on the beaches” and Martin Luther's always famous “I have a dream” speech, none have captivate and personally affect me more than Charlie Chaplin's speech at the end of his film released in 1940, “The Great Dictator”. If you've never seen this speech written by Charlie Chaplin himself, please do yourself a favor and watch it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXsoakk3GRk

“The Great Dictator” comedy film was a somewhat mockery of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler. Charlie (acting as the “Hitler” of the film), parades a whimsical natured, clumsy, comical version of Hitler, much like the character's he plays in all his films. What made “The Great Dictator” so special was the unexpected speech given torwards the end of the film. Where you would imagine Charlie to give some sort of goofy, absurd version of Hitlers “Triumph of the will” speech, Charlie instead delivers one of the most powerful, profound, compassionaite speeches ever written. The speech recognized the goodness in all humans and how we could use this goodness to live a truly happy life. Just like Gettysburg Address it had the power to influence an individual's perspective on life or events.