Charlie Chaplin’s satirical anti-Hitler film “The Great Dictator” was released to theaters in 1940, but he began working on it in 1938. In 1938, no other entertainer was willing to express any opinion about Hitler, pro or con.
Chaplin received letters from people who worked at his studio (United Artists) urging him to abandon his plans for an anti-Hitler film. They warned the filmmaker that such a film is sure to run into trouble with the Hayes Code, and would probably not be shown in any theater in the United States or Great Britain. (Remember: As of 1938, Hitler had not yet invaded Poland; and no German bombs had yet been dropped on London. Hitler had signed a peace agreement, so why stir up trouble?)
As it turned out, by the time Chaplin’s movie was completed two years later, it was then much more fashionable to be anti-Hitler, and Chaplin’s film was released to theaters worldwide. (In fact, the Three Stooges starred in their own Hitler spoof that same year!)
When you take a stand for what you know is right, you will probably be sharply denounced at first. Within a few short years, you’re very likely to be vindicated. So take a clue from people like Charlie Chaplin, Rosa Parks and Edward R. Murrow; and be on the correct side of history.