~Responsibility is the price of greatness~ Winston Churchill
The King's Speech is my favorite film of 2011 so far. King George VI was coronated in 1937 during the golden age of radio. Expectations vastly changed as a king could no longer hide in his castle and send out messengers with decrees. Like today, a king was more of a symbol and voice of the country, but held little political power. As king, they were now expected to make public appearances and give speeches using a newer form of technology called the microphone. One of his many duties now also included radio broadcasts. No big deal, right? He had speech writers. All he had to do was read the script. However, when this man was a child, he developed a speech disorder called stuttering. It was one of the biggest struggles of his life and caused him great pain. He experienced shame and ridicule every time he stepped in front of the microphone or had a conversation. He could hide many issues behind the crown, but this perceived deficiency was exposed every time.
As a young child who felt extremely inadequate and experienced panic attacks giving speeches since 9 years old, I would've loved to have learned about this brave king. It was also revealed in the movie that the legendary Winston Churchill also grew up with a stuttering problem. Growing up, I didn't think any adults had problems especially kings like the ones in the fairy tales. I thought something was wrong with me and I felt like a failure. I think it would've helped my self-esteem a bit knowing that someone as great as a king had the same problems as he experienced extreme anxiety and humiliation giving speeches, too.
His brilliant Australian speech therapist had taken care of soldiers in the past who had come home from war and lost their voices through the development a variety of disorders involving speech. The soldiers were most likely experiencing what we now know today as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Without education or training as it wasn't in existence at the time, this brilliant therapist knew from experience that speech disorders were likely symptoms of past traumas including war and other traumatic life events. He correctly identified that many speech disorders were rooted in the mind and were treatable. Through his own research and experimentation, he discovered a variety of treatments for this disorder. He developed his own curriculum and helped treat clients including one of his favorites; King George VI.
Like speech disorders, the disease of addiction is often times a symptom of past traumatic events as well. If you take all the stuff away that are associated with King George VI's crown and make him human, you will find a man that grew up in a terribly dysfunctional family. His brutal father was emotionally and verbally abusive. His father felt that if he expressed anger, chastised and shamed his son, it would scare the speech disorder away. Of course, it only made it worse. His mother was emotionally unavailable. They were terribly neglectful. One of King George VI's nannies liked his older brother and didn't like him, so she stopped feeding him. His neglectful parents didn't notice his nanny was abusive for 3 years. He likely experienced physical abuse from some members of the church who at the time were still forcing children to use their right hand instead of their left. It is mentioned by his therapist in the move that many children developed stuttering disorders who experienced this trauma from the church. His little brother died of epilepsy as a teenager which back then, epilepsy was believed to be a character defect, so his family was ashamed of him and tried to keep him hidden. His older brother was addicted to alcohol and woman and eventually, abdicated the throne for a commoner leaving King George VI to reluctantly fulfill the duties of his irresponsible older brother.
Despite his trepidations about his speech, he felt an incredible burden to serve as he truly cared about his people in a time of crisis with his country headed to war. He wasn't born great. He achieved greatness. He humbled himself, incorporated people in his life who cared and believed in him and worked very hard to improve himself and his speech. Even though he suffered, he still had the fortitude to step up and fulfill his obligations in life. What a great example for his two daughters. One of which is currently the Queen of England Elizabeth II. It was reported that she was very moved by the depiction of her father in the film. As an adult, it gives me comfort knowing that this amazing king even had trouble letting go of his past. His childhood traumas caused him great anger and sadness until he finally addressed it with his trusted therapist who became a dear friend for life.
I don't admire King George VI because of his esteemed job title. I admire him more for being human and overcoming unimaginable challenges. I believe that our inadequacies are not what define us, but instead, we are defined by how we overcome these great challenges. This is what people will remember in the end and future generations will be inspired. Thanks Bertie!
The King's Speech is my favorite film of 2011 so far. King George VI was coronated in 1937 during the golden age of radio. Expectations vastly changed as a king could no longer hide in his castle and send out messengers with decrees. Like today, a king was more of a symbol and voice of the country, but held little political power. As king, they were now expected to make public appearances and give speeches using a newer form of technology called the microphone. One of his many duties now also included radio broadcasts. No big deal, right? He had speech writers. All he had to do was read the script. However, when this man was a child, he developed a speech disorder called stuttering. It was one of the biggest struggles of his life and caused him great pain. He experienced shame and ridicule every time he stepped in front of the microphone or had a conversation. He could hide many issues behind the crown, but this perceived deficiency was exposed every time.
As a young child who felt extremely inadequate and experienced panic attacks giving speeches since 9 years old, I would've loved to have learned about this brave king. It was also revealed in the movie that the legendary Winston Churchill also grew up with a stuttering problem. Growing up, I didn't think any adults had problems especially kings like the ones in the fairy tales. I thought something was wrong with me and I felt like a failure. I think it would've helped my self-esteem a bit knowing that someone as great as a king had the same problems as he experienced extreme anxiety and humiliation giving speeches, too.
His brilliant Australian speech therapist had taken care of soldiers in the past who had come home from war and lost their voices through the development a variety of disorders involving speech. The soldiers were most likely experiencing what we now know today as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Without education or training as it wasn't in existence at the time, this brilliant therapist knew from experience that speech disorders were likely symptoms of past traumas including war and other traumatic life events. He correctly identified that many speech disorders were rooted in the mind and were treatable. Through his own research and experimentation, he discovered a variety of treatments for this disorder. He developed his own curriculum and helped treat clients including one of his favorites; King George VI.
Like speech disorders, the disease of addiction is often times a symptom of past traumatic events as well. If you take all the stuff away that are associated with King George VI's crown and make him human, you will find a man that grew up in a terribly dysfunctional family. His brutal father was emotionally and verbally abusive. His father felt that if he expressed anger, chastised and shamed his son, it would scare the speech disorder away. Of course, it only made it worse. His mother was emotionally unavailable. They were terribly neglectful. One of King George VI's nannies liked his older brother and didn't like him, so she stopped feeding him. His neglectful parents didn't notice his nanny was abusive for 3 years. He likely experienced physical abuse from some members of the church who at the time were still forcing children to use their right hand instead of their left. It is mentioned by his therapist in the move that many children developed stuttering disorders who experienced this trauma from the church. His little brother died of epilepsy as a teenager which back then, epilepsy was believed to be a character defect, so his family was ashamed of him and tried to keep him hidden. His older brother was addicted to alcohol and woman and eventually, abdicated the throne for a commoner leaving King George VI to reluctantly fulfill the duties of his irresponsible older brother.
Despite his trepidations about his speech, he felt an incredible burden to serve as he truly cared about his people in a time of crisis with his country headed to war. He wasn't born great. He achieved greatness. He humbled himself, incorporated people in his life who cared and believed in him and worked very hard to improve himself and his speech. Even though he suffered, he still had the fortitude to step up and fulfill his obligations in life. What a great example for his two daughters. One of which is currently the Queen of England Elizabeth II. It was reported that she was very moved by the depiction of her father in the film. As an adult, it gives me comfort knowing that this amazing king even had trouble letting go of his past. His childhood traumas caused him great anger and sadness until he finally addressed it with his trusted therapist who became a dear friend for life.
I don't admire King George VI because of his esteemed job title. I admire him more for being human and overcoming unimaginable challenges. I believe that our inadequacies are not what define us, but instead, we are defined by how we overcome these great challenges. This is what people will remember in the end and future generations will be inspired. Thanks Bertie!
No comments:
Post a Comment