In the current essay I would like to consider the movie “The King’s Speech” and answer several questions about it.
What elements of the film did you like/dislike? Why? I like the atmosphere of British traditions in the movie. For me it was very unusual dive into the world of traditions and life of the royal family, probably due to the fact that the U.S. has different system of government and our country is very young compared with Britain. Therefore, for us it is unusual to have such strong traditions and follow them.
What observations are made about the pressures of being part of the royal family? How do these pressures differ from our own daily struggles? In what ways are these observations positive or negative? Without any doubts being part of the royal family is very big responsibility because the king ”“ is the face of the state and everybody is watching you all the time. Of course, regular citizens and kings have very different lives. When you are a king you do not need to be concerned how to earn money, feed your family and where to live. Although, while you are a part of the royal family your life does not belong to you, it belongs to the state. It has both negative and positive features. I presume that being a king it is a kind of special job, with the highest status and salary for the one hand, and high moral obligations and duty for the other.
In Bertie’s sessions with Lionel, we learn of the difficulties he faced as a young boy. How have these experiences molded him into the man we see? These experiences made Bertie not a public person, who is not convenient to express his thoughts or read in public. As a consequence, Bertie is not sure of what he is capable and does not believe that he can be a king.
How do Bertie’s priorities and values contrast to those of his brother Edward? What motivates each of them? In my opinion it is obvious that Edward wants to make his own decisions in life and ignore such concepts as duty. In turn Bertie does not want to become a king, in view of his psychological problems and fear of public speaking, but unlike Edward, Bertie understands that the duty – is the most important for the member of the royal family and his country needs responsible head of the state.
Do you think Bertie’s apprehension to become king was justified? Why/why not? What characteristics do you think a person needs to be king? Did Bertie possess these? Yes, I think that Bertie’s apprehension to become king was justified, because of his speech problems and it is known that speech proclamation is one of the main duties for the king. However, Bertie found the strength to overcome the situation and, with the help of Lionel, learned to speak in public. In my opinion, a king should be a leader, and positive example to all the citizens; without doubts Bertie possess these characteristics.
Although the film touches on wider issues such as the impending war situation and the tensions within the royal family, its primary focus is exploring the relationship between Lionel and Bertie. What is the significance of this relationship? I am convinced that significance of this relationship is hard to overestimate. I think that only in the atmosphere of trust can be overcome such complex psychological problem and it is not surprising that Lionel and Bertie became good friends for the whole life.
How are Bertie and Lionel similar? How are they different? How does this affect their exchanges? As a fact, they are very different particularly in view of their origin. Lionel is oriented to result, in turn, Bertie is also concerned with the methods of how this result is achieved. This contradiction prevents them collaborate effectively, but they eventually come to a common denominator.
In what ways did Lionel’s therapy sessions help Bertie? Was it just that his methods were different, or did his help go beyond speech therapy? As a fact, Lionel helped Bertie not to be afraid of public speeches and offered to divide the words in individual syllables. It should be noted that such technique resulted very effective.
To what extent does Bertie influence Lionel as well as vice versa? Of course, Bertie influence Lionel because he was not “regular” patient and demanded a special approach to solve his problems. In turn, Lionel has not medical diploma, also his therapy method was unusual and Bertie was hard to accept it.