To be completely honest, I did not have very high expectations for the King’s Speech at first. While I did see that it won many awards, movies about historical monarchs do not always interest me. However, I quickly learned that The King’s Speech was about more than a stuttering King. The movie details King George VI’s ascent to the throne and his speech impediment that has bothered him and his family for his entire life. King George VI receives the help of speech therapist Lionel Logue to try to overcome his horrible impediment so that he will be able to confidently deliver the speeches. Lionel uses very unconventional tactics such as making the King sing his speeches, use swear words, or have him drown out his voice by playing insanely loud classical music. All of these approaches help the King in a way, but would not be suitable to use during his speeches. As war time hits, the King must give his first big speech, and thanks to the help of Lionel, he does a great job of delivering the speech with very few stutters.

Later in the movie, we learn that Lionel and the King became friends for life and that the King continued to deliver speeches without stuttering. This movie showed me a few things. First it showed me that even the most powerful and famous people, such as Kings, have problems just like I do. In fact, I do have a speech impediment myself and still do fear public speaking to an extent. Second, the movie showed me that friendships can truly come from anywhere. The King and Lionel should never have crossed paths, but thanks to his wife, they became great friends. Colin Firth did a great job of playing the King and I now look forward to enjoying more historical movies in the future.