I first saw The King’s Speech when I was 13 on a plane ride home. At the time, I knew that it was a good movie and I thought I completely understood it, but only after watching it all these years later do I see the true value of this film. What I see now that I didn’t see then was the message of overcoming that the film held. Even someone as great as a king, who many might assume is flawless, has his own personal challenges to overcome. And in addition, it’s about acknowledging one’s problems and be willing to fix it. While King George IV knew that he had a speech problem, it was his own attitude that kept him from truly overcoming this issue. It wasn’t until this was dealt with that he was able to start fixing his speech impediment.

At first glance this is simply a historical piece about a king’s speech impediment. But in reality the movie’s core messages are ones that everyone should learn from. While knowing you have a issue is important, perhaps what’s more important than this is being able to face the issue head on, even if this means facing parts of yourself you may not want to.