The King’s Speech was an inspiring film that brings together two age-old concepts: the power of our psyche and the power of our own will.
Throughout the film we slowly see future King George VI’s improvement in overcoming his stammering as he begins to accept help, particularly from his wife and the speech pathologist. This progress becomes more evident as he begins to relinquish his personal feelings and family secrets of his own free will. He begins to find personal motives for overcoming a challenge he has faced all his life once he sees what he is capable of through the recording he was given. Sentences became more fluid through his speech and he demonstrated more confidence in the presence of others. Even the doctor emphasized that he could only help the future king with such a condition if the king truly and sincerely seeks aid in overcoming his stammering. It really drove home the point that our will to do something, or the lack thereof, can represent our limits in the ability to reach our goals.
Yet there is an opposing force that the future king faces all the while he tries to chip away at his condition. His past experiences, along with his insecurities, manifest themselves in his speech when he experiences unpleasant onset of emotions. We see this whenever his father pressures him or his brother pokes fun at him. This particular notion of emotional well-being affecting a physical condition is truly prominent throughout the film. I appreciate that this film emphasized this mental health perspective because it really is something we could use more reminding of in such a competitive and demanding school environment. I was able to relate particularly well with this aspect of the movie, as I become less productive when I start feeling stressed.
This movie was more inspirational to me than anything else, because nothing is more motivating than seeing someone you can sympathize with overcome their own challenges, despite how different they may be from your own. I believe that seeing others succeed, and helping them succeed, can lead to successes of our own.