After watching the King’s Speech I couldn’t help but feel a sense of empowerment. It was truly inspiring to see a king, whose people look up to him and regard him so highly, go through such a burdensome struggle and overcome it. Even a king can be imperfect. As I was watching Bertie struggle to get his words out as if they were stuck in his throat, I felt frustrated as if it was me up there in the stadium humiliated and ashamed in front of my own people. While the movie was definitely moving and well-made, it was of course quite predictable. Continuing to watch Bertie struggle and lose patience with himself in his sessions with Lionel, I was just waiting for his moment. The moment he speaks without hesitation. The moment he just lets go. When that moment finally came, I was relieved for I believed in him as if he was my friend. And of course the highlight of that scene was Bertie’s line in response to Logue’s comment about his struggle with enunciating his w’s: “I had to throw in a few so they’d know it was me.”

Lionel’s character fascinated me in that he had no formal medical training and managed to cure not just anyone, but the king. He had such a great responsibility in his hands, it was up to him to treat the leader of their nation. And he handled it in his own peculiar ways, but ultimately succeeded. Although the movie was predictable and somewhat cliche, I don’t think we can ever have too many movies telling us to push ourselves past our self-imposed limits.