The King’s Speech

It’s been a while now, but many of the scenes from The King’s Speech still play vividly in my head. I loved this movie and was glad to see it did so well in spite of the fact that it had no sex (well almost), no car chases, no mayhem. And I find many guys like it as well as women.
This fabulous film is also being hailed by people with speech defects as shedding light on their difficulties in a new and positive way. And while I say hooray for that, I quickly add that The King’s Speech doesn’t just speak (pun intended) to stutterers. It touches deep into the heart of anyone who has something to say but can’t (for whatever reason) get it out.
Arists – writers in particular – will identify with this. We all struggle, every day, with creating work that we hope will be heard, pray will be seen, but often is neither. I’ve been there; I know. I know the searing frustration when the work stagnates on a shelf unseen, or languishes in my brain because I can’t get to the computer. But then something wonderful happens and the work is pushed out far beyond my expectations.
We all cheer when that happens. When anyone speaks clearly, for the first or the thousandth time, we cheer them – and the hope it instills in us that we may be heard too.