Georgie and Alfred

I watched the King's Speech yesterday and have to say that I enjoyed it thoroughly. I've always felt that the mark of a good movie is one that continuously sets you thinking long after the last murmurs of the closing scene.

In short, I felt that there were many themes in the movie, themes about the many faces we wear, eg. the personal versus the public face' the levels of intimacy we allow; the aspiration of man to greatness; the notion of class divides, and the quintessential identity crisis.

Probably reflective of my current ruminations, the theme that resonated with me quite significantly is the idea of aspiring to greatness and the insecurity that shrouds our ability to do so. The King whose function and duties so reduced to resemble that of a Court Jester, is still a symbol of greatness and defiance against a new world order. Yet, how does he begin or proceed to fill and walk in shoes that he finds bear the mark of another. Also, given the historical context of the movie, what does it mean for each man during that time to take up service and walk in paths that require greatness of them.

Without giving away anymore of the movie (because i feel people should go see it and I don't want to spoil it for them!), I will say that I found in the movie themes that are visited in T.S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" . These lines from the poem perhaps best encapsulate my post-movie musings :

No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,	115
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool.
-----
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.

Go watch the movie everyone!