We've just got back from a trip to York where Friday's rain forced us into the cinema. Lucky us - because we got to see "The King's Speech", which deserves all the plaudits it's currently attracting. Brilliant performances from all and a fascinating story of adversity overcome.
What prompted me to write about it here, though, was the scene just prior to the new King George VI's coronation, in which various members of the powers that be challenged speech therapist, Lionel Logue because his techniques were self-taught. Logue was an Australian actor-turned-elocution tutor who had learned in the wake of WWI to help shell-shock victims to recover their voices and their confidence. But, to the chagrin of the British establishment, the man who was helping their new king overcome his stutter was working from experience rather than from qualifications and credentials. Of course, those with more formal qualifications had advised their patient to smoke more because it 'relaxed the larynx' or stuffed his mouth with marbles and ordered him to speak, because that was the received wisdom of the time. I suppose that these were the guys with qualifications because regurgitating received wisdom is often the surest way to pass an exam. Instead, Logue watched and listened and developed his techniques through empathy, experimentation and observation. And in this case the unqualified person won through because he was capable of learning from experience.
Who'd have thought a costume drama about a turbulent period of royal history could include such subversive educational matter?
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