The Monarch’s mono-Logue

THE KING’S SPEECH suffers from an impediment almost as damaging as King George VI‘s; that is, the movie stammers, it has many grand ideas, yet an inability to convey them concisely. One of the most intriguing notions is the power of speech itself in the realm of politics and global affairs. One salient scene features the new monarch reviewing newsreel footage of his coronation which is then followed by a clip of Hitler addressing his followers. One of the King’s daughters asks, “What is he saying?,” to which her father replies: “I don’t know, but he is saying it rather well.” Yes, this is the power of the messenger rather than the message. In the film, nominated for twelve Academy Awards, an epilogue assures that, aided by Lionel Logue, King George VI went on to deliver many wartime chats that comforted his country and while we witness the first of those, its significance seems more of a tongue-twisted conquest than a panacea for a nation’s anxiety. Earlier, we hear King George V extend Christmas wishes on-air, but the scene is used to expose the old man’s bullying of his spawn moreso than reveal any sense of the impact of the holiday greeting on his subjects. I would like to have heard and seen how both kings’ speeches played to the crowd rather than just rehash how awkward audiences felt when enduring the successor’s halting oratory.

Today, we may be victims of our own aural prejudices. We want leaders who talk tough and/or sound smart, often failing to analyze the (mis)truths of their phrasings before passing our own sentences. To some, Sarah Palin comes across as candid, a woman of her convictions. To some, Barack Obama is erudite, a man of considered opinions. Either or both judgements may be correct but no one should come to these conclusions based solely on intuitive reactions to their speaking styles. To paraphrase one of our finest preachers, I have a dream we will one day live in a nation where politicians will not be judged by the colorfulness of their soundbites, but by the content of their rhetoric.

Till then, THE KING’S SPEECH best falls on deaf ears.

What do YOU think?