The King's Speech: Preview
I have never been that excited over a period/historic(al) movie that much before, that is until this one. Well for starters 'The King's Speech' had Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush in it, both excellent actors.
Then came the fact that the movie is based on how King George VI (born Albert Frederick Arthur George), who was the current Queen's (Elizabeth) father, overcome a stammer problem with the help of a speech therapist Lionel Logue.
A lot of people might have known about King George VI's brother, Edward who abdicated the throne in order to marry the twice divorced American socialite, Wallis Simpson. But not so much about George (Albert/Bertie). As the second son of King George V, George (Albert/Bertie) had always been spending his life in the shadows of his brother, Edward, and was not expected to inherit the throne.
So when Edward ascended the throne as Edward VIII on the death of their father in 1936, but later revealed his desire to marry Wallis Simpson, the then British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that, for political and religious reasons, he would not be able to remain king if he continued with his plan (to marry Simpson). So due to the abdication, George (Albert/Bertie) ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor.
The movie brought to light several facts that appeal to me - amongst others;
- how someone as powerful (well maybe not as much as he wants to be) as the King of England, had to struggle with stammer problem everytime he had to give a speech to the nation. What more, he was thrown into war time, and had to compete (speech-wise) with Hitler, who in comparison was a great orator (even if he's a ruthless murderous dictator). It was painful to see him trying to carry such weight (in addressing his people, and not being able to do so with ease), and even more painful to see those close to him trying even harder to help him overcome such disadvantage.
- how the way a child was raised can severely affected his/her future development. Regardless of your life background, rich, poor, middle class, evidently mental abuse and love deprivation can have long impacted a child's life, even after the abuse and deprivations had ceased to take place.
- how behind every great man; there's always a great woman leading towards his success.
- how a true great friendship is devoid of any expectations of reciprocal advantage. One tries to be the best of friends, with no (other) implied intentions.
And I think one of the best quote of the movie (in the clip below) - when Lionel chastised Bertie for wanting to smoke, really makes my day. It's spot on and very funny, and the most important of all, it's the best campaign against smoking I have seen in movies so far :-).
When Albert (Bertie) first met Lionel...
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Lionel Logue: [as George "Bertie" is lighting up a cigarette] Don't do that in here.
King George VI: Why not?
Lionel Logue: Sucking smoke into your lungs will kill you.
King George VI: My physicians tell me it helps to relax the throat.
Lionel Logue: They're idiots.
King George VI: They've been knighted.
Lionel Logue: Makes it official then.
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Lionel Logue: [as George "Bertie" is lighting up a cigarette] Don't do that in here.
King George VI: Why not?
Lionel Logue: Sucking smoke into your lungs will kill you.
King George VI: My physicians tell me it helps to relax the throat.
Lionel Logue: They're idiots.
King George VI: They've been knighted.
Lionel Logue: Makes it official then.
I LOL every single time I replay this !
salam sis,
ReplyDeleteAku bercadang nak sambung PhD in law, but not sure nak buat kat mana. Any suggestion?
Salam Sista,
ReplyDeleteIf you have the opportunity and have no reservations/restictions – apply to do it abroad, definitely. Not to say that overseas universities are far better than local ones, (well there’s another debate on that), but for me, it’s the exeperience that you are trying to garner there. It may not be the best of experiences, but still, these experiences are actually once in a lifetime kind of opportunity. So if you can beg & pray, aim high – aim abroad. And if your study scope allows it, don’t restrict yourself to the Commonwealth Countries, check out EU countries like Denmark, and also the USA, of course.
2) Always go for the supervisor with similar research interest with your planned study, especially interested ones – the ones that show ‘some’ enthusiasm in replying to your emails and phone calls; or if possible agreed to personal meetings with you. If they show no interest early on, I doubt they are going to be interested later. That said, these experts may not reply the first time because they are very busy, so try again, and instead of just sending them of ‘hi and how are you’ kind of email, be professional and express your interest to be supervised by them and attach an initial summary of your proposal.
3) If any of those experts reply, sometimes they will try and test you with all sorts of questions. Beware and be careful of how you express yourself. Do no be overly defensive. Sometimes this is the only way they can evaluate whether you are worthy of a place under them.
4) Remember that getting a place abroad involved a lot of hard work, bureaucracies and money, so don’t give up or be frustrated by it. Consider this an early test of your PhD endurance later on.
All the best - for full suggestion read here:
http://lawkingdow.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/phd-how-to-start-the-journey-or-where/
Salam Kak Fadz..nie Natrah nie..lama betul tak jenguk blog akak ya..blog saya dah hancus..tak tersempat nak menulis dah..hehe..Harap akak steady ngan PhD akak, semoga kita dua cepat2 habis!..aminn...
ReplyDeleteSalam Nat, thanks you, you too...masih kat sana ke? Insya Allah soon habih lah tu..we can do it!!! he..he..he Amin...:-)
ReplyDelete