Plain speaking and “The King’s Speech”
I’ve been hearing from folks about the new movie, “The King’s Speech”, which came out late last month. It has been nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards. Tom Long of The Detroit News described “The King’s Speech” as “entertaining, funny, touching and smart” and called it “the best film of 2010”. According to the movie review in The Detroit Free Press entitled, “Royally enthralling” by Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel, “’The King’s Speech’ tells the moving story of a monarch’s stammer and the man who helped him conquer it.”
The man who helped him conquer it was Lionel Logue. Logue is usually referred to as a speech therapist. He apparently was a Christian Scientist for a while, and then became interested in Spiritualism after the death of his wife. It should be noted here that Christian Science and Spiritualism are quite different from one another. Christian Science does not include mediumship or communication between the dead and the living but rather a close and inseparable connection between God and man. Logue’s approach as portrayed in the movie is not the method of healing practiced in Christian Science, although his knowledge of Christian Science may very well have helped him aid the king with his speech.
