The Imitation Game is a text based on an entertaining, old-fashioned film acted to create a biopic about Alan Turing. Other than being a code-breaker, Turing was a computer pioneer and a British mathematician who helped Allies to win the Second World War. Some critics take issues with the emotional straightforwardness of The Imitation Game, especially due to its base on the unlovable and complex man. Other critics praise its message irrespective of its historical in accuracies. The paper recommends The Imitation Game to various audiences through expression of its quality and importance which are evidence in its social, aesthetic and cultural values.
The Imitation Game does not represent precisely the real Turing or his life. Also, it does not represent history accurately and therefore cannot be evaluated based on known historical records (Piccinini 1). Turing was portrayed as gay but The Imitation Game does not show any homosexual or gay related acts. This means that Turing personal life, historical accuracy and homosexuality cannot be used to make standards of evaluating The Imitation Game since they are not among the main themes in its plot (Piccinini 2). In order to appreciate the movie, other criteria need to be set in order to judge the text based on its plot. The historical thriller contains digestible, emotional gripping representation of how Alan Turing’s technological and intellectual achievements helped allied powers in winning the Second World War. It also shows that tragedy of Turing’s unfair conviction for his homosexuality (Piccinini 2). To some extent, these two aspects can provide the basis of evaluating the movie for correct results to be obtained.
Originally, Alan Turing was a shy, solitary and awkward boy who was often bullied by his peers. Christopher Morcom came for his rescue during his early days in traditional boarding school (Piccinini 2). Morcom advised him to blend in to avoid being picked on each time. Months later, Christopher Morcom died and Turing was left lonely again. Just like any other young man, he kept his friend’s memories alive and this is evident when Turing names his machine after Christopher. His machine was an imitation and representation of modern day computing machines (Anderson 1). Turing often lived in solitude and was hardly concerned with what other people did or thought. In his life, he experienced many problems for example, when his house was burgled and he ended up being mistakenly arrested (The Weinstein Company 3). After his arrest, he was charged with gross indecency which led to his conviction for homosexuality. Lastly, he died under mysterious circumstances. His life cannot be admired by many and in addition, those close to him disliked his company making his life more awkward and lonely.
These account of events mentioned in The Imitation Game demonstrate how resilient people should be irrespective of what is happening around them. Turing was bullied, lost the most adorable friend, got arrested and later convicted dishonestly. This did not however stop him from being courageous and visionary. His computing machine made him to be the pioneer of modern day computing machines (Piccinini 1). People disliked him but this did not make him achieve the impossible. He was a great leader who led diverse linguistics, scholars, intelligence officers and chess champions to decipher the codes of Germany’s Second World War Enigma machine that were believed to be unbreakable (The Weinstein Company 2). As a result, the protagonist is intensively and hauntingly portrayed as a brilliant but complicated man. His genius thinking under intensive pressure helped shorten the Second World War and saved many lives which could otherwise have been lost had the war continued.
The movie proves that personal attributes, other people’s opinions and occurrences in life should not bar anyone from realizing their potential. Had Turing been concerned about how people looked down upon him, he could have been discouraged. Had he been worried about lack of friends, he would have been unable to think critically about different problem solving mechanisms. Turing appreciated his environment and was more than willing to try what others believed was impossible. His willingness to think differently made him realize that only a machine could crack; the Enigma machine codes (Piccinini 2). The urgency with which the codes needed to be cracked did not bar him from adopting new ideas. This movie shows us that it is only concrete thinking based on open mind that can solve problems. For this to be achieved, surroundings, expectations and urgency of the subject under question should not affect the thinkers.
The limit of what people can do is not limited by the outward picture but by the internal nature that classifies situations based on their importance. Tuning’s daily life was not influenced by what people expected from him but what needed to be done for any particular problem to be solved. As people thought about his awkwardness, he thought how to control certain things deemed to be beyond control. This means that sexual orientation and affiliations cannot bar people from performing their duties extraordinarily. People around Turing and the policemen who arrested him had no idea about his extraordinary capabilities but the world knew how important he was (Piccinini 3). The movie teaches us that no matter who we are, we will still have friends who appreciate us the way we are. Turing had secured true friendship in Christopher. It also teaches us that we should be focused to achieve our goals but not try to change our nature in order to fit in the society. Turing cared less about what people thought about him and consequently went ahead to lay a foundation for modern day computing machines. The Imitation Game makes us understand that we can’t change our nature, but we can change the world. Through these, The Imitation Game is a very interesting movie to read and motivates people to achieve even the most difficult goals of their life.
Michael S. Berry presents an evaluative text on The Imitation Game that echoes mine in many facets. In his view, Berry reasons that The Imitation Game is primarily concerned with computer science which makes an important facet of our present-day lives. This is because Turing is represented as the father of computer science (Berry 319). It is a source of motivation for computer scientists because Turing Awards are labeled as the highest distinction for all computer scientists. Berry acknowledges the importance of movie design applied in The Imitation Game (Berry 319). Its plot makes it unusual and very interesting. I concur with Berry in his review that Turing was a young man who was in the process of self searching. Despite his poor relationship with people, especially in his childhood years, he never gave up. Afterwards, his persistence is shown when he helps to end the deadliest war in the world’s history. His arrest, conviction and mysterious death reveal lack of recognition for his theoretical accomplishments. Berry believes that The Imitation Game traverses several points concerning Turing’s thoughts and thought processes that suggest that he indeed possessed sophisticated knowledge (Berry 319). Turing’s work was not covered widely due to security concerns but never failed to be appreciated by colleagues. Turing was awarded the ‘Most Excellent Order of the British Empire’ (OBE) yet he was arrested, convicted and chemically castrated for crimes based on assumptions (Berry 319). This is a challenge to people not to expect recognition from any person or authority for their accomplishments. They should instead seek motivation from their success and focus on more achievements. People who are not well celebrated irrespective of their mouth-watering accomplishments should draw motivation from this movie and soldier on.
Barry Cooper presents is review with the most touching recommendation of the Turing’s work of trying to solve the insoluble. Turing machines presented the idea of modern day computers to world (Cooper 1). He brought prescient insight and genius in reality and imitation, control and beyond control as well as wild interface. Cooper presents the ability to work from scratch and achieve unthinkable. His review guides choices in tough challenges. Aspiring thinkers and developers can rely on this review to achieve what others believe is impossible. Turing believed that a computer could be as intelligent as human which made modern computer scientists to keep researching in order to achieve his visions (Cooper 2). This review recommends The Imitation Game to a science-oriented audience as it serves as a mentor for computer scientists. In addition, the text sheds to light the belief that big accomplishments are drawn from visionary works.
Overall, The Imitation Game is a very important movie to read and has the quality to motivate modern day thinkers in working towards their dreams. Further, the text encourages people to accept who they are and work on their dreams without expecting to be recognized. Visionary thinking as portrayed by Alan Turing is helpful in achieving goals of any magnitude.
Works Cited
Anderson, L. V. How Accurate Is The Imitation Game? We’ve Separated Fact from Fiction.
Web.11.2.2014: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/12/03/the_imitation_game_fact_vs_fiction_how_true_the_new_movie_is_to_alan_turing.html
Berry, Michael S. Book review: The Imitation Game, by Jim Ottaviani & Leland Purvis.
TUGboat, Volume 35, p 319, 2014. Dominguez Archaeological Research Group. Web.11.2.2014: https://tug.org/TUGboat/tb35-3/tb111reviews-ottaviani.pdf
Cooper, S. Barry. Inside the mind of Alan Turing, the genius behind ‘The Imitation Game,’
Elsevier, 2014. Web.11.2.2014: http://pdf.printfriendly.com/pdfs/1423640787_b8ff2e/download
Piccinini, Gualtiero. The Imitation Game: A Philosophical Review, 2015. Web.11.2.2014:
The Weinstein Company. The Imitation Game. Production notes, 2014. Web.11.2.2014:
http://www.benedictcumberbatch.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/theimitationgame_productionnotes.pdf
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