The Imitation Game
“Based on true events” means very little in Hollywood, and The Imitation Game is a perfect example. Major events are invented, historical facts are ignored, and practically every scene is drowning in clichés.
Turing is introduced as the stereotypical socially awkward genius: no humor, no social skills, unable to understand ordinary conversation. Naturally, his big breakthrough comes through a conveniently timed revelation rather than years of hard work.
What the movie barely acknowledges is that Polish mathematicians had already cracked earlier versions of Enigma years before the British. They developed the bomba, a predecessor to the British Bombe. Turing and his colleagues built upon this groundbreaking work. Poland ran out of funds and handed their know-how over to the British and the French. But apparently, a lone British genius makes for a better Hollywood story.
Then there's Joan Clarke. A genuinely brilliant woman whose real achievements apparently weren't exciting enough. Instead, we get the usual clichés: the woman who outsmarts the men in a conveniently invented recruitment contest. Clarke was already working at Bletchley Park before joining Turing's team. No such contest brought her there. Then, she even slaps Turing! Another feminist trope successfully implemented.
The Soviet spy subplot? Fabricated. Turing concealing a spy's identity? Fabricated. His team personally deciding which Allied ships to sacrifice? More Hollywood fiction. I was vice versa. It was well documented that the secret service controlled him - he had nothing to say.
Even the machine's sentimental name, "Christopher", was invented.
Meanwhile, the actual workings of Enigma are barely explained. The enormous collective effort at Bletchley Park is reduced to a handful of characters, and major contributors like Gordon Welchman are simply left out.
Instead, we get an endless parade of manufactured conflicts, predictable emotional manipulation and tearjerking scenes surrounding Turing's homosexuality. His persecution was real, but apparently even that history needed Hollywood embellishment.
The actual story was fascinating enough. Why replace so much of it with clichés and outright fiction?
The whole point of the movie was to introduce a homosexual man in a way which would make him admirable and perhaps even lovable, only to feel overwhelmed by emotions once the persecution began.
Turing is introduced as the stereotypical socially awkward genius: no humor, no social skills, unable to understand ordinary conversation. Naturally, his big breakthrough comes through a conveniently timed revelation rather than years of hard work.
What the movie barely acknowledges is that Polish mathematicians had already cracked earlier versions of Enigma years before the British. They developed the bomba, a predecessor to the British Bombe. Turing and his colleagues built upon this groundbreaking work. Poland ran out of funds and handed their know-how over to the British and the French. But apparently, a lone British genius makes for a better Hollywood story.
Then there's Joan Clarke. A genuinely brilliant woman whose real achievements apparently weren't exciting enough. Instead, we get the usual clichés: the woman who outsmarts the men in a conveniently invented recruitment contest. Clarke was already working at Bletchley Park before joining Turing's team. No such contest brought her there. Then, she even slaps Turing! Another feminist trope successfully implemented.
The Soviet spy subplot? Fabricated. Turing concealing a spy's identity? Fabricated. His team personally deciding which Allied ships to sacrifice? More Hollywood fiction. I was vice versa. It was well documented that the secret service controlled him - he had nothing to say.
Even the machine's sentimental name, "Christopher", was invented.
Meanwhile, the actual workings of Enigma are barely explained. The enormous collective effort at Bletchley Park is reduced to a handful of characters, and major contributors like Gordon Welchman are simply left out.
Instead, we get an endless parade of manufactured conflicts, predictable emotional manipulation and tearjerking scenes surrounding Turing's homosexuality. His persecution was real, but apparently even that history needed Hollywood embellishment.
The actual story was fascinating enough. Why replace so much of it with clichés and outright fiction?
The whole point of the movie was to introduce a homosexual man in a way which would make him admirable and perhaps even lovable, only to feel overwhelmed by emotions once the persecution began.
Mini Review: “Based on true events” means very little in Hollywood, and The Imitation Game is a perfect example. Major events are invented, historical facts are ignored, and practically every scene is drowning in clichés.But it's another good opportunity to push certain woke narratives upon us.
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