First of all, the time period we’re all focusing on, he didn’t have one. He described it in his own words as a “sexual desert” in a letter. The whole thing is his relationship with Christopher [Turing’s male crush seen in flashbacks in grade school], about unfulfilled love.
But Turing did have relationships with men.
He had people he had sex with, yes — especially in the time after the war, when he’s living in Manchester. The break-in that happens in the film is a male lover, which is discussed. It was actually someone he paid to have sex with. It was more of a hustler.
But we never see Turing in a relationship with an adult man. Don’t you think that would have enriched the character?
Not really. The whole movie, the way it’s structured, we don’t know anything about this man. The whole investigation starts because he’s hiding something, but he’s not hiding what we think. It can’t start off with him having sex. It was not because we were afraid it would offend anybody. If I did the structure and had this thing about a straight character, I would never have a sex scene to prove that he’s heterosexual. If I have a gay character in a movie, I need to have a sex scene in it — just to prove that he’s gay? I’m not shying away from it. His whole relationship, how he falls in love and the importance of him being a gay man, was all about secrecy.
Some have criticized the movie for not including that.
During his time, the relationship that was important was the relationship with Joan Clarke [played by Keira Knightley]. They were engaged for six months. It’s all about a lost love. He didn’t have a male companion. He had some random people he had sex with. He also had, this was funny, he went to Norway to have sex in a gay sauna, a secret club. He had some sexual partners, but it was few and far between. The only reason to have a sex scene in the film would be to satisfy critics who feels that every gay character needs to have a gay sex scene....
From an Oscars night interview in Variety with The Imitation Game director, Morten Tyldum.
What a funny little man.
No, of course you don't need a gay sex scene just cause a character's gay.
The point is why Turing's homosexuality - something instrumental, not incidental to his story - was so downplayed.
No, of course you don't need a gay sex scene just cause a character's gay.
The point is why Turing's homosexuality - something instrumental, not incidental to his story - was so downplayed.
Fagburn's Oscars wishlist - anyone but Cummerbund.
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I saw this last week. It's fucking shit on every level. It's boring as a thriller, the acting is naff, the characters are all dull, the Poles' contribution is disregarded, and the absolute worst part about it is the portrayal of Turing. Not only is his sexuality reduced to a few scenes of childhood crush but also the adult Turing is shown as an arrogant aspie with no human warmth. There isn't a single element in the character portrayed that coincides with the public record of the man. And they claim outright at the end that Turing committed suicide.
ReplyDeleteDerek Jacobi's film, Breaking the Code, is better in every single way: Turing is shown as human - warm, untidy, brilliant, with an actual sexuality - the maths/science is better shown and the ambiguity of his death is maintained at the end.
The Imitation Game is shit on a turd stick.
I watched BC in the Burgess thing ^^^ yesterday, and have to admit he was jolly good...
DeleteI've not seen that before. I'll watch it later.
DeleteTwo other falsehoods in the new film: instead of Turing reporting the break-in at his home to the police and unwittingly trapping himself, they have him trying to get rid of the police at the start but a cop finds out his war records are top secret and assumes he's a double agent (they refer to the Cambridge spies) and so he goes on a hunt to find out more and ends up trapping Turing unwittingly on an indecency charge.
The other thing is that Turing finds out about the spy at Bletchley but he is blackmailed into keeping quiet with a threat to reveal his sexuality. So on the one hand he's shown as - literally - single handedly building the Bombe, and on the other as being entirely a poor powerless victim of homophobia (even though he's essentially neutered by the film-makers).
Bunkum!
By the way, this is on veehd if you want to watch it: http://veehd.com/search... - you have to join but it's free and then you can watch online or download to watch on a media player of your choice.
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