Media Review: The King's Speech

A slew of well-deserved Oscars has further enhanced the reputation of the excellent film, The King’s Speech, For those working in healthcare, there are added attractions to this movie which make it a useful addition to Medical Humanities programmes. At the heart of high quality art works (and usually well concealed in the spirit of ‘ars est celare artem’ – the art lying in concealing the art) is one important question ‘What is it to be human?’ The arts allow a community to scrutinize its own values and meaning, make those values and meanings explicit, attractive and challenge perspectives. The beauty of a film like The King’s Speech is that we are entertained, stimulated and engrossed, and all these deeper reflections seep in to our consciousness without advertising themselves as such.