The Imitation Game

I had heard a lot of negative about this film, mainly in that it failed to make enough of the fact that Alan Turing was gay. But I saw it yesterday and all I can say is that is bollocks. Turing’s homosexuality is a central theme of the character. Right from the start of the film, it’s made clear. What really struck a chord with me was his friendship as a teenager with another boy, Christopher Morcom. Those who have read my book will know of the love Daniel and I shared when we were that age. And incidentally, the boy that played the teenage Turing is outstanding.
The contribution that Alan Turing made to the modern world is so great it cannot be quantified, either by his saving an estimated 14 million lives and shortening the war or by laying the foundations of modern digital computing.
The way this man was treated is and always will be a shameful stain on the British state, notwithstanding later attempts – too late of course – to rectify this. There is triumph in the film but tragedy too; that and the remembrance of the pain of separation caused me to leave the cinema in tears.
But those are issues that affect me. Go and see this film, it’s the best answer to homophobia around and if it doesn’t win a host of Oscars, there’s no justice.