As far as I can find out, there is absolutely no historical warrant for the idea that King George VI was urged to use the f-word by his speech therapist during his attempt to cure his stammer.
So why did the makers of the film The King’s Speech feel the need to insert a scene in which this happens?
Even if it did happen, there are other ways of letting us know that it did, apart from showing it.
If the British Board of Film Classification had any courage or resolve, they would have stuck by their decision to give the film a ‘15’ rating and so sharply reduced its market, solely because of this passage.
The producer, director and scriptwriters could not have been certain that the BBFC would cave in. They were prepared, therefore, to risk significant commercial damage for this cause.
I know that, to get their laughs, many modern ‘comedians’ rely almost completely on the f-word’s fading power to shock. But I think there is more to it than that. In much of the entertainment industry there is a militant desire to destroy taboos and upset the gentle, for its own sake. Revolutionaries love to debauch and corrupt.
How better to do this than to portray the trembling, retiring Bertie, who never wanted the throne and was happiest at home with his small family, spitting out dirty words?
I’d say shame on them if I thought they understood words of more than four letters.
The movie has been doing well with critics, garnering nominations for various awards. I was thinking about seeing it, but Mr. Hitchens's comment gives me pause.
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