In his acceptance speech for ‘The Imitation Game,’ Moore shares a powerful message based on the story of his own attempted suicide as a teenager.
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When his name was called as the Oscar winner for Best Adapted Screenplay for ‘The Imitation Game,’ screen-writer Graham Moore was boyishly exuberant and joyful. But he used that platform to deliver an incredibly powerful and important lesson that touches on human loneliness, the struggle to fit in, mental health, and the creation of art.
“In my brief time here, I want to use it to say this: When I was 16 years old I tried to kill myself. Because I felt weird and I felt different and I felt like I did not belong. And now I’m standing here. And so I would like this moment to be for that kid out there that feels like she’s weird or she’s different or she’s doesn’t fit it anywhere. Yes you do. I promise, you do. Stay weird. Stay different. And when it’s your turn, and you’re standing on this stage, please pass this message to the next kid who comes along.”
The Imitation Game tells the story of Alan Turing, the scientist who solved the enigma code, which was crucial to the Allies victory in World War II. Turing – who committed suicide at the age of 41 – was only recognized for his accomplishments after his death.
We delight in movies on the silver screen, because they tell grand and universal stories.
But it is our own grand and universal stories – each of our stories of our every day lives- which, if we have the strength to share them, bring us together and propels us forward.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images
Well said Mark.
I think the speech really was not about a singular issue but for all those who feel they don’t fit in or are called weird for whatever reason, and god knows there’s plenty of them that someone will always call out. And none that really need to be. The fact remains all of us have a nagging feeling that we just don2 quite fit in for something. Ask a bartender if they’ve heard this comment from their customers. I have, just for intetest, asked many bartenders this. The most common response? Roll of they eyes followed by “all the time”… Read more »
I’m glad to see that Graham Moore’s acceptance speech is getting attention, but I think its worth noting “why” Alan Turing committed suicide, in order to put the speech into context. Even though Turing was a brilliant mathematician and hero, he was openly gay at a time and place where being so wasn’t just stigmatized, it was illegal. He was persecuted by the very people he was working for and protecting, forced to either spend his life in prison or submit to chemical castration. “Though initially considered a national hero in Britain, in 1952, government officials arrested and prosecuted Alan… Read more »
Yes! Thank you!