Adam Polaski wrote a great piece earlier today, connecting his problems as a stutterer with the critically acclaimed film The King’s Speech. The film should be among the 10 nominees for Best Picture at the Oscars. Colin Firth is one of the best actors alive, and he plays the role of the stuttering-but-improving King of England to an award-worthy level of authenticity.
And that’s what makes the film so great. It doesn’t end with Firth’s character a magically well-spoken orator, but rather with an ever-diminishing stutter. It’s the first mainstream film about the struggles of stuttering—a problem affecting 1 percent of the population. As Adam wrote, the film shows that “a stutter isn’t capable of keeping a good man down.”
To that, Chris Larsen responded:
Few people know that Vice President Biden had a horrible stuttering problem as a child. When people complain that he is is too fond of his own voice, I think, “Go ahead, Joe. You’ve earned the right to enjoy talking.”
As someone who was once told I might never talk again, and still has great difficulty enunciating, I have great respect for those who overcome or meet this challenge head on.
Thanks, Chris, for sharing your story. We’re glad to hear things have gotten better, and we hope you, like Adam and King George VI, continue to improve.
—Photo FutureWriter91/Photobucket