A stadium full of people waited patiently. It was the last day of October, 1925. Onlookers sat perplexed, unable to hide their concern. England’s future King George VI, father of the Queen, cowers before the microphone as he attempts to deliver a speech to an arena at full capacity. The deafening silence between the vocal struggle and an exasperated royal, left a stunned public staring back at him. An unforgiving staccato of words, pulsating around an arena, led his wife Elizabeth, the future Queen Mother, to engage with unconventional speech therapist, Lionel Logue, with whom he has a tumultuous relationship but who ultimately helped him overcome his disability.
Directed by Tom Hooper, the story formed a lot of the film, The King’s Speech. In 2011, earning an impressive 12 Oscar nominations, it was recorded as the UK Film Council’s highest-grossing film at the UK Box Office. Set in the 1930’s, the British historical drama saw huge success in depicting a stuttering condition developed by King George VI during his adolescent years. Actor, Colin Firth, who portrayed King George VI, secured an Oscar win for Best Actor for his depiction of a man who fought with a speech impediment, at a time of Britain’s declaration of war with Germany. The film is a biopic and sensitive portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II’s father and the vocal hurdles he faced, in particular, around public speaking, and his turbulent relationship with Logue. With experience of treating war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorders (PSTDs), resulting in fluency disorders, Logue’s approach with the future King was unorthodox yet led to a lifelong friendship.
The film opened the debate about stammering and was praised for its sensitive approach with a widespread outpouring of sympathy but did it change attitudes for people with speech impediments? After someone in Parliament commented, “He’s supposed to be Secretary of State and he can’t even get his words out”, it prompted former chancellor, Ed Balls, to talk about how his own speech impediment. The difficulties he encountered led to Firth and Balls supporting Michael Palin’s involvement with the charity, Action for Stammering Children, of which they are trustees. Founded in 1993, the charity was named after Palin following his role in the 1988 comedy, ’A Fish Called Wanda’, which was critiqued for its portrayal of his character, “Ken”, who stammered. Palin based the role on his own father, who suffered from his own impediment all his life. The film showed speech impediments in a negative light, which subsequently led to Palin’s regret over his role. 150,000 children and young people across the UK have a stammer. The charity’s research suggests that 8% of children will stammer at some point with 1% progressing to early adulthood, and by the age of 10, a ratio of boys to girls who stammer at 4 or 5:1.
It isn’t the first time a film has sparked a national debate, resulting in a change in public perception. Gurinda Chadha’s British hit, “Bend It Like Beckham” is a tale of a young, British-Indian girl, and her battle to play football against the wishes of her parents. Jesminder “Jess” Bhamra, played by Parinder Nagra, grapples with the traditional notions of Indian culture, with the film addressing racial barriers, and sexism and misogyny in sports. It was one of the year’s highest grossing British films, with box office figures of 60 million worldwide. The film resonated with British Asians who struggled with cultural expectations around tradition and religion. The film’s popularity inspired a generation of women to pick up a football, changing societal attitudes towards gender. Released in 2002, its worldwide popularity has had a lasting and influential effect. In 2020, The British Football Association reported that 3.4 million women and girls are now playing football.
But did The King’s Speech evoke more of a sympathetic view towards stammering? In 1942, the release of ‘Bambi’ left viewers horrified to see a baby deer abandoned after the murder of his mother. Subsequently, deer hunting decreased by 50%, with many ditching their pastime influenced by ‘The Bambi Effect’. Not forgetting the 2005 release of ‘Sideways’, a film that celebrated Pinot Noir and prompted a spike in wine sales. ‘Pinot Noir production has increased roughly about 170 percent in California’ says wine industry expert, Gabriel Froymovich. The received 5 Oscar nominations and was dubbed “The Sideways Effect” with Pinot Noir becoming California’s flagship wine.
Did the success of the 2011 film, and the King George VI’s failed delivery of his augural speech, prompt a rise in speech impediment treatment? Accurate statistics of those that sought speech impediment treatment are hard to come by, due to private services and NHS referrals. Stewart Pearce believes that the success of the film brought about a soar in enquiries and compared it when Princess Diana spoke publicly about her bulimia, commenting, ‘the British Council of Psychotherapy received 65,000 people contacting their switchboards and reaching out, saying, “I have bulimia, help”. Pearce an international voice coach, who worked closely with Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana, said, ‘there was a noticeable shift in the consciousness of the people, and as a result of that, I believe a simple statement arose which was, “well, if he had those problems, I had those problems, and if he can do something about it, I can do something about it”.
The legacy of the film has inspired many to challenge social stigma and discriminatory views, with sufferers feeling liberated and empowered by publicly disclosing their struggles with stammering. “It’s not something you catch or something which is cured. It’s just part of you. Owning it and accepting it and making it part of you is really important” said Ed Balls, when asked what advice he could give after treatment of his speech impediment.
“There have been significant changes in societal attitudes over the past 6 or 7 years, with something called ‘stammering pride’, influenced by the social model of disability” says Alison Berquez, Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist from the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering (MPCS). “When the King’s Speech came out, it was a really powerful moment. It’s one of those moments where it puts stammering back on the map and onto people’s radar, which is really important.”