The Imitation Game: A Queer Analysis

The film "The Imitation Game" is a true story about the man (Alan Turing) who invented a machine along with his team to decipher Nazi codes during WWII. Alan Turing was gay. I think this film is a good representation of what it was like to be homosexual in the 1940s. Throughout the film, the audience learns pieces about his life and how he has had to hide his sexuality. Homosexuality was illegal at this time in England, so no one could find out. The film actually begins with an event towards the end of his life: a break in. When police were called about a burglary, they get involved in his life and eventually find out his sexuality and arrest him. He was given two options: take hormones or go to prison. However, this is not until the end of the film, so let's go back and look at how he is represented in this film. Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) does not display any common stereotypes of gay men. He is not flamboyant or promiscuous; he seems like an ordinary heterosexual man. He is extremely intelligent and hired into MI6 to crack Nazi codes during the war. He becomes a war hero, but of course no one knows his accomplishments because it must be kept silent.

This film does not focus on Turing's sexuality. It focuses on WWII and solving encrypted codes. However, this was his life. He was a brilliant mathematician and a professor who was a WWII hero. He is a very important figure in history that almost no one knew of until this film. And he was gay. This film is a good representation because the audience can see his struggles, his marginalization, and his otherness. It's a true story that depicts his life and the struggle he went through. During the last scenes of the movie, it says, "After a year of government-mandated hormonal therapy, Alan Turing committed suicide on June 7th, 1954." And "Between 1885 and 1967, approximately 49,000 homosexual men were convicted of gross indecency under British law." This film is incredibly important. It brings awareness to homophobia and violence against homosexuals throughout history. It is a wonderful film that I highly suggest. It is real and true. This violence is still happening today; which is important to recognize because, as we see in this film, it is often hidden.