What I’m synopsizing here is The Imitation Game, a new movie that purports to tell the story of Alan Turing, the brilliant British mathematician and codebreaker whose individual contribution to Allied victory in World War II can be rightfully ranked in its significance alongside those of Eisenhower and Churchill. Later, after court-mandated hormone therapy to “cure” him of his sexual urges reduces him to a sniveling wreck, he opts for the only logical way out: killing himself.

When the police start investigating a crime that reveals his homosexuality, he seizes the opportunity to unburden himself to a detective, spilling the beans about all of his ultrasecret wartime activities. (This, of course, is designed to remind us of his inability to form stable human relationships.)įortunately, the hero does get an opportunity to partake of some much-needed psychotherapy. So, for example, he names his remarkable machine after the dead school chum who was his first love. He does his best to hide this weakness, but sometimes he just can’t help himself. Like all lonely heroes, though, this one suffers from a tragic flaw: he’s gay. If you’re lucky, one of them-the guy who stands out for his social awkwardness-turns out to be a cranky genius who single-handedly designs a miraculous machine that solves all their problems at a stroke. All you have to do is put half a dozen math wizards into a Quonset hut and make them argue a lot. It turns out that breaking Nazi codes in World War II is a pretty simple affair. Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

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