The Kings Speech is a great film and fully deserved its success at the BAFTAS.
It's taken a while but I am finally a Colin Firth fan; he just seems to grow in stature with every new project.
Of course the film acts as a brilliant metaphor, not only for the UK's stuttering economic recovery, but for the lack of self-confidence which Brits in general seem to be suffering from at the moment.
Before George VI could accept his destiny he had to believe he could be king and the way the film portrays this transformation from uncertainty to self-belief is part of its charm.
If only the British people could see themselves in this light, as heirs to a great heritage which should be grasped with graciousness and generosity.
A nation that is adamantly against giving prisoners any voting rights when the rest of Europe is clearly happy to do so, is a nation that has somehow lost its way, its vision and its beliefs.
Britain was once at the forefront of progressive and just social change, promoting policies which sided with the underprivileged and over-exploited.
It was one of the things which made the country great and encouraged everyone else in the world to follow.
Now, the country rises up in a storm of rage at every reasonable and sane initiative that comes from Brussels.
Like a jealous older sibling, Britain barks at Europe with the kind of blind impotent tyranny that is reminiscent of an age long gone.
Cameron, the perfect exponent of this national indignation, is expressing his ire more or less on a daily basis with wild and uncontrolled policies.
He is not pausing for breath when it comes to slashing here, cancelling there, and selling off everywhere, all in the name of the budget deficit.
But even while he leads a party determined to cut spending no matter what, he forgets that in doing so he is undermining the chances of a decent recovery and encouraging a belligerent attitude towards many people which undermines fairness and justice.
This sort of confrontationalism has no part to play in the modern world.
Britain's personality disorder is revealed in other ways too, notably through the faux pas of its celebrities.
Its most popular motoring programme, Top Gear, has come under fire for the way its presenters have offended Mexican people.
Short of good jokes, this programme has resorted to being crude and offensive about other nationalities.
Both trends, the uproar against prisoners and the xenophobia, are worrying throwbacks to an age we thought was dead and gone.
Bigotry and prejudice are much less loved aspects of the British character.
And it doesn't end there.
The case of the sports presenters, Keyes and Gray, who were recently sacked for behaving like male chauvinists, shows that sexism in the higher echelons of society is still alive and well.
Let us hope that this worrying trend does not end in tears for a great country and that, like Firth in the movie, they soon rediscover what it really means to be British by taking on board new developments with gusto and withoutblaming others for their failure.
It's taken a while but I am finally a Colin Firth fan; he just seems to grow in stature with every new project.
Of course the film acts as a brilliant metaphor, not only for the UK's stuttering economic recovery, but for the lack of self-confidence which Brits in general seem to be suffering from at the moment.
Before George VI could accept his destiny he had to believe he could be king and the way the film portrays this transformation from uncertainty to self-belief is part of its charm.
If only the British people could see themselves in this light, as heirs to a great heritage which should be grasped with graciousness and generosity.
A nation that is adamantly against giving prisoners any voting rights when the rest of Europe is clearly happy to do so, is a nation that has somehow lost its way, its vision and its beliefs.
Britain was once at the forefront of progressive and just social change, promoting policies which sided with the underprivileged and over-exploited.
It was one of the things which made the country great and encouraged everyone else in the world to follow.
Now, the country rises up in a storm of rage at every reasonable and sane initiative that comes from Brussels.
Like a jealous older sibling, Britain barks at Europe with the kind of blind impotent tyranny that is reminiscent of an age long gone.
Cameron, the perfect exponent of this national indignation, is expressing his ire more or less on a daily basis with wild and uncontrolled policies.
He is not pausing for breath when it comes to slashing here, cancelling there, and selling off everywhere, all in the name of the budget deficit.
But even while he leads a party determined to cut spending no matter what, he forgets that in doing so he is undermining the chances of a decent recovery and encouraging a belligerent attitude towards many people which undermines fairness and justice.
This sort of confrontationalism has no part to play in the modern world.
Britain's personality disorder is revealed in other ways too, notably through the faux pas of its celebrities.
Its most popular motoring programme, Top Gear, has come under fire for the way its presenters have offended Mexican people.
Short of good jokes, this programme has resorted to being crude and offensive about other nationalities.
Both trends, the uproar against prisoners and the xenophobia, are worrying throwbacks to an age we thought was dead and gone.
Bigotry and prejudice are much less loved aspects of the British character.
And it doesn't end there.
The case of the sports presenters, Keyes and Gray, who were recently sacked for behaving like male chauvinists, shows that sexism in the higher echelons of society is still alive and well.
Let us hope that this worrying trend does not end in tears for a great country and that, like Firth in the movie, they soon rediscover what it really means to be British by taking on board new developments with gusto and withoutblaming others for their failure.
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