I feel very ambiguous about The Imitation Game. The Imitation Game is three stories from three different time periods told concurrently, but clearly: first, the police investigate Alan Turing, a former, crucial member of WWII’s lead defense against the Nazis, after someone broke into his home, but why does he not want the police investigating–is he a double agent or guilty of something else; second, a team of warring enigma code breakers led by Turing race to stop the Nazis and save the allies through unconventional methods, but their greatest obstacle is the team and power dynamics; and finally, Turing’s childhood and how he began to realize that he was different in many ways.
On one hand, it wasn’t that long ago that the USA questioned whether or not gays should be openly admitted into the military, and whether Don’t Ask Don’t Tell should be dropped. One central question was if a gay person could stop 9/11, would you let them? Believe it or not, for some people, not only was the answer NOT a reflexive yes, but active military members with amazing credentials came out of the closet not only to jeers, but were dismissed. So we definitely need movies like The Imitation Game to keep reminding people that it is NOT about whether or not we should LET a group of people who are different from us be treated similarly to us, but that they are ALREADY here, they are ALREADY heroes, we should treat them with honor, not disrespect, and if we treat them with disrespect, it is a moment of collective shame.
On the other hand, once again, Hollywood has downplayed the gay aspect and highlighted Turing’s possible mental challenges. They have cast a straight guy. There is even a kind of romance between Turing and a female associate. Does that mean that homosexuality can be championed if it remains hidden or is that an accurate reflection of the times? He got arrested for male solicitation so I think that it is the first. The producers actually said, “There is not – and never has been – a version of our script where Alan Turing is anything other than homosexual, nor have we included fictitious sex scenes.” Um, when has that EVER stopped Hollywood before from including a fictitious sex scene. I’m not saying that The Imitation Game needed a sex scene, but when one compares The Imitation Game to other historical movies, it is very unusual that anything remotely suggestive or sexual is omitted. If The Imitation Game did decide to depict a sex scene, it certainly would not have been fictitious.
In addition, even though I am not very familiar with the historical events that comprise The Imitation Game, I am very familiar with tropes, and I could spot the historical inaccuracies by going trope hunting. Turing was never considered a spy. Turing and Clarke were not that close. The team was much larger and faced fewer bureaucratic obstacles though I enjoy watching Daddy Lannister do his schtick. Turing wasn’t forced to make life or death decisions or spy for M6. I get that the spy angle was supposed to be another plot device to reflect the agonies of living a secret social life when that social life could mean becoming a criminal, but how about exploring THAT instead of making it a spy thriller.
Because The Imitation Game knows everyone loves spies, but gay people, not so much. We need The Imitation Game, but we also need The Imitation Game to do better.