Why there might be hope for the culture

When a movie like "The King's Speech" wins 4 of the big Academy Awards - Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay - it's hard to argue that Hollywood is beyond hope.

The King's Speech is based on the historical events surrounding the abdication of King Edward the VIII and the accession of George VI to the throne of the United Kingdom in 1936. However, the scandalous abdication by Edward in order to marry the American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, is only a small part of the movie. The main conflict of the film revolves around the newly crowned King George VI coming to grips with a horrible speech impediment while his kingdom is on the brink of entering World War II.

The widespread acclaim for Colin Firth's exceptional portrayal of King George VI provides good reason to hope for more movies celebrating the virtues and traits that are typically caricatured and mocked in modern culture - courage, perseverance, loyalty to family and tradition, and above all a sense of honor and decency. In some ways I find it equally gratifying that Edward VIII is portrayed as wimpy and self-indulgent in pursuing his marriage to Simpson. One can easily imagine a modern film celebrating his abdication and marriage as the triumph of "true-love" over the staid and outdated rituals of a dying generation.

Despite the "R" rating, I would have no problem bringing my children to this film, although I think the message might be a bit subtle for immature teens. It boggles the mind that the King's Speech received an "R" rating for one scene involving language (and a very mild one at that when taken in context), while every type of soft-core pornography typically receives a "PG-13" rating.