Do you remember me writing about Enigma, a few weeks ago? The film about code breakers at Bletchley Park?
It’s one that’s well worth watching, I think.
It seems the BBC agrees with me, as they’ve shown it , themselves, tonight, on BBC3.
That — and the fact that I had a very relevant question in the Teaser a couple of days ago — leaves me wondering something.
Just to briefly summarise, here, Enigma follows one of the Bletchley Park code breakers, Tom Jericho, when he returns to Bletchley, after a nervous break-down.
Very loosely. Tom Jericho — played by Doug-Ray Scott — was portrayed as straight.
Alan Turing was gay.
It’s what lead to his death, back in 1954.
Don’t forget that, unlike in these much more tolerant times, homosexuality in the UK was both illegal and seen as a psychological disease. (Something I’ve also thought of as a stupid viewpoint; I’ve always felt sexuality was something along the lines of left- or right-handedness. Comparatively unimportant, in the grand scheme of things, in other words. And a part of ourselves that’s not really a choice.)
And, as a result of being prosecuted for homosexuality, he apparently committed suicide by eating a cyanide laced apple, in 1954*.
I can’t help but think that is a tragedy.
I think that whoever someone chooses to spend their bedtime with is trivial, compared with the good or bad they achieve in life; after all, Hitler was a vegetarian, fond of animals, and nice to children, and his mother. But that is overshadowed, for me, by the fact his ideals and politics, lead to to the death of at least 6 million people in the concentration camps alone.
Turing — named by “Time Magazine” as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th Century — basically laid the groundwork for the modern computer, in a famous 1936 paper, and continued that at Bletchley and during his post-war career.
Now Doctor Turing has been honoured in many different ways, since his death.
But to the best of my knowledge, has still not received any recognition for his scientific, or war, work, by the British government.
Personally?
I call that a disgrace.
And a pretty complete one, at that.
I wouldn’t have posted this, and you wouldn’t be reading it, without Alan Turing.
So what I’m wondering is quite simple.
When on Earth are the British Government planning to do something about it?
They’ve had 55 years, after all.
* There’s been — unsubstantiated — rumours, for years, that Apple choose its name as a nod to the Beatles. And choose its logo as a mark of respect to Alan Turing.
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