The Rosie the Reviewer Podcast

Welcome to Rosie the Reviewer, a Dutch-Canadian female-led WW2 media podcast. A new episode airs every Friday!

Back to all episodes

Ep 66 – The Imitation Game – Alan Turing, Oscar Bait and the Spy Subplot No One Asked For

Subscribe:

Apple PodcastsCastBoxPocketCastsSpotifyRSSAmazon MusicYouTube

Share

Support the podcast

Rosie the Reviewer is a passion project, built episode by episode. If you’d like to support what we do, you can help keep us on the air or pick up some Rosie merch. We’re working on more ways for you to get involved in the future.

Shop rosie merch

Description

In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we take on The Imitation Game (2014) and unpick all the ways it does Alan Turing dirty. With guest George (our usual SAS Rogue Heroes correspondent) taking on several sidequests with us this summer), we tackle the unnecessary spy plot, the myth of the lone genius, and why turning one of history’s most brilliant minds into a socially inept robot is just lazy, disrespectful writing. Sam did all the reading, Maartje Googled for one minute and George has actually been to Bletchley Park. All of us instantly agree: this movie is not it.

We talk queer erasure, posthumous pardons, codebreaking accuracy (or lack thereof), and Sam explains EXACTLY how Turing’s codebreaking machine works ;).

This movie is Oscar bait biopic mayhem (it worked, I guess), and we have some strong thoughts.

The Imitation Game trailer

Bletchley's Crossword Puzzle

We thought you might enjoy the puzzle that Bletchley Park had printed in the Daily Telegraph on January 13th, 1942, as a means to recruit new codebreakers. View it below or actually play it here to see how fast you can solve it.

 

 

Book Rec by Sam

If you want the full story, read Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges. It’s the source material for the film (barely), and it’s everything the movie wasn’t: deeply researched, richly contextualised, and genuinely invested in who Turing actually was. Yes, it’s a chonky book. Yes, there are maths. But if you want to understand the man behind the math, and the machine (somewhat), it’s absolutely worth your time.

BUY ON AMAZON
*This is an affiliate link. If you buy through this link, we get a small percentage, and you get a book and help Rosie stay afloat. Thank you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More episodes

Ep 52 – Masters of the Air Actors Bailey Brook & Kai Alexander Talk WWII Escape Routes & Behind-the-Scenes Moments

In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we’re joined by Masters of the Air stars Bailey Brook and Kai Alexander, who brought to life the characters of Sergeant Charles K. Bailey and Sergeant William Quinn. Get the inside scoop on their experience portraying WWII airmen, discover the thrilling story of the Comet Line and its daring escape routes, and hear all about the behind-the-scenes details that went into bringing these real-life stories to the screen. Grab your parachute and join us for an action-packed conversation!

Go to episode »

Ep 68 – Masters of the Air – Rosie Rosenthal, Black Week and the Hundredth’s Losses (Part Two)

In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we continue our Masters of the Air series with episodes 4 through 6. George is back again to help us cover everything from Quinn and Bailey’s escape routes to Black Week, and welcome Rosie Rosenthal. We break down new character arcs, major missions, and quiet emotional … uh, breakdowns, including Bucky’s slow downward spiral, Crosby’s grief, and Rosie finding his rhythm (with some help from Artie Shaw).

Go to episode »
Days of Glory – Episode Art

Ep 109 – Days of Glory – North Africa’s War for France

In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we discuss Days of Glory (2006), the Rachid Bouchareb film that follows a fictional group of North African soldiers fighting with the Free French forces to liberate Europe. We talk about the film’s honest depiction of colonial racism, the ensemble cast, what the film gets right and where it falls flat, and the real history of the hundreds of thousands of African soldiers whose story went largely untold for decades.

Go to episode »

Support the podcast

Rosie the Reviewer is a passion project, built episode by episode. If you’d like to support what we do, you can help keep us on the air or pick up some Rosie merch. We’re working on more ways for you to get involved in the future.

Shop rosie merch