Ok, I’m going to get into this so there will be spoilers.
During world war 2, Germany employed an encryption device called ENIGMA. The code was a simple replacement determined by the machine’s settings, which the Germans changed daily. The issue is there were 159 quintillion (yes) settings. So the possibility of locating the correct setting in enough time to decode any message was impossible without a computer. These did not exist at the time; could as well have said an aircraft carrier would have helped in the crusades. So, Alan Turing, being British (who as a group were decidedly anti German), invented one. Not alone, there was a team, but he imagined and built the machine we would come to call computer. Eventually the British had such knowledge of German communications that they had to make careful decisions how often to act on the intelligence gathered for fear that the Germans would abandon the thoroughly cracked ENIGMA code.
Winston Churchill flat out said no one person did more to defeat Germany than Alan Turing.
In 1951, Turing was arrested for homosexuality. In England this was a felony (later legalized in 1967). Although I’m pretty sure there are anti-sodomy laws still on the books in America. And sodomy doesn’t just mean butt sex either apparently. It can technically mean any non-procreative sexual act. Everything from masturbation to bestiality. While some of the more prudish of you will immediately come at me with some kind of right wing anti-bestiality propaganda; I think we can all agree that is perhaps too comprehensive. Or anyway that’s what I told the highway patrol.
Instead of jail time, Turing chose chemical castration. I admit, I have for years been too horrified by that term to look up the particulars. I envisioned the an injection that made your cock whither and fall off or something. Chemical castration is a hormonal treatment that kills the libido. Not that that’s not bad enough. Just not as visually spidery. Several years later Turing died from eating an apple laced with cyanide. The authorities named it a suicide. This has been disputed by Turing’s family and friends. The suicide has also been attributed to effects from the chemical castration. Turing did endure 2 years of hormone treatments; however his suicide came 14 months after their end. This process is still in use today; it is used to treat certain sex offenders and has not been linked to suicide.
Turing also was using cyanide in an experiment with an electroplating device in his spare room. Also, according to the book on which this film was based, the apple was never tested for cyanide. I conclude his death to be accidental; he was so unflappable that he was meticulously studying the hormone’s effect on his body and pioneering the field of biomathematics. I just don’t see it. Based on the evidence available to the general public, my non-professional conclusion is either accident or more murdery accident. He was in intelligence after all.
Now, my historical conclusions should IN NO WAY suggest that I approve of treating consenting adults of any stripe as sex offenders or the government dispensing personality altering treatments as punishment of any type. I mention the likely causes of Turing’s death (also the fact that he had friends and family) because I think the film changed the story deliberately to make it more like A Beautiful Mind.
I know less of the history behind A Beautiful Mind; but I know that they made Alan Turing seem, like John Nash as if he was anti-social to the point of aspergers. The portrayal of Turing in the film when he’s undergoing hormone treatment is similar to John Nash on anti-psychotics. Not the same thing. They try really hard to make the film as similar as possible. And all huge breakthroughs come in a bar while hitting on girls. I’ve heard it said that they tried to make the story sadder to give the lgbt community a martyr. I don’t buy that; I don’t think there’s any political objective and besides what is Turing if not a martyr. They’re just trying to get us crying. However, I don’t think the tragic death of Alan Turing needs any playing up. There’s a good deal of embellishment there and in areas of the intelligence work. I would have liked to see them stick to the facts. However the actors are good, and the story is engaging. I can forgive a good deal if I am entertained.
And I was. Worth a watch, but not mandatory.