"Yours in distress" Benedict Cumberbatch reads Alan Turing's letter to Norman Routledge
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- letterslive.com/
Letter taken from More Letters Of Note, compiled by Shaun Usher (Canongate)
www.canongate.t...
Alan Turing was a human being of exceptional intelligence - a mathematical genius - and worked as one of the leading code-breakers during World War II. He is also considered to be the "father of modern computing" thanks to his pioneering work in the field of computer science. In 1950, before the term "Artificial Intelligence" had been coined, he posed the question, "Can computers think?" and proposed the Turing Test. His achievements are staggering.
In 1952, he was charged with gross indecency after admitting to a sexual relationship with another man, and as a result was told to choose either imprisonment or chemical castration as punishment. He chose the latter. Alan Turing was found dead on June 8th, 1954, a day after taking his own life. He was aged just 41.
Turing wrote the following letter in 1952 to his friend and fellow mathematician, Norman Routledge, shortly before pleading guilty.
___
Benedict Cumberbatch, Golden Globe & Oscar nominee for his role in the acclaimed 2014 Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game, reads the letter for LETTERS LIVE.
LETTERS LIVE is a series of curated, live events that celebrates the enduring power of literary correspondence. - Розваги
![АЛАУДИНОВ у Скабеевой: эти их ВСУ нас НЕ ДОГОНЯТ 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/an0anqU4WGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I saw the movie "the imitation game" somewhere around 10-12 times and cried every single time.
A man, a person that shortened the war with about two years and saved millions of lives, was convicted. Not for murder, theft, rape , robbery or any other actual crime.
His crime was that he loved and was attracted to a man and didn't fell in love with a gender but a person that happened to be a... Man.
And even if we've come some way and that it isn't illegal to love and be attracted to a person of the same gender in our part of the world or rather some countries, it still makes me sad that Turing had to choose between prison or chemical castration which messed with his body and that he later committed suicide. Mr Benedict Cumberbatches reading of this letter made me sad and made me start to cry again.
Love is better than hate and yet a person that ended WW2 earlier and the hate by years, He was treated like a common criminal.
Come on people, take a stand for love! Everywhere You see hate, bigotry, inequality and other Injustices take place.
Mr Turing, I hope you can see or feel, somehow, that You where right and that the people that wronged you where wrong in their opinion and actions.
Your words brought tears to my eyes!!! :O THANK YOU.
I think of the quote on the grave of the Vietnam War veteran Leonard Matovich ,(who died of AIDS in 1988), buried at Arlington Cemetery: It reads, "When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."
@Kat J Watching BC read Alan's letter Sep 2022. Two small things from this brief video: Alan had lovely handwriting. He wrote with great honesty and pathos. The authorising medical persons, and those who administered his chemical castration, remain unnamed and unaccountable.
You said right, I'm just mentioning a grammatical error it should be WERE in the last lines which is the past form of is not WHERE.
@@codent 😢😢
Turing believes machines think
Turing lies with men
Therefore machines do not think
Yours in distress,
Alan
***** I think he used the verb with its literal meaning there
De Void Of course that happens to everyone, but I mean, whoever passed that despicable law , must have been a sick individual.
And yeah, this was the nail in the coffin for me... Thane's death , Mordin's death, not being able to play all the characters I did the loyalty missions in ME2, 3 "different" endings... meh
DaedalusRE2 Indeed, this movie angers me so much because of what society did to this incredible man....anyone who is capable to just stop one second and imagine what hell he went through can't possible keep their eyes dry. I know I can't and I'm not even a touchy-feely kind of person. It was fucking despicable, period.
I feel you.
:'(
Totally depressed and lost hope in humanity after the film. We'd have been 20 years behind if it wasn't for him. I won't be watching UA-cam, won't be leaving a comment. Imagine what the world would have been had him lived longer. He was a victim of prejudice. Utterly wronged by the very government and the lives he helped saved. The Queen's pardon came way too little too late. It was just something that they had to do.
He read this in Alan's voice you can hear it how he changes his voice in movie and
How he normally speaks.
*Happily clicking through Benedict's readthroughs* Aahahah, wasn't ready for this heartbreak this late at night.
You are not ready for a heartbreak ? You are as aware of being heartbroken as everybody in the fandom is. Look at your profile picture. But I think you never really get used to this...
@@emmlou Yes, well - it's one thing to cope with the end of a well-loved television series. Reading the gut-wrenching real-life thoughts of intense suffering by a real-life human being who experienced such cruel persecution, and deserved so much better, is on another level entirely...! And yes, I say this as a massive and enduring BBC Sherlock fan. Some things are deeper and more important than a TV show, y'know?
One of the best actors ever. He brought so much emotion in to this letter. I felt like he was actually talking to me. He made the letter sound like a regular conversation rather than having it sound like it was being read.
@Neil Brown What the frack is wrong with you, dude?? Do you just waltz onto every random UA-cam video and write bitchy asshat replies to people's heartfelt comments?? 🙄 Get a bleedin' life, why don't you! 😹
Every time i see this or read the letter i die inside.
me too
I think Benedict was to you could tell it was hard to read
Well, that was heartbreaking. Turning was a great man. Benedict is an amazing actor and the way he read that letter was just so raw and so beautiful.
So heart rending. Just can imagine that’s how the great man would be saying it.
Tragic. How a country can do that to such a treasure.
I could listen to his voice all day
what happened to Alan was bloody incredibly criminal
This is a beautifully written letter, poetic prose of immense humour, heartbreaking judgement and a challenging philosophical end. Thank you, dear Mr Benedict Cumberbatch, for a superb reading...
I was there when Benedict read this live back in December 2013 and this letter in particular left a huge impression on me. Great idea to capture certain performances like this - everyone should go and hear it live though!
Not the British government and justice systems finest hour.
Alan Turing was a brilliant man. If it wasn't for that man we would of lost the war. But yet it still sicken me to the core that Alan the man who won the war for us.Alan cracked all of the codes. He helped us win it.Yet, Alan Killed himself for his sexuality. He was killed because during that time. Being Gay was illegal. He was in so much distress that in the end, he ended his own life. He shouldn't of done it. Instead of going against him for the man sexuality , we should of been clapping him on the back, for this brave man work.He was shut away in prison..locked up...just because of his sexuality? . Because without him. Where would we all be today? Just...think for a minute an ask yourself that. Just think. Benedict that was an incredible reading, it really moved me. Thank you.
Ikr
Don’t forget about all the women who also “won the war”, alongside Alan Turing , and others!
@@drwoo6090 But Turing was the one who actually cracked how the enigma machine worked. Kudos to the women and men who came after him to feed the German messages into the code cracker machine, but it was he that had the mathematical skills to bring it into fruition.
@@drwoo6090 not remotely comparable.
*would have lost the war. Not would of lost the war. Also, should have clapped him,on the back, not should of.
I cannot stop the tears every time I think of this man.
Much respect for Alan Turing, a mind ahead of its time. Many thanks to Benedict for breathing humanity into this letter in a soulful reading
💜
it's amazing how a few simple words can express the suffering and persecution of an entire category of people. this fills me with outrage at the thought that so many brilliant minds were judged and shunned and demonised simply for who they were attracted to, as if somehow that invalidated every achievement they might have had. the unfairness will never stop being painful.
Your profile pic just confused the hell out of me
@Neil Brown Of course, _all_ persecution is wrong - but we are discussing a specific kind of wrong that was perpetrated here. No need to derail the conversation, thanks.
Graham Moore deserved his Oscar for the adapted screenplay and Benedict will (probably) get his one day. Sure, Imitation Game was a bit Hollywood-ish, but I was mind-blown and moved by it and Cumberbatch gave a real heartwrenching portrayal of Alan Turing.
The one serious (and rather unforgivable) factual omission from the screenplay is the complete disregard for the fact that it was the Polish decryption team that made the initial BREAKTHROUGH in decyphering Enigma!!! Arrrrrgh. The people need to know this. The British team would NEVER have been able to make any headway in their follow-up breakthrough, if it hadn't been for the Polish mathematicians and scientists who made the first crack! :D We DEFINITELY need a Hollywood film about THAT.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipher_Bureau_(Poland)
@@dollcefina the 'creative liberties' of the movie bug me but still an amazing movie
Gut-wrenching, tragic, incredibly sad, and beautifully read.
I love Benedict more than I'll ever be able to explain.
So moving!!! Ben, you made us all so proud with this movie!!! A truly amazing letter that made me shed tears!!! Alan Turing was a man that deserved to be respected due to his huge technological achievements, his unique personnality and of course his sacrifice for his country, as well as the whole humanity, that didn't accept him and didn't allow him to be different...
Maria P. He wasn't different. He was normal. They just couldn't accept that.
divorcedme I suppose if you look at in a scientific way. lol
@@VincentVanGoghAway Yes, he was perfectly normal - yet the heteronormative status quo society people _thought_ he was different! Why are people so terrified of what they consider to be 'different'? :( So much pain and suffering in the world could be prevented if only human beings would simply accept and embrace one another as equals!
What a tragic :´-(
All these poor men.
But nowadays in quite a few countries it is still or again like this and worse 😭
There are organizations who are working around the clock to try and save the LGBTQ humans being terrorised in the bad countries. We should donate and volunteer generously with them.
If you Google "LGBT refugee organizations" you'll get some websites for the charities and non-profits who are trying to help! The only one I do NOT recommend is the one called Rainbow Railroad, based in Toronto. They have a shady history of making all sorts of false promises, and leaving desperate people hanging in terribly dangerous situations, and not giving appropriate answers or advice. I'm in the middle of trying to help take them down and get them investigated as a charity! It's too bad, because I used to believe in them and even donated to them in the past... **sigh**
This is so wonderful and heartbreaking...
It’s an incredible sign of character that Turing, undoubtedly already seeing doom of some kind looming on the horizon, still thought chiefly of one thing: His research. If I interpret them correctly, the last lines of this letter tell how afraid he was that his implication in “sexual deviance” (or: just love) would besmirch his scientific/philosophical proposals about “thinking machines” (artificial intelligence) before broader society and even his scientific colleagues.
He thought _”now that they found me out, will they discard all I said as deviance?”_
How heartbreaking is that? Committed to the end.
"The story of how it all came to be found out is a long an fascinating one which I shall have to make into a short story one day..." I love the Imitation Game, but I will say that one thing the movie got wrong was that Turing (according to friends and the others who broke the Enigma code) had a great sense of humor. Even in this letter--where he's anxious and afraid because of his charges of indecency--he tried to be more optimistic with adding a little humor.
Ah... I do wish they had shown more of that side of his character, indeed!
Oh my sweet heart. It broke into a thousand pieces for you sweet man.
I love how Benedict has keep up reading letters over here. He has delivered many readings & I'm in love with his work.
Powerful and very touching. I've done a lot of research on Turing and the subject he spoke of.
Such a great film and performance.
I cried... Again.
though d movie has its or lots of inaccuracies, its still beautiful, moving n really made an impact to me...
(i felt my heart cry when i finished d movie n saw that deleted scene where he...)
where he... you didn't finish the sentence?
BTW, I agree - a _major_ important thing the film left out was the massive initial decryption breakthrough that was made by the Polish maths/science team!! :O That should _never_ have been left out. :( Turing's team accomplished the follow-up breakthroughs, but the Polish team did it first.
You know, to make up for this large omission, I think Hollywood ought to make a film dedicated to the Cipher Bureau team in Poland, without whom the Nazis surely _would_ have won! An absolutely terrifying thought, that... :O
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipher_Bureau_(Poland)
History has seen him for who he is and shown him the kindness and respect he deserved, something unforthcoming from his peers and the judicial system of that time.
Truly saddens me
Went to see this movie twice.
the 8th of may should be alan turings day!
Oh, that really pulls the heart strings 😢😢😢
Oh man this tears me up.
Wow , i am speechless 😶
And something to cheer you guys up! At least Turing didn't write anything about PENGUINS :)
**LOL** !! ;D Benedict!
excuse me, PENGWINGS.
Heartbreaking, just heartbreaking to listen.
Poor dear Turing.
Omg that was beautiful
Wow. Just wow
My heart is breaking.
Damn I just about cried
Brilliant👏🏽
Heartbreaking.
And I thought I could read
There's a book called robots like me and it's set in a future where Alan Turing was not persecuted and life was a lot better because of it for EVERYONE!
no-one reads like Cumberbach
@Letters Live Please put this on the "Alan Turing's "playlist 😭
Alan Turing got a pardon Too little too late rip
Ralph Fiennes needs to get in on this project. He's amazing at reciting poetry, letters.. well anything really. :)
And Jeremy Irons. The timbre of his voice would be perfect for narration.
Yeeeessss!!!! Make it happen!
Very good.
So sad that a man who gave his country the means to save so many lives and help win the war was so badly treated simply for loving someone.
Wow. Well done. Yours in distress...
2020, Have we found a language that brings us closer to Mr Turing yet? Have we found the first smart atoms that span the gulf between 'us' and 'them?'
If it were not for Alan Turing I probably would not have a career working in computer software. I didn't really know of him until the "Imitation Game" was released. I had heard of Turing Machines but never really knew the background. I have worked with many people of different backgrounds in the computer industry; some of which are LGBTQ. It didn't matter their "orientation" as most of them were quite brilliant programmers, and I was glad to have worked with them.
They basically murdered a war hero.
Advise about keeping secrets: it's a lot easier if you don't know them in the first place.©
Sadly at all...
its times like these that I really hate the British Government
I have the same handwriting.
That's so cool! :D
His voice
What the state did to Alan after what he'd did for the state is horrific.
This movie killed me man
I believe that there are far more people on earth who live and let live. It is the cruel minority who savage kindness, justice and hope for so many. Would that a Scrooge experience awaits them in a hurry.
The crime was never yours, Alan. I am sorry.
So sad
Do this alone
Priezgaii in Moskowa.
What broadcast and who was jefferson?
Turing was murdered. Pass it on
Absolute tragedy.
What they did to Alan was horrible. We are heading back to those bad old days I fear.
Saw a quote from a comment on a different video:
"And to all you gay bashers, if it wasn't for a gay man, you wouldn't be able to hide behind a computer screen."
It was a great privilege to watch the Imitation Game! And then the low to find out what the British government did to a member of the Empire... Fucking disgrace!
everybody in govt talking about decency don't have it.
It has always been incomprehensible to me that anyone should be persecuted for their sexuality. It’s monstrous and is not less so while cloaked in a prejudiced legal system. The rendering of this letter is heartbreaking!
I need eng sub!!!
수빈이 "My dear Norman,
I don’t think I really do know much about jobs, except the one I had during the war, and that certainly did not involve any travelling. I think they do take on conscripts. It certainly involved a good deal of hard thinking, but whether you’d be interested I don’t know. Philip Hall was in the same racket and on the whole, I should say, he didn’t care for it. However I am not at present in a state in which I am able to concentrate well, for reasons explained in the next paragraph.
I’ve now got myself into the kind of trouble that I have always considered to be quite a possibility for me, though I have usually rated it at about 10:1 against. I shall shortly be pleading guilty to a charge of sexual offences with a young man. The story of how it all came to be found out is a long and fascinating one, which I shall have to make into a short story one day, but haven’t the time to tell you now. No doubt I shall emerge from it all a different man, but quite who I’ve not found out.
Glad you enjoyed broadcast. Jefferson certainly was rather disappointing though. I’m afraid that the following syllogism may be used by some in the future.
Turing believes machines think
Turing lies with men
Therefore machines do not think
Yours in distress,
Alan"
Di Nguyen I say thank you on behalf of the person asking for the eng sub and not saying thank you to you
@@discreetlycharming You're a HERO!!! I know just how challenging and time-consuming it is to transcribe spoken words. I do it often on UA-cam, sometimes for fun, sometimes to help people out. It is, however, rewarding.
@@dollcefina Hahaha no worries. This was 5 years ago, I don't even remember doing this.
LETTERS LIVE
YOU TUBE
:)))
What a sad ungrateful world it was.
I find it sadly ironic that Alan Turings homosexuality was neither a sin against God nor man, and yet the British goverments punishment for this percieved crime was a sin against both.
is this alan's suicide note i dont want to sound creepy im just wondering
***** No, I think he was just writing to his friend. He was about to go on trial for a 'Sexual Offence' with a man, so he must have been nervous and afraid. And he found comfort in writing to a friend. But I don't think it was a suicide note. It didn't sound like one.
oh right thank you for the reply :)
***** No problem.
Katie Rose Wells
He committed suicide much later after the trial --- when he was forced to be chemically castrated by the authorities.
MT Yankin Oh wow. I didn't know that.
I have always had the sense my life - no. Oh and yes - as far as I know it - no one blabbed - ahem "all our lives just will not do!" To be undone by London or whoever.
Yh and listening to these will somehow cause me to transform into Captain America at the End of Endgame? Don’t get me wrong, I have got nothing but respect for our veterans
When brutes win over brains, fear is the only reasonable reaction. What wonders we lost for the sake of superstitions.
FOR SHAME, BRITAIN. FOR SHAME.
People Suck.
🏳️🌈
Kkk
What??
Very touching letter. I appreciate the message of the film but I didn't enjoy it. I thought The Theory of Everything won fair and square.
Heartbreaking.