Film Analysis: The Imitation Game

The Imitation Game and mathematician stereotypes The Imitation Game was produced in 2014 and was directed by Morten Tyldum. It was set during the Second World War and it was based on a true story of Alan Turing, the genius mathematician that cracked Nazi codes, including Enigma, which was thought to be unbreakable. Turing loved codes and ciphers, which is a very hard category to enjoy and understand. The movie depicted Turing as mentally ill, having no sense of humor, and being disrespectful, which are popular mathematician stereotypes in reality. However, despite following popular characteristic of the stereotype Turing was also a homosexual, a trait of math mastermind’s, you typically do not hear in the media. The Imitation Game displays the main character both as a common mathematics stereotype, and not of one in this powerful movie about Turing challenges and achievements. The movie frequently flashes back to Turing’s childhood at a boarding school for all boys. Many scenes show the schoolboys bullying Alan because he was much smarter than him. Turing is shown to have some type of mental illness, such as Asperger’s, which is a common stereotype for mathematicians to experience because of their visual obsessions and lack of social skills. The boys are mean to Alan and they know he is different from them due to his weird actions. The bullies pour green peas and orange carrots over Turing’s head in his …show more content…
No one wants to be known for being mentally ill, incapable of understanding humor, or being disrespectful. Also the lack of gay men portrayed in the math world may not be willing to enter the field due to Turing’s treatment upon being homosexual. Overall, The 2014 film the Imitation Game was depicts both the common and uncommon stereotypes of mathematicians that both may possibly turn STEM candidates way from the stereotypes the field