Why Do People Like Violence - An Answer from Alan Turing

"Do you know why people like violence? It is because it feels good. Humans find violence deeply satisfying. But remove the satisfaction, and the act becomes... hollow."

Benedict Cumberbatch who plays Alan Turing in the movie The Imitation Game says this line when the young mathematician in his group asks him to explain Hitler's actions.

Unfortunately, Turing's observation is just as relevant today as we grapple with the level of violence our country saw last week with the SAF44 massacre, and this week, with what the ISIS did to the Jordanian pilot.

Since I watch the Crime Investigation Channel everyday, I know that there are sociopaths in our midst, but the ISIS takes these sociopathic acts to a higher level - since they make it seem valid by using Islam as the facade.

Why Marriages Before Between A Homosexual Man and A Woman Probably Worked (When Being Gay Was Still A Crime)

Guys, there's a great movie showing in Trinoma which you should watch - The Imitation Game. It's one of those movies that has many quotable quotes which are still relevant until now - although the movie is set in World War II Britain -

There's a scene in the movie which probably describes why many marriages before worked (when being gay was still a crime) even though the husband was a homosexual. This is probably Keira Knightley's best scene in the movie (she's so good in many!). In this scene, Benedict Cumberbatch who plays the mathematical genius Alan Turing sends her off to leave him because he finally admits to her that he's a homosexual - and she says this great line with such affection -

"So what? I had my suspicions. I always did. But we're not like other people. We love each other in our own way, and we can have the life together that we want. You won't be the perfect husband? I can promise you I harboured no intention of being the perfect wife. I'll not be fixing your lamb all day, while you come home from the office, will I? I'll work. You'll work. And we'll have each other's company. We'll have each other's minds. Sounds like a better marriage than most. Because I care for you. And you care for me. And we understand one another more than anyone else ever has."

The Imitation Game Mixes Cryptography, War and Homosexuality Wonderfully

I like the way how compact the movie The Imitation Game is.  It's interesting that a war movie that doesn't rely on war scenes is as compelling and engrossing as any good war movie like the recent American Sniper.  If the movie were handled by a lesser director, it would be difficult to feel the suspense and the helplessness of the main characters as they race against time to find a solution to decrypt the German message machine called Enigma.

Benedict Cumberbatch gives a great performance here as the legendary mathematician Alan Turing.  Although his character is arrogant and socially inept, he plays with wonderful charm and introvertness that does not make the character irritating.  It's just how he really is.  What you see is what you get.

However, my favorite character in the movie is the one played by Keira Knightley!  Keira plays her character with strength and a little bit of insecurity - as she says - a twenty-five year old with no boyfriend and lives with her parents - an almost old maid.  Her character is so smart as well that it provides the balance that tempers the arrogance of Cumberbatch's Turing.

I like this movie because it makes you care for everyone in the movie.  You want all of them to succeed at all odds and against a strong villain - Hitler's Germany - it's a victory that comes at such a high cost.  

There are many quotable quotes in the movie -

"Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."

"So what? I had my suspicions. I always did. But we're not like other people. We love each other in our own way, and we can still live the life together that we want. You won't be the perfect husband? I can promise you I harboured no intention of being the perfect wife. I'll not be fixing your lamb all day awaiting your return from the office, will I? I'll work. You'll work. We'll have each other's company. We'll have each other's minds. Sounds like a better marriage than most. Because I care for you. And you care for me. And we understand one another more than anyone else ever has."

"Do you know why people like violence? It is because it feels good. Humans find violence deeply satisfying. But remove the satisfaction, and the act becomes... hollow."

" Do you know, this morning I was on a train that went through a city that wouldn't exist if it wasn't for you. I bought a ticket from a man who would likely be dead if it wasn't for you. I read up, on my work, a whole field of scientific inquiry that only exists because of you. Now, if you wish you could have been normal... I can promise you I do not. The world is an infinitely better place precisely because you weren't."

I love all of these quotes!  This makes the movie one of the best adapted screenplays of any movie I saw this year!