Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Credentialism - you can either can or you cannot. The certificate isn't the point.

In this scene between the King and his speech therapist a good point is raised. Can you teach and be credible without formal qualifications?

The therapist, Lionel does not have any formal qualifications it turns out and his credibility is questioned.

The response is strong - 'look at my results from my experiences in therapy they are my credentials'.



In martial arts having a formal qualification is designed to show you can 'do' and have studied. This is designed to prevent abuse and fraud. The other side of this is, if you do not have not passed over these hurdles you can exclude gifted people. Also, the qualification can be an excuse to charge big money for that certificate, it can be like an industry in its own right.



The motive was not money here. In the final scenes you see the issue is friendship at the core here. Not having any then finding a friend, through the therapy. The therapist was a guide here leading the future King away from his fears as a 5 year old when he developed his stammer. It was the fear of developing that was the key. They physical method of change they called 'mechanical' issues in this film, were seen as secondary: breath techniques, etc.

This is a good film as it has transformation of the self at the core, with genuine contact with others..