MovieChat Forums > The Imitation Game (2014) Discussion > Was Joan a real person?

Was Joan a real person?

posted 8 years ago by Howlin Wolf
11 replies | jump to latest

Forgive me for asking this - I'm partway through the movie right now (great so far!) and one line is bugging me... "Women tend to be a bit touchy about finding out that they've accidentally married a homosexual!"...

I can't find information about Joan except from the movie... Did she really exist? Did she really not know he was gay? ... The way the movie has presented it so far, I wouldn't have thought that she'd be all that bothered, since it's painted as a marriage of convenience rather than love... Turing keeping a secret could be explained by him following bad advice - but I don't know what happened in reality... whether he really did marry a woman and have to hide from her the fact he was gay, or if the whole thing is just a contrivance to add some extra drama to the movie.

I realise I could wait until the end and see if this point is addressed again... but I won't be able to concentrate until I've gotten this off my chest! 

Many thanks for any clarification that is offered.



"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"

[–] shepherd-26 8 years ago

Yes, Joan Clarke really existed and she and Alan Turing were engaged at one time. Google her. She was brilliant.

[–] Howlin Wolf 8 years ago

Thank you! The Wikipedia article on her (not him) was very helpful, and answered all of my questions. 



"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Howlin Wolf 8 years ago

Yes; that's an excellent idea... but I fear that, because of this film, Hollywood will mistakenly believe it has covered the topic enough... 



"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Howlin Wolf 8 years ago

Fair point; I did not notice that word... There seems little point in denying that Hollywood is the biggest player in terms of exposure, if not quality, though.



"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] swlabr 8 years ago

She was interviewed on the documentary "Codebreaker". I saw it on Netflix but cannot find it anymore. She said she knew he was gay.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] palisade-1 8 years ago

This BBC item on Joan Clarke was informative and interesting:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29840653

[–] Howlin Wolf 8 years ago

Thank you!



"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"