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Fair Use image from Netflix. |
It is a lavish production and historians have generally
given it high marks for historical accuracy.
It covers the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and is projected to go
multiple seasons. Season 1 is on Netflix
now. The producers plan on addressing
the aging problem by switching out the lead actors every two seasons.
What I’ve seen so far -- few thoughts.
Monarchies have gone from one extreme (absolutism - not
portrayed here but part of the backstory) to the other extreme that is depicted
here. In one scene Churchill declares that the government controls every aspect
of the royals’ life and Elizabeth knuckles under and accepts that. For example,
she considers it a victory when the cabinet grants permission for Phillip to
take flying lessons “though no loops or rolls”. The family and by extension the
entire system looks ridiculous. Assuming that the Netflix’s story is accurate,
I wish that Elizabeth had shown a little more spunk and insisted on control of
her family’s private life. While this might have provoked a Charles-I-kind of a
row, she would have been on solid ground and if the monarchy had fallen as a
result of that, at least it would have been for something noble.
As it is, the series makes her look weak and ridiculous. It
could be because that is what she was.
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