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Royal Drama II

When I watch "The Crown," it's hard for me not to think about "windows and mirrors." This approach to English education says a book shows us windows: It allows us to see other cultures. A book also shows us mirrors: It allows us to see *ourselves* more clearly.

The Royals: They are NOT just like us! They own islands. They meet LBJ. They meet the moonwalkers. Their dalliances are splashed across newspapers.

The Royals: They are JUST LIKE US! They have tender moments with their siblings. They bicker with their spouses. They struggle to detach from their parents.

I found moments exasperating. "Moondust" represents "The Crown" in its most aimless and most self-indulgent phase: an episode that seemed to go on forever, and that led me to ask, over and over, WHO CARES??? And why did Peter Morgan feel a need to invent a Wales story line--involving Prince Charles--that never actually happened? (Lazy and inexcusable, and Hilary Mantel is now clawing at her eyes.) And having Margaret--from her near-death bed--deliver a climactic speech on the value of the monarchy, as the music swells? Margaret, finding her nobility in the eleventh hour? That's a bit much.

(Though I love Bonham Carter and Vanessa Kirby, my favorite depiction of Princess Margaret is in the Edward St. Aubyn "Patrick Melrose" novels. St. Aubyn resists the urge to find anything sympathetic in Margaret, and just makes her a gargoyle. Exhilarating, and maybe it's closest to the truth.)

All that said, there were things I loved. Of course there were things I loved. We're talking about "The Crown." I especially liked that the whisper-y Parker Bowles conferences coincided with a major national strike, so the talks had a Gothic quality; they were conducted by candlelight. (Especially Gothic because of HBC's "Harry Potter" past; I imagine Peter Morgan was thinking of this.) I liked Philip forgetting that "the bald one" had retired, and forgetting that he had given "the bald one" a clock. I liked Philip sort-of-attempting suicide (at least unconsciously), in a plane, in the otherwise-execrable "Moondust" episode. I liked Anne clarifying that she is "not confident, but tough." (Morgan worked with a colleague on the writing of that Parker Bowles episode, and the writing is sharper than it generally is; Morgan should fly solo less often.)

I really liked HBC in her marital feuds--so unpredictable and bold and raw. Just as sharp, if not sharper, than the writing she was given.

I do think this show often indulges in shabby storytelling, and people overlook some of the sloppiness because of the starry cast and the fabulous sets. I'm one of those people. I eagerly await Season Four.

P.S. I liked how Morgan highlighted the role of the paparazzi in Margaret's stumbling--and how Charles notes this shift in Royal history. Of course the paparazzi will play a major role in Charles's life, as soon as Diana pop up on the scene.
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