Fumarama

I am inclined to like the Queen. (i guess I am not willing to say that I definitely like her because I don't really know all that much about her. I did, however, read her wikipedia entry.)To be perfectly honest, I am not entirely sure what people have against her. Sure, it may offend our values that some people are born into positions of leadership rather than earn them. But no one is really naive enough not to know that somoene born into wealth even in our non-monarchy is far more likely to be a leader than someone who is not? And the queen does an awesome job with her power. She was never given a choice to be an actress or handbag designer or whatever overly wealthy girls in our country do. Instead she has dedicated her life to her country. Apparently she is incredibly well-informed on English and World Current Affairs. Apparently she reads every documents from every department sent to her. And takes her weekly meetings to advise the prime minister seriously. She serves as a figure head, inviting world leaders to her place and because she never shares her political views so she can be a united figure. She also gives to 620 charities. She even served in the British army in World War II!

The film in nearly universally praised for taking the stodgy Queen Elizabeth II and making her human. I am sympathetic to Elizabeth II and so I kind of thought the movie was harsh, but appreciate the film taking her down a notch so I have a more realistic view. The movie is about how Queen Elizabeth II mishandled Diana's death. She had no idea how to respond to the outpouring of grief among the British people after her ex daughter in laws death. She thought that the death should be a private matter. Queen Elizabeth could not act like Diana would, meaning get in front of the camera and act. Ultimately, the Queen committed a PR gaffe. Which is a problem when your job is to be the unifying figure for your country. The point of much of this is to show how out of touch the queen and the royals are with the rest of the nation and the world. Blair says as much several times in the movie. The queen eventually realizes with the help of Blair that she has to publicly mourn the death of a woman she hated. And that is how the movie ends.

I don't think this was the director's intent, but there is something really sad about Elizabeth having to go on television and express sadness over Diana's death. Here is a woman with so much pride, and furthermore, a woman who has used her power and wealth to serve her country. Suddenly, instead of worrying about things that are real, documents from the british government, meeting world leaders, even helping her grandsons mourn, she must worry about her image. Suddenly, it is not about what she actually does, but being perceived as doing something. It is all about managing her press. It is so American common celebrity or something. Tom Cruise loses popularity cause he jumped on Oprah's couch, and the queen loses popularity because she does not handle death in a way other people think is good. It is like the queen has been reduced to Paris Hilton or something.

P.S. I am currently listening to the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen." I like the appropriateness.