On Sunday night Maura and I saw the The Queen over at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. Wow, what a great movie. Totally not what I was expecting. From the trailer, I got the impression it was A) going to be more about Princess Diana and her relationship with the royal family or B) going to be a ripping apart of the monarchy. Not the case. The film instead seemed to focus on a examining the important question of tradition vs. modernity. It seemed like this was an examination of one of the last generation gap struggles we might have for awhile. Coming from a completely different governmental system, it is difficult to comprehend what was at stake for the royal family during the time of Princess Diana's death. It's crazy that in simply flying a flag at half mast, the Queen transcended hundreds of years of tradition. What a call to make.
What's also crazy is seeing, again, first hand what an icon Princess Di was for the people of England. I don't think since JFK has our country had an icon like that. Our generation, certainly not. Why is that? Is it because of our media's tendency to expose anyone coming close to iconic status's every single flaw? Or is it because no one wants that pressure? Who knows.
One of the greatest parts of the film was at the very end when Tony Blair comes back to the royal palace to have his first post-Princess Di crisis meeting with the Queen and she says to him something to the effect of, "You'd be surprised how quickly the public can turn on you...and the time will come when this will happen to you, Mr. Blair." It's funny how quickly things can change. Blair was going to be England's hero- the one to outrun the stifling presence of the monarchy, the modern man, the good every day kind of guy...cut to now, only ten years later and a majority of the London population does not support him or his actions in dealing with the situation in Iraq. It is surprising how quickly the public can turn. What's even more surprising is how quickly values can be compromised.
Anyway, that's enough of the Queen. Go see it if you have a chance. Helen Mirren will hopefully come off with at least an Oscar nod. She's chilling. And a dame to boot.
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