I Hate The Royals But I Can't Stop Watching The Crown

Is it possible to enjoy Netflix hit "The Crown" as an anti-monarchist? Well... it's complicated.

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0:00 Introduction
4:39 Part I - Peter Morgan
8:40 Part II - The Truth
18:44 Part III - The Human Angle
36:33 Part IV - Impartiality
45:34 - Part V - Propaganda
55:59 - Conclusion
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#thecrown #videoessay

[cooldog]

Great analysis! Personally, watching The Crown did improve my opinion of the royals but it didn’t make me pro-monarchy. If anything, it made me more anti. Almost all of the problems that we as viewers sympathize with are caused by the characters being royalty. We feel bad that Margaret didn’t get to marry who she wanted. Why didn’t she get to? Because she was the queen’s sister. Charles and Diana had a terrible marriage because he was in love with someone else the whole time. Why couldn’t he marry Camilla? Because he would be the next king. The show seems to argue (maybe inadvertently) that these people would have been far better off leading a normal life.

[cesargonz]

I like to watch the crown in a satirical way, I love the scenes when they do normal things like getting a haircut, and the producers play background music like they are curing cancer.

[infamcus]

Aberfan is probably my favorite episode of the Crown. It’s so powerful and heartbreaking. As an American I would have never heard of the tragedy if it weren’t for this episode.

[emoroadsign]

being welsh, the episode on aberfan really moved me. it brought me to tears, which rarely happens when i watch media. im very proud of those involved in the making of that episode.

[flugsven]

Agree about Diana. She must have had a larger life and personality than portrayed. She was portrayed as extremely weak and one dimensional, which I doubt she was.
She found herself in an impossible situation, that's all.

[MysticDojo]

I think the funniest fictional scene in the most recent season is when the Russian president out loud openly talks ill of the Queen right next to her in Russian and the Queen didn't have any translators for a state visit on what he could be saying..

[MiG]

You're a kinder person than me, I was giddy watching Thatcher be continuously embarrassed at Balmoral.

[maryloumawson]

As an American, I've been fascinated with The Crown since the first episode. But with each ensuing season, as they are released, I've been less enthusiastic. To me, the intriguing part was learning how the government of the U.K. worked in partnership with the monarchy. Watching Elizabeth struggle with her role as Queen, and learning all the protocols and the reason behind them, has been extremely interesting. Realizing that she couldn't share government papers with her husband. Learning that she had virtually no formal education. Finding out that her first Prime Minister was Winston Churchill. Stepping into her shoes when her father died so unexpectedly, and knowing what that would mean for her, for her husband, and for her family. Wondering what it must feel like to have descended from a family that included great men, great monsters, saints, and butchers of saints. It must be a rather weird existence. To have the whole world suspect your husband of infidelity and be unable to do anything about it. Or do anything to change your life at all, EVER. To have all the world privy to the growing pains and missteps of each of your children. Yes, I admire the queen for her dedication to her country, and her stoic and resolute commitment to her duty.

[chexmixbaby]

I think season 5 was dull because they decided to be too nice to Charles. In 3 & 4, he was regarded as a whiny child (though his character did have some redeeming moments). In 5, they're starting to treat him like they do Elizabeth, and give him a more sympathetic angle (I wonder why that is... I heard there were reshoots after prince Phillip and queen Elizabeth's deaths). That scene with him and Diana in her apartment apologizing to each other made me rage. Diana wasn't perfect, but Charles and the system was absolutely at fault, and they didn't say that well enough this season, and made me very disappointed.

[LizbetNene]

I do agree that on the balance 'The Crown' comes out subtly pro-Monarchy, and the remark about Morgan's 'tin ear' for certain issues rings very true. That said, I've never really understood the idea that being sympathetic to the emotions of the royal family, either through fiction or historical frame, is somehow 'pro Monarchy'. Of course royalty are real people with feelings - was anyone's republicanism founded on the idea they weren't? David Ike's, maybe. The show makes the royal institution look like a very expensive torture chamber from where I'm sitting. Great video!

[pastlife]

Let me put it this way. Watching the Crown did not change me from being a royalist to a republican. Actually going to Buckingham Palace for my Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award ceremony, having to stand in the pouring rain in an ill-fitting suit, told I was strictly only to chose one cup of coffee and one cake, then watching Prince Edward, a man whose family is supposedly ‘above’ me, give a half-hearted speech where he got the words wrong, then wonder around the gardens being hounded by sycophantic throngs even though, to my closer inspection, he appeared to be nothing more than a bored-looking middle aged man with a posh accent, when there were Olympians, respected journalists and Arctic explorers present getting far less attention, THAT is what made me a republican. It’s like becoming an atheist by reading the Bible: actually seeing the truth of the people you believe in face to face is a sobering experience.

[bafbaas]

I love the crown, it did made me 'like' or at least respect the queen more, but it has also made me even more anti monarchy. Like i'm not british but here in belgium we've got an even more unnecessary monarchy that is just there and the fact that it's so clear that it's upheld just to be upheld not for the good of the country is very annoying

[neighthyn]

What’s funny about the accusations of historical inaccuracy for me is that the things that shocked me the most when watching the show turned out to actually be verifiably true. Was Prince David loosely associated with Nazis? That was true. Was Prince Philip’s DNA really used to confirm the identity of Anastasia Romanov’s body? That was true. Did Diana Spencer really meet Prince Charles when she was 16 and he was 28? Did they really barely know each other upon getting married? Did a 31 year old man really marry a 19 year old girl? That was all true. Did Queen Elizabeth really block the marriage of her sister to Peter Townsend? That was true. The details and conversations involved in all of that was obviously made up, but the events themselves that shocked me were true.

[FirstLast-bscb]

I just wish we’d gotten more Anne. Erin Doherty was so captivating, and speaking as an American who finds monarchy silly as hell, I understand why so many Brits prefer her to Charles 😂

[kimhaas]

About Diana, I am old enough to remember her life with the royals. From what I can see, this looks like what I can remember seeing on TV and in print (but not tabloids. I don’t do tabloids) You may think Camilla and Charles didn’t get together until after harry was born but that’s not the impression I had at the time. In fact, it became clear almost from the start that something wasn’t quite right. Charles never looked like part of a couple with her. He always looked liked like her escort. In other words, she was the star. She didn’t start off that way but she was so damn photogenic and charismatic that the only time you can remember Charles existed was when he stood with her outside the hospital. It’s almost like he wasn’t a part of the act itself. He was just there to take her home. It always looked formal and forced on his part. She never looked forced with anyone.
So, it came as no surprise that we had heard that Camilla was his mistress. And it would not surprise me if it had been going on since the wedding. One thing the Crown cleared up for me was the way Charles defied his parents was by completely rejecting Diana. That seems very real. He might have really loved her if he could only stop contacting Camilla and give it a chance. It’s not like his heart wasn’t in it. It’s like the more that was expected of him with respect to Diana, the more he loathed her.
I don’t know how long after the wedding it was before C&C did the nasty but in *his* mind, it was only as long as it needed to be to get the spare and absolutely no longer because he was intent on giving the finger to everyone and Camilla was his weapon. In fact, he’s kind of a beta male. Camilla has few things to recommend her. But he never goes anywhere else. It’s almost like he knows just how sycophantic a woman has to be to sleep with him. Even his wife had limits even if it meant breaking precedent to get out.
So, do I think the Crown got this right? It looks like it to me. Yes, it is tragic for her. It made her cynical, paranoid and took away her innocence a lot sooner than it would fit other people. You get a sense that her happinesses in life were all too fleeting. That’s the tragedy. It changed her. It made her harder. She disappeared for awhile. When she came back working with the landmine campaign, it was almost like, ahhhh, we can relax again. She finally found herself. She would become like another Jackie O. And someday, if she was lucky, she’d find someone worthy of her. The tragedy is that she died but the triumph is that she finally discovered her worth and purpose.

[coasterblocks]

It’s entertaining for sure. As an Australian I’m most annoyed that, by our view, the most scandalous episode in the Monarch’s dealings (interference) with the Australian Parliament, the dismissal of the democratically elected Whitlam Labor government triggering a constitutional crisis, didn’t even rate a mention.
Both the Queens and Prince Charles were intimately involved in the dismissal.

[astrinymris]

14:54 The idea of a man breaking into a woman's bedroom against her will shouldn't be considered a nice story, but should be recognized as the violation it was.

[jeanette]

as an oblivious american, i would love a full academic study explaining the relationship between british citizens and the royal family.

i’ve never heard a british person be ambivalent about them, i feel like they either really love or really despise them lol. like, did people actually cry at the royal wedding? do some british people feel genuine grief after the queen died?

[ashleighelizabeth]

I think the thing that is most beneficial to me about the Crown is that it encourages me to go and learn more about the history it is based on. As an American I must confess that many of the historical events portrayed were outside the scope of my knowledge before I saw the show. While that is not unusual in my country it is rather more unusual for me since I've spent most of my life engaged in the pursuit of historical knowledge. It just so happens that the pieces of history I chose to learn were far more centered on my own country then on the world at large. This show has encouraged me to step outside of that knowledge base and it sometimes even causes me to ask the question, what part of what I just watched was fact and what part was fiction? As the pursuit of knowledge is best engaged by the spark of interest I find the show to be invaluable in it's ability to be a catalyst to grow my own knowledge base. In short it does not matter to me if it is accurate nearly as much as it matters whether it is interesting. And I find the show absolutely fascinating..

[henriquebastosbernardoni]

I think it's rather weird that the show recieved those commentaries from royalists for doing some milquetoast off-hand criticism. It's worrying how anything short off full-blown loyalty is seen as an animosity, and it makes me thankful the royal family isn't any more powerful than they currently are.

That been said, excellent video, as always! Incredible how you only release masterpiece videos!