Like most people who were eagerly waiting for Season 4 of the Netflix series – The Crown, I devoured the season as soon as it arrived. This is not a review but a thought process that evolved as I watched the series. Many say that this season took many artistic liberties and was more sensitive to the cause of Princess Diana. I cannot comment on the accuracy of the storyline because ultimately this is the story of a family, a personal story, and there are so many things that we can only speculate in the absence of confirmed official statements.
From my perspective, The Crown series does not tell the story of Royalty or Power as much it reflects on the consequences of exerting too much Control. This is the story of every person carrying the burden of traditions and rules that have long lost their value, of young dominated by the family, unable to break free but choosing to lead dual lives. They learn to clandestinely pursue desires while maintaining a facade, getting lost in due course, depressed, confused but worst still ruining all who fell prey to their sneakiness and immaturity in not standing up for themselves.
For all their grandeur, the Royal Family has displayed the same flaws, failings, and follies that play out in households that do not evolve with the times, that believe children are to be controlled, burdened with hopes and aspirations. And as children scuttle to find their voice, make their stand, evolve an opinion, and attempt to get the family decision-makers see their point-of-view, they find ways to circumvent the system, to do what they want without the grand permission of the family head.
What is interesting is that when the superior forces in the family, see the children slipping away, they choose to embrace ignorance, surreptitiously enabling them to take their own course. It’s easier to look away than to accept flawed parenting, disastrous decisions, and unhealthy influences. If the weaker party in the game of pawns, adopts manipulative tactics and clandestine actions, who would blame them!
Is it hubris or true ignorance that makes parents turn a blind eye to how control parenting can damage the personality of an offspring? My viewpoint is that parents know where and how they failed but refuse to accept and remedy it. We see this theme in the screen adaptation of the story of the British monarchy. If there is any lesson to be learnt in The Crown, it may be history, may be politics, but it is definitely parenting and what not to do to mess up the life of people.
Blue Pen Strokes 