October 20, 2022

"No one is a greater believer in artistic freedom than I, but this cannot go unchallenged."

"Despite this week stating publicly that The Crown has always been a ‘fictionalized drama,’ the program makers have resisted all calls for them to carry a disclaimer at the start of each episode.... Given some of the wounding suggestions apparently contained in the new series—that King Charles plotted for his mother to abdicate, for example, or once suggested his mother’s parenting was so deficient that she might have deserved a jail sentence—this is both cruelly unjust to the individuals and damaging to the institution they represent."

Said Judi Dench, quoted in "Dame Judi Dench Accuses The Crown of 'Crude Sensationalism'/The friend of Queen Consort Camilla and frequent royal portrayer says the Netflix series 'cannot go unchallenged'" (Vanity Fair).

Dame Judi Dench.

She has played the role of Elizabeth I once and Victoria twice — in movies that contained any amount of fictionalization — and she is personal friends with Queen Camilla — whose implication in the demise of Diana will come up in the new season of "The Crown."

Here are Judi and Camilla delighting themselves with the favorite dessert of oppressors and villains the world over:

 

Art — unlike ice cream — is not about making people comfortable.

All these complaints about "The Crown" are only reminding me that the new season is about to begin. Having recently watched every episode of "How to with John Wilson" and "Joe Pera Talks with You" twice (almost), I am ready to get back to this old favorite show.

37 comments:

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Judi does not understand that Movie-makers and Hollywood are the keepers of truth and Democracy. Even their lies are protected - that is the democratic policy.

Jake said...

They all seem to protest too much. What could that imply?

Jefferson's Revenge said...

What is the deal with ice cream cones? is it some satanistic signal that shows you are part of the ruling class? The overtly public display of enjoying an ice cream cone must be like the Mason's secret handshake. Biden is never seems to be without one and now these two. Macron and Trudeau will probably be seen with one next. Maybe the flavor designates what level of acolyte you are in the Great Reset club.

All Judi D is doing is drawing attention to the series and the backstory. Very stupid IMHO.

Ann Althouse said...

Remember when Trump was evil for getting 2 rather than 1 scoop? I think it was in a dish, though. I don't think you ever see Trump posing with a cone or even eating anything in front of a camera. He will pose with a plate/dish/package of something in front of him.

Ann Althouse said...

Here's a photo of Trump eating an ice cream popsicle.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

PBS gets to re-write history and everyone that Abraham Lincoln was a democrat and that slavery was a Republican thing. Lies are OK when you're a democrat at PBS.

pacwest said...

Here are Judi and Camilla delighting themselves with the favorite dessert of oppressors and villains the world over:

Fantastic! Memeworthy.

Inga said...

I’m looking forward to the new Season despite the claims that the show has taken liberties with the truth. I didn’t ever believe everything in any of the previous Seasons were 100% truth.

Lurker21 said...

Was Biden photoshopped out of the picture?

The resemblance between Queen Camilla and Dr. Jill may be more than skin (or hair) deep. The similarities and differences are something to muse upon.

Jefferson's Revenge said...

Ann- But Trump was at an event caught eating an ice cream cone. With the Ice Cream Cone Cabal, eating the cone is the event.

I remember the horror when he put ketchup on a steak. And wasn't there a kerfuffle because he had a larger salt shaker in front of him than everyone else at the table? All were signs of Satan.

Kerfufflle is a word that should be used more often. It is enjoyable to say and write. I intend to use it 3 times today in conversation to do my share to move this project forward.

wendybar said...

Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker said...
PBS gets to re-write history and everyone that Abraham Lincoln was a democrat and that slavery was a Republican thing. Lies are OK when you're a democrat at PBS.

10/20/22, 8:21 AM

And the nightly news gets to rewrite History every time they lie about January 6th being a insurrection worse than 9/11

Readering said...

Is The Crown as cruel as Cats?

toxdoc said...

Is anyone else disturbed that Queen Camilla and Dr. Jill Biden are so similar looking? It's kind of like all male 60s rockstars eventually look like Bea Arthur or other Golden Girls cast members.

Gilbert Pinfold said...

Dame Judi Dench has Harvey Weinstein's initials tattooed on her buttocks.
Don't ask me how I know--there's an internet for that.

Wince said...

Althouse said...
Remember when Trump was evil for getting 2 rather than 1 scoop? I think it was in a dish, though.

Look at the size of Biden's cone.

Lurker21 said...

So much of political life is scheming and acting out off-stage and spinning and deflecting on-stage, that one can believe that anybody said anything behind the scenes. People get angry and frustrated and they say or suggest all kinds of things -- call those random thoughts and possible stratagems "musings" -- and what's said or suggested can't be proven.

Politicians, business people, and other public figures are always considering their options and wondering what would happen if they tried each one. Add to that the fact that irony has become rampant and you can never quite tell if people are joking or not. I'm skeptical of the idea that anyone in the mix would have so much character that they would never say or suggest anything that strikes us as reprehensible.

It's not what they say that matters. It's what they do.

William said...

He's now King Charles. It's necessary to shift gears and make him a figure of reverence and respect. That's going to take some heavy lifting. I guess it can be done, but the easiest solution would be for him to just abdicate. Down with gerontocracies. Let the Britons grow old with King William. He's bald and dull and is married to a likable woman.

gahrie said...

Just found out that Camilla will be crowned a queen instead of Princess-consort. I am opposed and appalled. If nothing else, her divorce should prevent her from being entitled queen.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

With American politicians it used to be corn dogs at state fairs. Surely by now there are many people who can hardly face one of those things. Candied apples? Cotton candy? What was the weird business about Philly steak sandwiches, with or without cheese? Ice cream now seems like a bold reaction against all the diet fears among fat people: I'm going to eat something I like, I don't give a shit! But possibly not as bad as one of those huge burgers at Carl Jr.'s. Too Trumpian. As I recall, Billy Clinton was once going on one of his alleged or notional runs and he stopped in at a McDonald's. Did he really help himself to somebody else's fries, or was that just part of an SNL sketch?

My wife and I don't really watch the same TV, but we might both watch a series on the life of Dame Judy. Doesn't she have something about Weinstein tattooed on her ass?

MadTownGuy said...

Gilbert Pinfold said...

"Dame Judi Dench has Harvey Weinstein's initials tattooed on her buttocks.
Don't ask me how I know--there's an internet for that.
"

It was a temporary tattoo, but since it's on the 'net, it is kinda permanent. Oprah gave it hearty approval.

rcocean said...

I have nothing against Art. But when you do these Docu-dramas you need to be clear upfront in big bold letters that this crap is FICTION.

Because too many dumbos think its Real. You may laugh, but large numbers of people think that Patton the movie was a completely true. And they think the same about Stone's Nixon and JFK. Leftist Stanley Kramer did some docudramas in the 70s because he wanted to slander people he didn't like: MacArthur and Joe McCarthy are two. "Tailgunner Joe" was complete fiction, but people think its true. We shouldn't give TV producers the right to slander and distort the public image of people wihtout making it CLEAR that its made up.

DLNE said...

They should make it clear the show is fictional. I am not sure what the downside of telling the audience that unless ones purpose is to deceive.

DLNE said...

They should make it clear the show is fictional. I am not sure what the downside of telling the audience that unless ones purpose is to deceive.

Howard said...

Camilla Parker bowles is the ultimate cure for premature ejaculation.

CJinPA said...

If you want write fiction, write fiction. If you want to write history, write history.

If your fiction-writing abilities are so weak that the work couldn't stand on its own without relying on familiar, non-fiction characters, you are a poor writer. But a good salesman.

Ted said...

One of the surprising things about the last season of "The Crown" is that it made the younger Camilla -- played by actress-director Emerald Fennell -- seem sexy. It wasn't at all how we think of the actual person, but you could see why Charles was so taken with her. (And at times it seemed as if young Diana was taken with her too.)

Darkisland said...

Don't forget Ali G and the icecream glove.

Donald Trump doesn't eat icecream but he does listen to the pitch. For about a minute.

From 2006

https://youtu.be/PDu9CvbrnlM?t=117

boatbuilder said...

"Here are Judi and Camilla delighting themselves with the favorite dessert of oppressors and villains the world over:"

Well done!

Also--thanks for the reminder that "Business Insider" is a total bullshit liberal hack operation.

boatbuilder said...

Also I think Trump was a Democrat when that ice cream photo was taken, so he was OK with the villains and oppressors thing back then.

Rabel said...

"All these complaints about "The Crown" are only reminding me that the new season is about to begin."

Isn't that the reason for the complaints and resulting publicity.

I haven't watched. Does Macdonald Carey do the intro?

Bill Peschel said...

Clearly Dench doesn't know what "artistic freedom" means, which is not surprising. Actors and actresses are not known for their intellectual honesty. They're paid to lie.

What she should have said was, "I believe in artistic freedom. Full stop. I also believe in giving my opinion on the result of that artistic freedom, and Peter Morgan, the creator of the show, is a despicable and immoral snot-nosed git who should be publicly spanked if it wasn't known that he likes that sort of thing."

Or something like that. Powerful people hate not being taken seriously.

Joe Smith said...

"Just found out that Camilla will be crowned a queen instead of Princess-consort. I am opposed and appalled. If nothing else, her divorce should prevent her from being entitled queen."

Who cares?

Royalty are leeches...I can't believe the British people haven't hung them all from lamp posts years ago.

But it's their shithole country so it's their problem...

Fred Drinkwater said...

I accidentally started scrolling back though Althouse without realizing I was in a "The Crown" only thread.

"Ok, that's kind of a lot about The Crown."

" Hell's bells, Althouse has literally gone around the bend! "

But then reality reasserted itself.

Marc in Eugene said...

I didn’t ever believe everything in any of the previous Seasons were 100% truth.

Ex ore infantium perfecisti sapientiam, Domine-- wisdom from the mouth of babes!

Marc in Eugene said...

Just found out....

What is more newsworthy is that Charles has elected to discard most of the English Coronation Rite, as he prepares to join the stunted company of the other Euro monarchs. Divorces in the Church of England, eh, we are used to those.

Baceseras said...

Why no disclaimer? It's usual to put one on "pure" fiction: "any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental, etc." And on historical fiction: "some events, dialog, have been fictionalized." If "The Crown"'s producers want to make a tendentious drama, they have their artistic license, but why not be up-front about what they're doing? Particularly when it's marketed to a mass audience, not just a coterie of the in-the-know.

"Art is not about making people comfortable" -- well, to the extent that that's true, it isn't about making them uncomfortable either.

A drama that vilifies by insinuation -- behind a veil of "fact-based" or some such weasel words -- isn't doing it for aesthetic purposes: it's to influence real people's attitudes and actions. They may do so, but it doesn't fall under "artistic license."

Joe Smith said...

Seems to me the producers are just afflicting the comfortable.

And nobody was more comfortable than an unelected billionaire queen.

Isn't this how it works?