Like any good queen, I’m in the midst of binge-watching Netflix’s The Crown. Admittedly, I was almost done with the first season and somehow fell off in the middle of episode seven. Luckily, after much ballyhoo, I’m back on board and that was no mistake. Claire Foy gives an epic performance as a Queen Elizabeth who became queen at quite a young age. In the beginning, she’s afraid and justifiably so.
It’s amazing the transformation she makes from an indecisive humanitarian who is ruled by her conscience while carrying out her royal duties to a shrewd leader, never wavering in service of the crown. Unfortunately, that comes with great sacrifice. Almost akin to a secret identity, there is the brave face the royals wear in public, and the heartbreaks and scandals they suffer behind the scenes. It must be nice to have an attendant remove your jewelry and all that, but is that worth the price of freedom? The portrayal of lost soul Princess Margaret does the best job of illustrating that point. Heartbreakingly and hypnotically played by Vanessa Kirby, I dare you to take your eyes off her.
I think that given the current state of the world, it’s more important now more than ever to be grateful to live in a free country. And there’s more to life than living in the spotlight, like living in the moment. If you think about it, that’s all we’ve got. It’s better to be happy, isn’t it?
Queen Elizabeth gave so much of herself to protect the crown. It was often her duty to her father and her country. I can’t help but wonder what the history of another crown-wearing was like. How it must have been for Wonder Woman growing up as princess. It seems like a role she turned her back on to be a superhero (at least in the movies, anyway).
I often thought of Queen Hippolyta as a bad mother: cold and unloving. Perhaps I’ve been too harsh. Perhaps her duty to her crown supersedes any maternal flair. Perhaps it has nothing to do with love. It could all be in the name of duty. (Yeah, we’ll go with that.) That’s another reason why they should return Diana’s origin. Her mother yearned for her so strongly that she crafted her from the magical clay on the shores of Paradise Island and given life by the blessing of the mighty gods. Making Zeus her father is neither original nor fitting, but that’s just my opinion.
I would love to see a comic, movie, or TV show that covers Hippolyta’s reign as Queen of the Amazons. I can’t recall it being done on any grand scale. With the popularity of the Amazons in the Wonder Woman movie, I wouldn’t be surprised if DC had something similar in the works. And I have the perfect deus ex machina for bringing back Robin Wright’s Antiope: introduce the Amazons healing purple ray and there you have it.
It would be so interesting to see how Diana leaving to become Wonder Woman immediately affected the Amazons.
“THEMYSCIRA: The Early Years and Beyond!”
Perhaps.
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