MovieChat Forums > The Queen (2006) Discussion > The role of the press

The role of the press

posted 11 years ago by fastoutfield
4 replies | jump to latest

I just saw this film for the first time and was very impressed, especially with the performance of the great Helen Mirren, adding another feather to a very distinguished cap.

I still remember the events following Diana's death and the almost hysterical response of the British public. My impression at the time was that it was fueled by the tabloid press, a thoroughly ignoble institution that achieved new depths of cynicism in its coverage.

Watching The Queen, it seemed to me that the film did an excellent job of showing the escalation of the manipulation of public emotion from day to day, though it's quite possible that I noticed it more than the filmmakers intended, just because it confirmed my own recollections.

It makes me a bit uneasy to think that voters who decide who holds the reins of a nuclear power are so easily led by the nose.

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[–] Jandersonu2 8 years ago

I was in London when she died, and for months later. I went to her funeral (as a tourist) and thought the mourners around me were mostly out of their minds. That week after she died was really bizzare. The vocal Diana supporters were actually a minority of the country (a large minority, but still a minority) but they were so vocal and the media encouraged it it until it was all whipped up out of proportion. I wrote in my diary that I thought people would look back on that time years later with embarassment. The pro-Diana crowd seemed to force their feelings on to others, forcing shops to close, hoping everyone would feel sad and talk about it publicly. I was studying communications at the time, my roommate was studying psychiatry, and another friend was studying neurology. We discussed this later and wondered if this was bigger than Diana. Like a big emotional purge, a cathartic release from the stoic stiff-upper-lip that the Brits are famous for (were famous for- "keep calm and carry on" is now just a slogan on t-shirts). In fact, I think that sums up the trouble between the Queen and Diana. The Queen is of the "keep calm and carry on" generation, and Diana was of the Oprah, share your feelings, self-help introspection generation. They just couldn't understand each other, or accept each other as they were.