Netflix Goes Through With Recreating Diana's Death on The Crown Despite Backlash
The film industry often exploits personal tragedies and traumas in pursuit of ratings. And although the creators face a barrage of criticism because of it, most of the time they go unpunished.
This time around, it looks like Netflix has made yet another deal with the devil in the name of popularity.
The sixth season of The Crown is just around the corner. We know that it will chronologically cover events up to the early 2000s (at least until the death of the Queen Mother in 2002). And yes, the season will include a terrible tragedy from 1997 that resulted in the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales, and her partner, Dodi Fayed.
But it seems that the creators want to emphasize on the depiction of a horrible accident by showing the events in detail.
Of course, the question is, what does this add to the story? Don't we already know the speculation about the car accident?
"Is this really necessary? She's already been picked over pretty relentlessly (in life and in death) and there's a lot of gross, victim-blamey discourse around her. We all know how she died, and we all know it was bad. Why do we need to recreate that scene in grisly detail? Who does that serve?" Reddit user showmeurpoemspls said.
Most fans are obviously disappointed by such a cynical decision because this tragedy is not only traumatic for themselves (only 26 years have passed, so the memory is still alive), but also for their relatives, as William and Harry have said many times.
Many also objected to the likely purpose of the creators. Not only does it objectify the real person, making her a means to advance the plot, but it generally devalues any woman's personal life:
"Can we stop glorifying all the negative s--- women have gone through? Her death, Pamela Anderson's abusive relationship and the release of her stolen sex tape. Leave women alone and find something else to satisfy your need for trauma porn," Redditor Left-Influence-6712 says, blaming filmmakers for their profit-seeking at the expense of the dignity of others.
Hopefully, the creators will show some respect. The tragedy will be no less significant (also politically, for that matter) if we are not shown the disturbing scenes. In the meantime, The Crown season 6 is expected to air in the second half of 2023.