I went this weekend with some friends to see The Queen. It was good, definitely made me like the British more, definitely made me like the Queen more... I think we could even be friends. After all, I like the subtle British wit, I like walking, I like well-behaved dogs... We'd be set. I was suprised by how nice they were to Charles. His, shall we call it, strangeness still came out, but they didn't emphasis it at all.
The thing that struck me as unusual, though, and made me think was not anything directly from the movie in that it was reality and I remember thinking this at the time Diana died. There was so much outpouring of emotion. Genuine emotion, from people who had no real connection to her. And it wasn't just the British who were captivated by her. It seemed as though everyone was, and then everyone was devestated when she died. One of the people interviewed in the movie (I believe the clip came from news reels at the time) said she just kept hoping that it was all a dream, that she'd wake up and Diana would still be alive. And her death was a shock. But how does one person come to mean so much to so many people? I can't imagine anyone right now, any celebrity, any politician, any do-gooder whose death would have as much of an impact as Diana's did. I can imagine being saddened by a public figure's death, but my life most likely wouldn't be changed. I wouldn't feel heart-rending emotion, I wouldn't spend hours traveling to lay flowers down on a gate. If someone I knew and loved died, I would have that kind of emotion and experience. But for someone I had never met? What did Diana come to represent that meant so much to so many people? The epic underdog? The "real-life Cinderella?" I just don't get it...
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