{"id":102251,"date":"2022-10-20T00:54:09","date_gmt":"2022-10-20T00:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/judi-dench-slams-the-crown-as-cruel-demands-netflix-add-disclaimer\/"},"modified":"2022-10-20T00:54:09","modified_gmt":"2022-10-20T00:54:09","slug":"judi-dench-slams-the-crown-as-cruel-demands-netflix-add-disclaimer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/judi-dench-slams-the-crown-as-cruel-demands-netflix-add-disclaimer\/","title":{"rendered":"Judi Dench Slams ‘The Crown’ as Cruel, Demands Netflix Add Disclaimer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n

\tJudi Dench wrote an open letter to The Times UK criticizing Netflix’s \u201cThe Crown\u201d for being \u201ccruelly unjust\u201d in its depiction of the British royal family. The Oscar winner stressed that she supports artistic freedom, thus she’s urging Netflix to add a disclaimer to each episode stressing to viewers that the show is a fictionalized account of historical events. <\/p>\n

\n

\t\u201cThe closer the drama comes to our present times, the more freely it seems willing to blur the lines between historical accuracy and crude sensationalism,\u201d Dench’s letter reads.<\/p>\n

\n

\tDench’s letter was published ahead of \u201cThe Crown\u201d Season 5 launching on Netflix in November. The new episodes cover some of the royal family’s most tumultuous years in the 1990s, including the bitter divorce between Prince Charles (Dominic West) and Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki).<\/p>\n

\n

\t\u201cGiven some of the wounding suggestions apparently contained in the new series \u2014 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 \u2014 this is both cruelly unjust to the individuals and damaging to the institution they represent,\u201d Dench writes. \u201cNo one is a greater believer in artistic freedom than I, but this cannot go unchallenged.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\tDench continues, \u201cDespite 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. The time has come for Netflix to reconsider \u2014 for the sake of a family and a nation so recently bereaved, as a mark of respect to a sovereign who served her people so dutifully for 70 years, and to preserve their own reputation in the eyes of their British subscribers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\tWhile Netflix does not include a disclaimer on \u201cThe Crown\u201d episodes, it has long maintained that the series is \u201cpresented as a drama based on historical events.\u201d In November 2020, UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden spoke out about the need for Netflix to add a disclaimer to the series since it is a work of fiction. The series was airing its fourth season at the time.<\/p>\n

\n

\t\u201cIt’s a beautifully produced work of fiction, so as with other TV productions, Netflix should be very clear at the beginning it is just that,\u201d Dowden said at the time. \u201cWithout this, I fear a generation of viewers who did not live through these events may mistake fiction for fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\tNetflix responded by refusing to add a disclaimer, with a spokesperson issuing the following statement: \u201cWe have always presented ‘The Crown’ as a drama \u2013 and we have every confidence our members understand it’s a work of fiction that’s broadly based on historical events. As a result we have no plans \u2014 and see no need \u2014 to add a disclaimer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\tEmma Corrin, who originated the role of Princess Diana on \u201cThe Crown,\u201d agreed with Netflix, telling variety<\/em>, \u201cIt is very clearly a dramatized version of events. This is fictitious in the same way people don’t mistake ‘Succession’ for what actually happened with the Murdochs. I also understand [the request] comes from a place of sensitivity and protectiveness of the royal family and Diana.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\t\u201cThe Crown\u201d Season 5 debuts Nov. 9 on Netflix.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n