Think I've finally figured out why I'm losing interest in "The Crown"; when the show initially began, it effectively chronicled the story of a group of young people (who never expected to be in power, nor wanted it) thrust in to the foreground of an oppressive establishment which eroded their individuality & tore their family apart, creating drama & division at a time when the nation desperately required the opposite; great stability.
Thus, we were watching a coming of age tale about passionate, impressionable adolescents who were grappling with their own issues of identity, trying to discover who they were, internally - whilst juxtapositioning that against struggling to balance the need for self expression with an external, obligatory sense of crushing duty, casting aside their personal requirements in pursuit of maintaining the national interest... Therefore, it was a gripping, sympathetic narrative which essentially captured one's desires (yearning for freedom) conflicting with societal norms & the weight of other's expectations (which is something we can all empathise with, to a degree) but now, by the 5th series, rather than being unwilling victims of the system they involuntarily found themselves entangled within, THEY have ironically transformed in to the perpetrators & the oppressors.
Hence, the relatability is lost because no longer are they reluctantly within the establishment & actively warring against it. Instead, they're the upholders & enabling its continuation through frustrating levels of passivity. As a consequence, no longer are the characters assertive or proactive in carving out their own futures; they have resigned themselves to their preordained destinies & the battle for their soul has essentially been lost.
For example, Liz isn't even a character anymore (she's a hollow shell of whom she formerly was) because she's lost her sense of self & embodies whatever her role requires her to be in order to act as Queen; the earlier struggle to remain impartial (caused by her initial inexperience & requirement for a period to readjust) we witnessed - when Claire Foy embodied the role - has given way to gradual ambivalence which is practically second nature to her; she never even questions the immorality of it anymore because by this point in her reign, she's become so desensitised to it. Due to this, (although I recognise it as a tragic coping mechanism) most of the time, she has sacrificed her own humanity, never even thinks to use her voice, expresses little (if any) emotion & is notably devoid of personality. Of course, I get that's the point & what the creators are purposefully attempting to convey & it does make those fleeting moments of warmth / imperfection particularly engaging (since they're so rare)... But how are we (as audiences) meant to invest ourselves in the development of someone who seems wholly incapable of it? The world around the monarchy evolves whilst it does not. She's resultantly stagnated & although it's interesting witnessing the cost of remaining constant for 40+ years, I am increasingly finding it harder to see myself in her, nor care about her trials & tribulations - because there's hardly any discernible progression to witness... And rather than express concern for those who suffer the same rueful fate (entering in to the family), the lessons of the past have not been learned - so we're viewing them play out again in the future. That may be historically accurate, poetic & poignant (etc.) or perhaps designed as a cautionary tale, but for whom is this aimed at - considering those who should be listening, likely aren't?
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