All those who think tv representations of the past don’t matter and don’t impact on wider public memory, do have a read on Tim Edensor’s work on Braveheart ... or just gaze on this fascinating statue of William Wallace (as Mel Gibson) https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/mel-gibson-sculpture-finds-new-11332436

I should start by saying that I’m not going to watch The Crown - dramatization of recent history moving between fact, fiction and speculation would drive me - but given how popular the show is, it is foolhardy to think many people will not take on its representations as fact.

Given also how little is known about the complexities of the ebbs and flows of The Troubles outside of Northern Ireland (even inside NI for those born after its events) I’d be very wary of how much a series like the Crown will be able to portray such a conflict.

Even during the conflict the media outside of NI (esp tabloid and right wing press in GB) portrayed the conflict as seemingly unconnected spectacular events that made it seem unexplainable and unreconcilable. The role of the British govt was almost completely absent.

In recent Brexity times it is clear the GB public have little clue what the conflict entailed beyond bombing events in England. This shows their focus on the British experience of the Troubles as being spatially detached from NI. No wonder they care so little about the border!

Those of us who research culture and memory know how popular representations can greatly skew public understandings, whether it is intentional or not. Who knows, maybe The Crown will work to redress the knowledge deficit on NI in GB but I somehow doubt it.

Having read quite a few tweets about #theCrown - especially the claim it doesn't matter if historical dramas are fictionalized - I can't help but see unprocessed privilege. How the past is represented doesn't matter to YOU, if your past is mainstream and uncontested.

How that past is fictionalized - and in what ways - can matter alot when your past was unrepresented. It matters if it relates to a difficult past, experiences of marginalization and/or injustice. It matters that we do not skew previously sidelined pasts for entertainment.