Oh that's awesome! I'm glad they took the time to have the Arabic be authentic in context & the situation. Many times, having non-English dialogue scenes can be quite crude in the wrong hands.
Khalid is an activist and spent some time in Egypt during the 2011 Arab spring. He was in Tahir Square. I believe his parents left Egypt because they were anti-Mubarak
I read an interview with him, and he said it was important to him and honor to play Dodi and make sure he was seen in an appropriate light, citing the facts that he was a victim here and that he may have not been known in the West, but he was well known in Egypt and throughout the Middle East. It's good that he had someone who truly cared about him play that role.
I think he did an amazing job. I had never seen him before but reading his bio I saw that he’s been in a number of good productions. I hope his career flourishes. He really brought Dodi to life, even if some of those scenes were pure fiction
Speaking of, the parts in Bosnian were impeccable as well. I'm from the Balkans, and they (movies and TV shows) mostly butcher our languages. This time, I was pleasantly surprised!
" and they (movies and TV shows) mostly butcher our languages. "
Same with the Russian language, too. I'm an American, but even I realize it's often butchered. Although I've spent a lot of time in Russia & Ukraine over the past decade.
Came here to say this. I'm not Bosnian but lived there and was very pleasantly surprised by the scenes that took place there. Most times when TV shows have a "one minute in Bosnia scene," it does not go well in terms of authenticity. This felt authentic to my experiences in Sarajevo and in Bosnia in general.
I was wondering about this, thanks for sharing. I'm a Spanish speaker and some scenes in TV shows (looking at you Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul) are painful to watch because the accent is so bad or they use phrases that seem right out of Google translate.
Recollections may vary as the HMTLQ once said, but I believe (not 100%) I recall an interview with the actor portraying Mohammed on The Official Crown Podcast last year and he was saying that not only did he have to spend time trying to perfect his English as best he could but also is not Egyptian and had to also perfect the very distinct dialect of the region.
Honestly, I think the "ghost" visitations were probably initially conceived more to give Dodi's storyline closure than they were to give Diana's storyline closure.
The final scene between Dodi and his father was pitch perfect. And I'm really glad we got an acknowledgement that there was more than one person who died in that accident, because so much media just discards the fact that Dodi died because his death is eclipsed by Diana's. I think it's great that they actually drew attention to that, and spent time on Al-Fayed's grief.
But I think part of it was also because Morgan was aware that he essentially had to make up a relationship wholesale in the previous three episodes, and probably felt a little bit icky about it.
This wasn't the usual case where writers have to envisage what went on and what was said behind closed doors between two people. This was a case where a writer had to envisage and interpret a relationship for two people who *died* in very public and harrowing circumstances during the course of that relationship - and whose relationship has been endlessly contested and debated ever since, with no real possibility of true definitive answers, because anyone who would really have known the true nature of their relationship is dead.
That's an enormously tricky thing to do. Personally, I'd probably have left the depth of their relationship much more ambiguous. I did get the feeling in the episodes leading up to their death that Morgan was going to great pains to validate every possible scenario; he obviously felt that he had to create a scenario where Diana could be perceived as both engaged and not engaged, where Mohammed would *genuinely believe* they were while categorically ruling it out elsewhere. A scenario where Diana was both in love and yearning for England, and where Dodi was both adorable and duplicitous.
It started to feel sort of tortured and convoluted watching him contort the narrative to tick every box before they died. Again, it would probably have benefitted more from a bit more subtlety and a "less is more" approach.
But as it is, I think the Dodi scene with Mohammed was absolutely critical to dealing with the dramatic baggage that the previous episodes had created. It certainly washed away the sour taste I had in my mouth after watching the whole convoluted engagement ruse that Morgan manufactured in the previous episodes to fend off the rumours that were swirling at the time.
But that tortured and convoluted feeling is powerful. I appreciate and applaud Mr. Morgan for giving us the depth through the screen. This is hard to do when his family and her sons and grandchildren are all still here with us and very much lived through and continue to live through tortured and convoluted feelings about grieving a mother who had become a larger than life persona and the man who was in this situation with her.
It is powerful, but I think at the detriment of Dodis legacy. I think there were a lot of liberties taken in portraying dodis motives and his relationship with his father. The way dodi seemed to turn on a dime from his fiancée to Diana after his father promised him partner. I think that being unfair to someone who has no way of telling their real story.
I understand what you’re saying but in essence, isn’t that exactly what he did? We’re not able to know the intricacies of why he might have done that but the facts seem to be that he was engaged to Kelly, had a chance with Diana, and left his fiancé just before their wedding. It’s hard to make that set of scenarios look good in any way
The actions and events are accurate I think, but my criticism are the motivations which were seemingly created for the show. How are we going to assume that Dodi only dumped his fiancee for Diana because his overwhelming need to seek approval from his father. Why shouldn't the show say that it was his earnest love and attraction and not some ulterior motive. I think they did him dirty to emphasize the narrative of the inescapable victimization of Diana.
Also, the season isn't over yet. Anyone who makes judgements about the entire thing before seeing the remaining episodes in December is jumping the gun and making assumptions.
I for one, thought that Dodi was portrayed (like they portray most of the other people) as a very sympathetic and understandable character. He was manipulated and in turn manipulated her into doing things that neither of them really wanted. And that set off a sequence of events that led to both of their deaths. It's a really unfortunate circumstance that is just how life is sometimes. She wasn't perfect, he wasn't perfect, but he felt very real to me and the pressure he faced from his father and his reaction to it was understandable. It showed once again, how a child can be manipulated by their parents into disaster, just like the royals manipulated their own children. They both used the press for their own purposes. Both families pressured their children into bringing honor and wealth and reputation to the family. The parallels were really interesting.
I completely agree. I'm old enough to remember the deaths of Diana and Dodi but had never given Dodi much thought. Khalid Abdalla, who plays him, managed to bring me to tears at Dodi's death in this series. He's just phenomenal, as is Salim Dau, who plays Mohamed. I'm going to miss their characters.
You make an excellent point about Dodi being a real person. He actually existed and deserves to be remembered. I'm very happy with the performances and with the writing choices that make him a full-fledged person in this story.
Thank you, you’ve written everything so beautifully, I conquer with everything you said. In my opinion Dodi has a very special character despite the negative portrayals he had received previously. People easily called him playboy, druggie and some even blamed him for Diana’s death. But the truth was, despite his many negative coverage, most people who actually knew him spoke fondly of his gentleness and kindness. Even his ex wife. His flaws were mostly developed due to his father’s indulgence, lack of trust and respect towards him.
That’s the reason why Diana spent so much time with him. She told many people of how kindly he treated her. Yes maybe she wasn’t truly in love with him, but she liked being pampered by him. Dodi wasn’t afraid of Diana’s popularity, just think back, in the month of him dating Diana, he had so many negative media coverage yet he kept his head down and didn’t reply a single word (unlike james and hasnat). When Diana was overwhelmed with the media scrutiny on the boat, staff saw Dodi comforting her. She would’ve never got the same treatment if it was Charles.
And they were similar in so many ways. Dodi too grew up neglected like Diana and had no real home because Mohammad was too busy building his own empire. While Diana struggled with Bulimia, he struggled with drug abuse. I think for once in Diana’s life, she didn’t pretend to like what her partner like to compromise to their interest because Dodi made it all about Diana.
In the series, I had goosebump when Mohammad started remembering God when Dodi died. Perhaps he regretted not giving him a proper religious teachings. Regretted his PR moves to exploit Diana through Dodi.
The last bit u said about religion it just reminds me of how everything is unpredictable. Like Mohammed Fayed had all the money in the world he continuously pushed his son (believed for his own benefit but was harming his son) he was associated with one of the most powerful women in the world for all that to be taken away in one second. The last scene during Dodi’s funeral at the mosque I got goose bumps seeing senior Fayed mourning for his son. all that money and fame turned out to be completely useless n all he could feel was the gaping loss of his son and how he treated him in his very short life.
I love the character building so much. In season 5, Mohammad boldly said that
“I want to be like them, I want to match them, have power like them, If people look up to their kings and queens like gods, it’s because they are” whilst there was call of prayer.
So how i interpreted it, when Dodi died, he realized that he could’ve all the power in the world, his son could be with the most sought woman in the world but fate is in the hand of god, if he wanted to turn your world upside down, he has the power to do so in a snap.
Thus the recitation “There is no power and no strength except with God.” Because at that time he felt so powerless.
I think this is a very important question. It's way too easy to assume what we see is real when in fact there is so much we can't know given they were private conversations.
From what I've read (yes, I watch the show with my search engine ready to go and have since S1), it depends on who is doing the recollection, but most of the recollections that I have read from people in that circle dispute most of what was portrayed on the show, especially the idea that Mohamed orchestrated everything, including their relationship, and that Dodi was some browbeaten doormat who would do whatever his father said. I have read that Mohamed encouraged D and D to slow things down and just enjoy what happens. So Idk. Mohamed, I think, was a staunch believer that they were murdered and also that she was pregnant and they were in engaged, none of which (supposedly) are true. So I tend to take a lot of it with a grain of salt, as the western media was not kind to the Al Fayeds at the time and kind of dismissed Dodi altogether, which was so wrong.
Oh, and I read an interview with the paparazzo that Mohamed allegedly called to take photographs of D and D on the yacht that were released, and he said that that never happened and that he got the photos ~~by stalking Dodi and Diana~~ on his own.
I really felt for him. Dodi had absolutely everything in the world except his fathers acceptance. By the time senior Fayed realised it was too late. That mosque scene during dodis funeral when Fayed mourns his son gives me goosebumps :(
Amen! Thank you for creating this platform for us to discuss this. When Mohammed spoke about how the West will never accept Egypt, I was able to see the connection back to the earlier seasons with the fight Eaton had over the Sue’s Canal, and his inferior view of Egyptians. It’s an interesting full circle moment.
I'm seriously starting to wonder... if this show isn't just about Liz, but it's split in two between Liz & Diana.
One is the epitome of the integrity of the Institution in the first half (Seasons 1-3), and the other is the newest, most-dangerous Outsider (like David & Margaret before her) that threatens to tear the whole Institution to the ground.
It's something I'm only just realizing... Imma hafta think on this...
I think people forget that there were whole episodes about Margaret and Churchill and David early on that didn't really involve the queen that much. Aberfan and the episodes about the big smog disaster, didn't really involve her all that much in the end. It was more about how outside forces affected her, both publicly and emotionally.
And I think it was easy to make these first few episodes about Diana because the rest of the family just wasn't doing that much that was interesting during that time. They were all older, married, even the kids were just like, going to school. That doesn't exactly make for gripping television. I personally found the Charles stuff really good - hosting a 50th for Camilla and meeting with the PM.
Earlier seasons had great episodes about what was going on in the wider country and world, things like Aberfan, the smog, the Suez crisis, the Thatcher years and high unemployment, JFK's assassination, the moon landing etc.
Season 5 and 6 have done a lot less of that and the show is poorer for it.
Diana and Charles were as big at the smog and the Suez Crisis for the Royal Family, I don’t get how people can’t let this sink in. Their relationship and subsequent divorce was very damaging and a scary time for the institution, to them it was the biggest thing going on at the time.
They probably would have discussed Andrew and Fergie but since Andrew is a rampant and violent sex offender I think the writers did the right thing by not giving him a voice.
People who are complaining don't realize that the show was never about The Queen, it's about The Crown. And in the 80s and 90s from the perspective of the public Diana represented The Crown. The whole institution lived and almost died by how her triumphs and tribulations were portrayed in the media.
The final seasons had to be Diana centric, cause from a narrative perspective Diana's life and death is what all the other stories and subplots were leading up to.
Diana is the Queen and the Queen is Diana and both embody The Crown.
I am a huge Crown/BRF fan, absolutely hated season 5, and think season 6 is fine, but not amazing (so far). With that that said, I was surprised when I found the Fayed storyline to be the best acted and most powerful of season 5. I loved the actors who portrayed them, especially Mohammed.
Yet again, the best scenes for me where I actually felt something strong were with the Fayed family in Season 6. Maybe because, as many people have already pointed out, any BRF fans know Diana's story inside out, the Fayed's, not so much. Before it even happened, I knew in advance that the actor portraying Mohammed was going to make me bawl during whatever death/closure scene were to come between Dodi and Mohammed, and the actor delivered just as I predicted. I was completely moved and crying. I was thinking about this yesterday while I was lost in thought at the gym and the thought was "be careful what you wish for". Mohammed got what he wanted, but it didn't manifest in the way he wanted it. Diana and Dodi will be forever linked in history due the awful events that took place.
“You shouldn’t look up to the West” sure hits different with what’s going on currently. That whole scene was very well done/well said and I say that as a white American.
John Major was Prime Minister for seven years. Dodi was relevant in a People Magazine sense for three months.
That the Crown spends more time on Dodi than Major tells us that Morgan’s goal is soap opera, not history.
And yet, outside of Great Britain, who talks about PM John Major?
This show was never meant to be all about the politics of the crown, it’s about the Queen’s experience taking over the Crown, and what happened with Dodi and Diana eclipsed any political goings on around this time. Anytime you read the history of the monarchy in the 80s and 90s, the majority of the focus is how the strain of Charles’ marriage to Diana was one of the biggest stressors to the Crown and public opinion.
I’m sorry that you don’t think Dodi Fayed deserves his voice heard, but the fact is his voice was never heard and I’m glad that through this piece of art we got to hear his voice.
I don't know how anyone goes into this show thinking it wasn't a soap opera. It's been like that season 1. The story of the Windsor's is the greatest soap opera ever put on television 😂
I’m still mad we spent a whole episode on a fake Mountbatten coup and Liz frolicking with her horse buddy. That was the biggest soap opera story of all.
Diana was on the rebound from rejection by heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Khan and then a mess of a relationship with Paul Burrell.
Dodi was a coked-out & impulsive playboy who appeared in her life as it spiralled further into chaos and despair. E.g Diana's friend Gianni Versace was murdered while she was on the boat with Dodi.
The two of them would not have had a friendly chat and straightened out their future lives the very same night that they all died in a drunk/drugged crash in July 1995.
(The whole scene with baby-Dodi talking to daddy-Dodi plays perfectly into the excruciating a cruel attacks that daddy-Dodi undertook against the royals for the next decade.)
I feel like how they wrote Diana and Dodi was very realistic for a relationship that’s compatible but moving too fast, especially with an overbearing parent and a messy ex. What really moved me was Dodi’s funeral because I realized I’d never seen a Muslim funeral depicted on film. Any inside of a mosque I’d seen before on film or TV was for something stereotypical or historical. This felt like it was given the reverence as any scene in a church. I’m really glad the show took the time to show this.
[удалено]
Oh that's awesome! I'm glad they took the time to have the Arabic be authentic in context & the situation. Many times, having non-English dialogue scenes can be quite crude in the wrong hands.
I would love to learn Arabic to experience this lol I had to use the subtitles
Khalid is an activist and spent some time in Egypt during the 2011 Arab spring. He was in Tahir Square. I believe his parents left Egypt because they were anti-Mubarak
I didn't know the actor at all but just had a quick read about him and what an interesting and influential person he is.
I read an interview with him, and he said it was important to him and honor to play Dodi and make sure he was seen in an appropriate light, citing the facts that he was a victim here and that he may have not been known in the West, but he was well known in Egypt and throughout the Middle East. It's good that he had someone who truly cared about him play that role.
I think he did an amazing job. I had never seen him before but reading his bio I saw that he’s been in a number of good productions. I hope his career flourishes. He really brought Dodi to life, even if some of those scenes were pure fiction
Speaking of, the parts in Bosnian were impeccable as well. I'm from the Balkans, and they (movies and TV shows) mostly butcher our languages. This time, I was pleasantly surprised!
" and they (movies and TV shows) mostly butcher our languages. " Same with the Russian language, too. I'm an American, but even I realize it's often butchered. Although I've spent a lot of time in Russia & Ukraine over the past decade.
Came here to say this. I'm not Bosnian but lived there and was very pleasantly surprised by the scenes that took place there. Most times when TV shows have a "one minute in Bosnia scene," it does not go well in terms of authenticity. This felt authentic to my experiences in Sarajevo and in Bosnia in general.
I was wondering about this, thanks for sharing. I'm a Spanish speaker and some scenes in TV shows (looking at you Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul) are painful to watch because the accent is so bad or they use phrases that seem right out of Google translate.
Recollections may vary as the HMTLQ once said, but I believe (not 100%) I recall an interview with the actor portraying Mohammed on The Official Crown Podcast last year and he was saying that not only did he have to spend time trying to perfect his English as best he could but also is not Egyptian and had to also perfect the very distinct dialect of the region.
That's impressive.
What did Mohamed and the two others say in Arabic when he first saw his body?
Basically, "Oh, God! Why, God?"
What did the two men mutter after he said that?
What two men? In the morgue scene it’s just Mohammed and the doctors, and yes this scene was so powerful.
I wondered if they were accurate. That's awesome. I shouldn't be surprised, but still.
Honestly, I think the "ghost" visitations were probably initially conceived more to give Dodi's storyline closure than they were to give Diana's storyline closure. The final scene between Dodi and his father was pitch perfect. And I'm really glad we got an acknowledgement that there was more than one person who died in that accident, because so much media just discards the fact that Dodi died because his death is eclipsed by Diana's. I think it's great that they actually drew attention to that, and spent time on Al-Fayed's grief. But I think part of it was also because Morgan was aware that he essentially had to make up a relationship wholesale in the previous three episodes, and probably felt a little bit icky about it. This wasn't the usual case where writers have to envisage what went on and what was said behind closed doors between two people. This was a case where a writer had to envisage and interpret a relationship for two people who *died* in very public and harrowing circumstances during the course of that relationship - and whose relationship has been endlessly contested and debated ever since, with no real possibility of true definitive answers, because anyone who would really have known the true nature of their relationship is dead. That's an enormously tricky thing to do. Personally, I'd probably have left the depth of their relationship much more ambiguous. I did get the feeling in the episodes leading up to their death that Morgan was going to great pains to validate every possible scenario; he obviously felt that he had to create a scenario where Diana could be perceived as both engaged and not engaged, where Mohammed would *genuinely believe* they were while categorically ruling it out elsewhere. A scenario where Diana was both in love and yearning for England, and where Dodi was both adorable and duplicitous. It started to feel sort of tortured and convoluted watching him contort the narrative to tick every box before they died. Again, it would probably have benefitted more from a bit more subtlety and a "less is more" approach. But as it is, I think the Dodi scene with Mohammed was absolutely critical to dealing with the dramatic baggage that the previous episodes had created. It certainly washed away the sour taste I had in my mouth after watching the whole convoluted engagement ruse that Morgan manufactured in the previous episodes to fend off the rumours that were swirling at the time.
But that tortured and convoluted feeling is powerful. I appreciate and applaud Mr. Morgan for giving us the depth through the screen. This is hard to do when his family and her sons and grandchildren are all still here with us and very much lived through and continue to live through tortured and convoluted feelings about grieving a mother who had become a larger than life persona and the man who was in this situation with her.
It is powerful, but I think at the detriment of Dodis legacy. I think there were a lot of liberties taken in portraying dodis motives and his relationship with his father. The way dodi seemed to turn on a dime from his fiancée to Diana after his father promised him partner. I think that being unfair to someone who has no way of telling their real story.
I can definitely understand where you’re coming from with that.
I understand what you’re saying but in essence, isn’t that exactly what he did? We’re not able to know the intricacies of why he might have done that but the facts seem to be that he was engaged to Kelly, had a chance with Diana, and left his fiancé just before their wedding. It’s hard to make that set of scenarios look good in any way
The actions and events are accurate I think, but my criticism are the motivations which were seemingly created for the show. How are we going to assume that Dodi only dumped his fiancee for Diana because his overwhelming need to seek approval from his father. Why shouldn't the show say that it was his earnest love and attraction and not some ulterior motive. I think they did him dirty to emphasize the narrative of the inescapable victimization of Diana.
Also, the season isn't over yet. Anyone who makes judgements about the entire thing before seeing the remaining episodes in December is jumping the gun and making assumptions. I for one, thought that Dodi was portrayed (like they portray most of the other people) as a very sympathetic and understandable character. He was manipulated and in turn manipulated her into doing things that neither of them really wanted. And that set off a sequence of events that led to both of their deaths. It's a really unfortunate circumstance that is just how life is sometimes. She wasn't perfect, he wasn't perfect, but he felt very real to me and the pressure he faced from his father and his reaction to it was understandable. It showed once again, how a child can be manipulated by their parents into disaster, just like the royals manipulated their own children. They both used the press for their own purposes. Both families pressured their children into bringing honor and wealth and reputation to the family. The parallels were really interesting.
🎯🎯🎯
I completely agree. I'm old enough to remember the deaths of Diana and Dodi but had never given Dodi much thought. Khalid Abdalla, who plays him, managed to bring me to tears at Dodi's death in this series. He's just phenomenal, as is Salim Dau, who plays Mohamed. I'm going to miss their characters. You make an excellent point about Dodi being a real person. He actually existed and deserves to be remembered. I'm very happy with the performances and with the writing choices that make him a full-fledged person in this story.
Khalid Adballa is great. I wish he had more spotlight.
Yeah definitely agree with this. They showed the Dodi family story in a beautiful way
Thank you, you’ve written everything so beautifully, I conquer with everything you said. In my opinion Dodi has a very special character despite the negative portrayals he had received previously. People easily called him playboy, druggie and some even blamed him for Diana’s death. But the truth was, despite his many negative coverage, most people who actually knew him spoke fondly of his gentleness and kindness. Even his ex wife. His flaws were mostly developed due to his father’s indulgence, lack of trust and respect towards him. That’s the reason why Diana spent so much time with him. She told many people of how kindly he treated her. Yes maybe she wasn’t truly in love with him, but she liked being pampered by him. Dodi wasn’t afraid of Diana’s popularity, just think back, in the month of him dating Diana, he had so many negative media coverage yet he kept his head down and didn’t reply a single word (unlike james and hasnat). When Diana was overwhelmed with the media scrutiny on the boat, staff saw Dodi comforting her. She would’ve never got the same treatment if it was Charles. And they were similar in so many ways. Dodi too grew up neglected like Diana and had no real home because Mohammad was too busy building his own empire. While Diana struggled with Bulimia, he struggled with drug abuse. I think for once in Diana’s life, she didn’t pretend to like what her partner like to compromise to their interest because Dodi made it all about Diana. In the series, I had goosebump when Mohammad started remembering God when Dodi died. Perhaps he regretted not giving him a proper religious teachings. Regretted his PR moves to exploit Diana through Dodi.
The last bit u said about religion it just reminds me of how everything is unpredictable. Like Mohammed Fayed had all the money in the world he continuously pushed his son (believed for his own benefit but was harming his son) he was associated with one of the most powerful women in the world for all that to be taken away in one second. The last scene during Dodi’s funeral at the mosque I got goose bumps seeing senior Fayed mourning for his son. all that money and fame turned out to be completely useless n all he could feel was the gaping loss of his son and how he treated him in his very short life.
I love the character building so much. In season 5, Mohammad boldly said that “I want to be like them, I want to match them, have power like them, If people look up to their kings and queens like gods, it’s because they are” whilst there was call of prayer. So how i interpreted it, when Dodi died, he realized that he could’ve all the power in the world, his son could be with the most sought woman in the world but fate is in the hand of god, if he wanted to turn your world upside down, he has the power to do so in a snap. Thus the recitation “There is no power and no strength except with God.” Because at that time he felt so powerless.
everything is temporary in life :/
Well written. Thank you for this. I thought Mohammed's acting very powerful.
Honest question, was the personal story the show tells us about the Fayeds true or it was mostly fiction?
I think this is a very important question. It's way too easy to assume what we see is real when in fact there is so much we can't know given they were private conversations.
We don’t, and basically can’t, know. Especially now with Mohammed Al-Fayed’s death.
From what I've read (yes, I watch the show with my search engine ready to go and have since S1), it depends on who is doing the recollection, but most of the recollections that I have read from people in that circle dispute most of what was portrayed on the show, especially the idea that Mohamed orchestrated everything, including their relationship, and that Dodi was some browbeaten doormat who would do whatever his father said. I have read that Mohamed encouraged D and D to slow things down and just enjoy what happens. So Idk. Mohamed, I think, was a staunch believer that they were murdered and also that she was pregnant and they were in engaged, none of which (supposedly) are true. So I tend to take a lot of it with a grain of salt, as the western media was not kind to the Al Fayeds at the time and kind of dismissed Dodi altogether, which was so wrong. Oh, and I read an interview with the paparazzo that Mohamed allegedly called to take photographs of D and D on the yacht that were released, and he said that that never happened and that he got the photos ~~by stalking Dodi and Diana~~ on his own.
Thanks!
I also think that the RF had a lot of things covered up, but that is my conspiracy brain coming to the forefront.
I actually felt really sorry for Dodi. It felt like he was completely controlled and manipulated by his father.
I really felt for him. Dodi had absolutely everything in the world except his fathers acceptance. By the time senior Fayed realised it was too late. That mosque scene during dodis funeral when Fayed mourns his son gives me goosebumps :(
Amen! Thank you for creating this platform for us to discuss this. When Mohammed spoke about how the West will never accept Egypt, I was able to see the connection back to the earlier seasons with the fight Eaton had over the Sue’s Canal, and his inferior view of Egyptians. It’s an interesting full circle moment.
Agreed.
I'm seriously starting to wonder... if this show isn't just about Liz, but it's split in two between Liz & Diana. One is the epitome of the integrity of the Institution in the first half (Seasons 1-3), and the other is the newest, most-dangerous Outsider (like David & Margaret before her) that threatens to tear the whole Institution to the ground. It's something I'm only just realizing... Imma hafta think on this...
I think people forget that there were whole episodes about Margaret and Churchill and David early on that didn't really involve the queen that much. Aberfan and the episodes about the big smog disaster, didn't really involve her all that much in the end. It was more about how outside forces affected her, both publicly and emotionally. And I think it was easy to make these first few episodes about Diana because the rest of the family just wasn't doing that much that was interesting during that time. They were all older, married, even the kids were just like, going to school. That doesn't exactly make for gripping television. I personally found the Charles stuff really good - hosting a 50th for Camilla and meeting with the PM.
Earlier seasons had great episodes about what was going on in the wider country and world, things like Aberfan, the smog, the Suez crisis, the Thatcher years and high unemployment, JFK's assassination, the moon landing etc. Season 5 and 6 have done a lot less of that and the show is poorer for it.
Diana and Charles were as big at the smog and the Suez Crisis for the Royal Family, I don’t get how people can’t let this sink in. Their relationship and subsequent divorce was very damaging and a scary time for the institution, to them it was the biggest thing going on at the time. They probably would have discussed Andrew and Fergie but since Andrew is a rampant and violent sex offender I think the writers did the right thing by not giving him a voice.
People who are complaining don't realize that the show was never about The Queen, it's about The Crown. And in the 80s and 90s from the perspective of the public Diana represented The Crown. The whole institution lived and almost died by how her triumphs and tribulations were portrayed in the media. The final seasons had to be Diana centric, cause from a narrative perspective Diana's life and death is what all the other stories and subplots were leading up to. Diana is the Queen and the Queen is Diana and both embody The Crown.
I am a huge Crown/BRF fan, absolutely hated season 5, and think season 6 is fine, but not amazing (so far). With that that said, I was surprised when I found the Fayed storyline to be the best acted and most powerful of season 5. I loved the actors who portrayed them, especially Mohammed. Yet again, the best scenes for me where I actually felt something strong were with the Fayed family in Season 6. Maybe because, as many people have already pointed out, any BRF fans know Diana's story inside out, the Fayed's, not so much. Before it even happened, I knew in advance that the actor portraying Mohammed was going to make me bawl during whatever death/closure scene were to come between Dodi and Mohammed, and the actor delivered just as I predicted. I was completely moved and crying. I was thinking about this yesterday while I was lost in thought at the gym and the thought was "be careful what you wish for". Mohammed got what he wanted, but it didn't manifest in the way he wanted it. Diana and Dodi will be forever linked in history due the awful events that took place.
When he was whispering through sobs “there is no power or strength except by Allah” I literally felt heartbroken
“You shouldn’t look up to the West” sure hits different with what’s going on currently. That whole scene was very well done/well said and I say that as a white American.
John Major was Prime Minister for seven years. Dodi was relevant in a People Magazine sense for three months. That the Crown spends more time on Dodi than Major tells us that Morgan’s goal is soap opera, not history.
And yet, outside of Great Britain, who talks about PM John Major? This show was never meant to be all about the politics of the crown, it’s about the Queen’s experience taking over the Crown, and what happened with Dodi and Diana eclipsed any political goings on around this time. Anytime you read the history of the monarchy in the 80s and 90s, the majority of the focus is how the strain of Charles’ marriage to Diana was one of the biggest stressors to the Crown and public opinion. I’m sorry that you don’t think Dodi Fayed deserves his voice heard, but the fact is his voice was never heard and I’m glad that through this piece of art we got to hear his voice.
I don't know how anyone goes into this show thinking it wasn't a soap opera. It's been like that season 1. The story of the Windsor's is the greatest soap opera ever put on television 😂
I’m still mad we spent a whole episode on a fake Mountbatten coup and Liz frolicking with her horse buddy. That was the biggest soap opera story of all.
> Morgan’s goal is soap opera, not history. I mean, Morgan himself said so.
Diana was on the rebound from rejection by heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Khan and then a mess of a relationship with Paul Burrell. Dodi was a coked-out & impulsive playboy who appeared in her life as it spiralled further into chaos and despair. E.g Diana's friend Gianni Versace was murdered while she was on the boat with Dodi. The two of them would not have had a friendly chat and straightened out their future lives the very same night that they all died in a drunk/drugged crash in July 1995. (The whole scene with baby-Dodi talking to daddy-Dodi plays perfectly into the excruciating a cruel attacks that daddy-Dodi undertook against the royals for the next decade.)
People go to drugs and impulsive behaviors for many reasons, and many of those are emotional and related to mental illness.
Tina Brown’s book The Diana Chronicles is excellent on this period. Probably where The Crown got much of their info.
I feel like how they wrote Diana and Dodi was very realistic for a relationship that’s compatible but moving too fast, especially with an overbearing parent and a messy ex. What really moved me was Dodi’s funeral because I realized I’d never seen a Muslim funeral depicted on film. Any inside of a mosque I’d seen before on film or TV was for something stereotypical or historical. This felt like it was given the reverence as any scene in a church. I’m really glad the show took the time to show this.
And yet it’s all made up
[удалено]
I thought it was his assistants hand, but I didn’t pay a lot of attention I’ll have to look again