Spencer (2021) Movie Review
Friday, 11.20.21
Today, I wanted to go out somewhere, but I didn’t know where to go. So, I decided to go to the Edwards Regal Cinema, across the street, to watch the movie, Spencer. After I changed my clothes, I decided to walk to the cinema because the weather was nice.
Spencer, Fable of a True Tragedy, is about Princess Diana’s miserable life with the Royal Family. Since the beginning movie, she just wanted to escape, often driving off aimlessly and getting lost. She also often kept her curtains open when dressing, maybe secretly hoping someone would rescue her. She felt that ghosts haunted her in the Royals’ Mansion, such as when she read the book, Anne Boleyn, and she had dreams about Anne’s ghost haunting her.
She visited her old home, which looks shut down and vacant, similar to a goth haunted house, with few discarded toys — a dollhouse and rocking horse. She might have been eager to return to her childhood when she was free because she appeared to want to go back in time to better days. She felt she didn’t fit in with the Royals, and she wanted to do things her way. So, she often rebelled to create drama for the family. She preferred wearing jeans and eating fast food than dressing up ten times a day in expensive, elegant clothes for different elegant organic meals and activities. And, she didn’t understand why she needed someone to help her dress. She appeared to be down-to-earth and simple.
Her best friend in the house was Maggie, a woman hired to help Diana dress up and get ready. Maggie was a lesbian, and she had a crush on Diana, but Diana still liked her anyway as a friend. (I also remember from Youtube videos that Diana had many gay men friends, such as Freddie Mercury and Elton John because she was able to loosen up and have fun with them).
Many scenes display her binging on food, whether at the dinner table or sneaking to the freezer and binging on the stored food. Then, she would go to the bathroom and make herself throw up in the toilet. (It has nothing to do with being thin. It is all about not having any control in her life or being too controlled by others, and Bulimia and Anorexia enabled her to control her body instead, which psychologically empowered her because it gave her a sense of control over something in her life).
She didn’t like their hunting parties when they shoot pheasants. The Royals felt that the pheasants were useless, and should be shot and eaten, and the leftovers thrown in the trash. What senseless animal abuse! She interrupted their hunting party to take her sons with her. Prince Charles accepted because she had told him earlier that Prince William didn’t like guns and he didn’t want to shoot the birds, and the boys happily went with their mother, driving off in a convertible Porsche to eat KFC. (It also appeared that Prince Charles didn’t care much for guns and shooting either, but he tells Diana that he is doing his job by having two personalities — his real personality and his persona as a Royal). At that moment, she felt free and happy, dressed in jeans and a blazer, enjoying the breeze blowing her hair back, while her sons enjoyed their KFC dinner outside on a bench.
I think this is a British movie because the only familiar actors are Kristen Stewart and Sally Hawkins. (I remember Sally Hawkins from a Woody Allen movie, Blue Jasmine. It was an interesting movie). Kristen Stewart played Princess Diana, and she did Diana’s shy and coy mannerisms well.
