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The Crown: Netflix’s royal drama featuring Diana’s ghost savaged by critics

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The first four episodes of Netflix’s The Crown, marking the final season, have faced criticism from a majority of critics. This season delves into the events of the late 1990s, with a particular focus on Princess Diana’s relationship with Dodi Fayed and her tragic death. The portrayal of Diana’s character, including the use of her “ghost,” has garnered negative feedback from reviewers, with some describing it as a departure from the show’s earlier strengths.

Critics express dissatisfaction with the writing, with The Guardian giving the series a one-star review, stating that the “Diana-obsessed series is the very definition of bad writing.” The challenges of portraying events within living memory are noted, with some suggesting that the show has lost its balance and is now plummeting in quality.

Despite the negative feedback, there are acknowledgments of strong performances from the cast. Elizabeth Debicki’s portrayal of Diana receives praise, with one review calling it “outstanding.” However, the use of Diana’s ghost and the handling of certain events, such as the car crash scene, have been criticized as desperate or self-defeating.

While The Times offers a four-star review, praising the emotional depth of the season, other critics point out what they perceive as historical inaccuracies and a reliance on speculative elements. The Financial Times suggests that the series takes emotive shortcuts, externalizing the complexity of the royals’ shock and grief, indicating a lack of inspiration.

The Crown has also faced criticism for its depiction of other characters, including Dodi Fayed and his father Mohamed Al-Fayed. Some critics argue that certain portrayals amount to a brutal hatchet job on these characters, deviating from the more nuanced versions presented in earlier seasons.

Despite the mixed reviews, Variety’s Aramide Tinubu believes that the new season has helped the show “reclaim its glittering throne.” The second half of the final season, set to be released in December, will cover additional significant events in the royal family, including the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, Prince Charles and Camilla’s wedding, and the courtship of William and Kate.

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Netflix to invest $2.5bn in new South Korea films and TV shows

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Netflix has announced that it will invest $2.5bn in South Korea over the next four years. The announcement was made by the company’s co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, after meeting with South Korea’s President, Yoon Suk-yeol, in Washington.

The money will be used to create movies and television shows in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, where Netflix has seen success with South Korean productions, including the hugely popular show Squid Game.

Sarandos cited his confidence in the Korean creative industry’s ability to continue telling great stories and expressed his inspiration by the President’s strong support for the Korean entertainment industry. When asked about other potential investments in the region, a Netflix spokesperson declined to comment.

In 2021, the South Korean series Squid Game became Netflix’s most-watched show of all time, with 111 million viewers streaming the show in the first 28 days of its release. The show follows the story of people in debt competing for a cash prize in a series of children’s games with deadly consequences. Additionally, the South Korean reality show Physical 100 became Netflix’s most-watched non-English language show globally earlier this year.

As Netflix faces competition from streaming rivals such as Amazon, HBO, and Disney, it has lowered prices in several countries to attract more subscribers. The company has also announced that it will begin cracking down on password sharing in the coming months, which will require subscribers who share accounts with people outside their household to pay an extra fee.

Netflix has been seeking ways to boost growth, which has slowed significantly due to rising costs and market saturation in some of its biggest markets, according to analysts.

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In less than 100 days, Netflix has lost 200,000 subscribers

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Netflix’s stock has lost a quarter of its value. Tuesday, the company announced that its subscriber base had shrunk in the first quarter of this year.

The leading streaming television service had lost subscribers for the first time in a decade. The company attributed the decline to the suspension of its service in Russia as a result of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Netflix had 221.6 million subscribers at the end of the first quarter of this year, down slightly from the same period last year.

In the most recent quarter, the Silicon Valley tech firm reported a net income of $1.6 billion, down from $1.7 billion a year earlier. Following the release of the earnings figures, Netflix shares fell 25% to $262 in after-market trades.

In an earnings letter, Netflix stated, “We’re not growing revenue as quickly as we’d like.” “Covid clouded the picture by significantly increasing our growth in 2020, leading us to believe that the Covid pull forward was responsible for the majority of our slowing growth in 2021.”

Netflix believes that the time it takes for homes to get access to affordable broadband internet service and smart televisions, as well as subscribers sharing their accounts with people who do not live in their homes, are stifling its growth.

According to the streaming giant, while nearly 222 million households pay for its service, accounts are shared with over 100 million households that do not pay for the television streaming service.

“Account sharing as a percentage of our paying membership hasn’t changed much over the years,” Netflix said, “but when combined with the first factor, it makes it more difficult to grow membership in many markets.”

Last year, Netflix began experimenting with ways to profit from people sharing accounts, such as adding a feature that allows subscribers to pay a small fee to add additional households to their account.

Another factor affecting Netflix is the fierce competition it faces from behemoths like Apple and Disney.

“Our plan is to reaccelerate our viewing and revenue growth by continuing to improve all aspects of Netflix,” Netflix said, adding that it is “doubling down” on content creation.

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Netflix has put future projects in Russia on hold

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Streaming behemoth Netflix has announced a halt to all future Russian projects and acquisitions.

The company stated that it was assessing the impact of Ukraine’s current invasion. The production of the Russian language series Zato will be halted. Oracle, a cloud computing company, has also announced the suspension of its operations in Russia. The two companies are the most recent US technology firms to take action against Russia as the number of attacks on Ukrainian cities has increased.

Apple also announced on Tuesday that it would suspend sales in Russia. Oracle’s Twitter announcement came three hours after Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation tweeted the company, requesting assistance. In recent days, global brands such as Shell, Nike, H&M, and Boeing have severed ties with Russia or temporarily suspended sales.

Moscow has responded to foreign companies withdrawing from Russia by temporarily restricting foreign asset sales in Russia.

On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin met with the president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs to discuss how the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs would attempt to mitigate the impact of the sanctions announced thus far.

Netflix declined to comment on the number of people who use its streaming service in Russia.

However, it confirmed earlier this week in a Hollywood Reporter report that it would not carry Russian state channels.

“Given the current situation, we have no plans to add these channels to our service,” said a Netflix spokesperson in a statement to the magazine.

According to a law that took effect on March 1, “audiovisual services” in the country with more than 100,000 users will be required to carry 20 major state television channels.

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Poland angry with Netflix documentary about Nazi death camps

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The Polish government has expressed its dissatisfaction against a documentary released by digital content giant Netflix.

What that the aforesaid documentary discusses is the sensitive story of Nazi death camps.

The Polish government has criticised the digital giant of misrepresenting certain facts about the Nazi occupation in Poland.

The government has opposed the portrayal of the issue in the manner that Poland was also responsible to what happened to those admitted in the Nazi death camps during the Second World War.

Poland has criticised the digital giant of not highlighting the fact that Poland was annexed by Germany prior to the erection of the death camps in Auschwitz.

The digital giant has not yet given an elaborate statement on the issue. Yet, it has acknowledged the awareness of the concerns raised by Poland. And, it has assured of taking serious actions to address the crisis.

This is not the first time a Netflix documentary has invited criticism; earlier, a Netflix documentary about OSHO attracted similar allegation of misrepresentation.

At this moment, it remains unclear whether the Polish government would take any serious action against the digital content giant in this matter.

Netflix has tens of thousands of customers in Poland. So, it cannot handle this issue as insensitively as it handled the OSHO issue.


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Netflix will not be joining the Apple TV service

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Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on Monday said that they will not be joining the Apple TV service. He had confirmed that his company will not sell subscriptions or offer existing content to customers through an Apple branded video streaming service expected for unveiling on March 25.

Hastings told the reporters at the company’s offices in Hollywood, “Apple’s a great company. We want to have people watch our shows on our services”. “We have chosen not to integrate with their service”, he added.

A television and video service was expected to be unveiled by Apple, at an event on March 25th. As per reports, the company might have as many as 11 shows ready to preview at the media gathering.

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