Two Great Shows. All the Light We Cannot See and The Darkest Hour.

I recently watched a short series on Netflix called “All the Light We Cannot See.” It’s based on the novel by Anthony Doerr. The setting is WW2 mostly in France, but also some scenes are in Germany. The Germans are losing the war. The Americans are bombing them out in France.

Werner is a young man who is talented with radios. He built his own radio while in an orphanage. He often listed to someone called the "professor" who talked about education subjects. It was illegal to listen to foreign broadcasts, but Werner couldn't stop listening to the professor who talked about other things, and the not war. Werner found this to be an escape. He almost got shot for listening to that frequency, but because of his talent, he was sent to an elite German boarding school. There he learned more skills with radios and frequencies. As the Nazi's are losing the war, they want him to find foreign frequencies in France so they can shut down the French Resistance.

However, he discovers Marie, a blind French girl who is broadcasting on a frequency he used to listen to when he was in the orphanage. The same frequency the Professor used to be on. Instead, Marie is working with the French Resistance. She is sending code to the Americans of where to bomb. He knows this, but he still cannot report her. Werner cares too much about about her. Just like the professor, he becomes obsessed with listening to her. This blind girl is really amazing. Her other senses are so strong, she’s capable of a lot. 

Another good movie is “The Darkest Hour” It’s about Winston Churchill during WW2 when British troops are stuck in France, and the Nazi's are about to invade England. Gary Oldman plays plays Winston Churchill. He is so good in this role that I forgot at times this is not really Winston. 

The main conflict is that others in parliament want to enter into peace talks with Germany. Mainly because they don’t think they can win. Winston (the new prime minister) doesn’t agree. He's steadfastly against it. This causes him a mountain of stress because they pressure him to do the peace talks or step down.

Several in parliament are terrified that if they don't try to talk peace with Hitler, they will be destroyed. At some point, Winston almost agrees with them. He goes to his secretary and tries to write a letter to Hitler, but he finds himself unable to find the words. He can’t finish the letter. Then he feels like the walls are closing in on him. 

Instead, he writes a speech about why they should fight. One thing he said stands out to me. “Do you want to see a swastika over Buckingham palace?” 

And…yeah that was a wake up call. I found it admirable how Winston stood up to so much pressure from those around him.

The Rings of Power

Recently, I decided to subscribe to Amazon Prime again to save on shipping costs. It seemed to be worth it at the time. I still think so because the packages have been coming fast. Usually the next day. One item I bought came the same day I ordered it. Only about five hours later. I was so impressed. 

Then I browsed the shows and movies only to find "The Rings of Power" I love the Lord of the Rings Series, so I gave it a try. This series takes place in the distance past, well before the The Hobbit. At first, I found it interesting but also hard to get hooked into it. The reason being is that there are so many characters all separate from each other. Some of which have come together by the end of the series. There is also a lot of mystery about what is going on. 

This series has the same elements as the movies such as beautiful landscapes, castles, villages, elfs, dwarfs, orcs, hobbits and innocent humans living off the land. Although the humans have had to deal with orcs in the past. All of this contrasts when evil is released, leaving behind a scorched, barren land. 

It starts out with one young female elf is not convinced Middle Earth is safe from Sauron who is supposed to be dead, but there is no solid proof. She is told to leave Middle Earth and accept that all is well. At first, she starts to leave, but changes her mind and sneaks back. She faces a lot of opposition from the humans she wants to save, followed by battles with orcs. These orcs are, not only ugly and vicious, they are also much stronger than humans. I found out that they are they a corrupt race of elves bred that way by the Dark Lord Morgoth. The people don't want to depend on elves perhaps for this very reason, but they come to realize they have no choice. 

As the series went on, I finally became hooked. It's the classic good -vs- evil story. The hookish part is that no matter how beat down those on the good side become, they continue to get back up to fight again. 

For those who have watched the movies, you will find out more about the origin of Gandolf and Hobbits. I've never read the books by J.R.R. Tolkien, but this series makes me wonder (if I find the time) I should read them all. Movies and shows never fully capture everything. For sure, I will watch season two starting this August.

The Crown. (A series I didn't think I would like)

I don't remember why I decided to watch "The Crown" but somehow I tried the first episode and I started to find it interesting. There isn't a lot of action in this show, but there is a lot of conflict. I would consider this a historical/psychological drama. The main character is Queen Elizabeth. It starts when she is young. Her father, King George has lung cancer because of smoking. When her father dies, Elizabeth becomes queen. 

The Crown is about protecting the Crown and therefore the royal family. It's about their struggle to continue as the royalty of England. They live with the possibility that someday, they won't be needed. Queen Elizabeth says that having a monarchy provides their country stability, unlike the prime ministers that come and go. Her view is that England just wouldn't be right without kings and queens.  

This series shows how keeping The Crown comes with a price. Yes, they're rich, elevated above everyone and are waited on hand and foot, but they pay a price for it. First, they're held to a much higher standard than regular people. They're not supposed to the have problems, divorces, affairs and imperfections. After all, they are made rich just for being in the royal blood line. Secondly, they often have to deal with the media and being in the public eye. 

The series starts a little before Queen Elizabeth is crowned and ends about the time Prince William is dating Kate Middleton. Most of us know there have been many problems during that time span. Mostly with their relationships and divorces. Even Queen Elizabeth had a lot of problems with Phillip early in their marriage. 

Her sister Margaret was in love with Peter, an older man who had been divorced. He worked for the royal family. They wanted to get married, but this was against the church. A royal wasn't supposed to marry a divorced person. Queen Elizabeth wanted to give Margaret permission, but her advisors and the church kept talking her out of it. Elizabeth is always very cautious with any decision, so she never let her sister marry Peter. All in an effort to protect their image. Margaret had the option to leave the royal family and get married, but she never did. Instead, Peter married someone else while Margaret unraveled into a life of smoking, drinking and eventually marrying someone who was already cheating on her with men and women. 

Elizabeth loved her sister, but most of the family were often irritated with Princess Margaret because she was a continual risk for bad press. The family was and is a target for the paparazzi and tabloids. So the royal family is on guard to prevent scandals or whatever news story that would taint their image of being perfect. While I knew that The Crown is about being perfect, I never fully knew the struggle to do so. Scandals pay good money. People love to see the elevated crash and burn. 

Charles was in love with Camilla, but she was married. So they pressured him into marrying Diana, even though he wasn't in love with her. She was too young for him and they had nothing in common. If anything in this show, Diana seems to annoy him. He became jealous of her popularity, and took it out on her. Often times, I really hated this version of Charles. 

Throughout the series, I often changed how I felt about characters. The young Queen Elizabeth was more likeable than the older one. Her days as queen seemed to make her hard and often cold as if she lacked feelings of any kind. Although sometimes she still had moments of compassion. Charles became more likeable toward the end of the series where he sometimes struggled to raise his sons alone. 

In general, actors, celebrities, and anyone in the public eye...those people do have a higher rate of divorce. The stress of the media and trying to maintain an image adds to the risk of divorce for anyone. 

Anyway, I learned some history from this show and enjoyed the psychological aspect. I recommend this series. There are six seasons and no plans for a seventh. However, there might be a prequel.