The Crown viewers have mocked “comedic” comments by the Culture Secretary that the show should come with a warning that it is fictional.
In response to backlash regarding the accuracy of season four of Netflix’s historical drama, Conservative politician Oliver Dowden has said that the streaming service should be “very clear at the beginning” that the show is not real.
“Without this, I fear a generation of viewers who did not live through these events may mistake fiction for fact,” he said, adding that he would be writing to Netflix to request a “health warning” be added to the show.
Dowden’s comments were widely criticised online, with viewers shocked that the Culture Secretary believed the public needed telling that a fictional TV show wasn’t real.
“The Culture Secretary’s ‘intervention’ over The Crown is the funniest thing I've heard in ages,” one viewer commented, adding: “I look forward to his letter to Hilary Mantel.”
“Netflix already tells people that The Crown is fiction. It’s billed as a drama. Those people in it are actors. I know! Blows your mind,” another replied.
Exasperated by the news, one Twitter user wrote: “I just don’t know where to start with Oliver Dowden using his full powers of headed notepaper to demand Netflix proclaim The Crown is fiction, but maybe a trip round the back of the flat screen to check there aren’t little people living there.”
Many also suggested a hypocrisy in Dowden’s comments, given that political figures who lean ro the right are often opposed to the use of trigger warnings around sensitive content in the media.
“Excited that we are in a place in our culture wars where the right are on board with trigger warnings, but only when used to explain the concept of historical fiction,” one viewer wrote.
The Crown has been widely praised for its use of trigger warnings during season four in regards to Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) and her struggle with bulimia.
However, the show has also been criticised for fabricating scenes and conversations between characters, in particular regarding Prince Charles’s (Josh O’Connor) relationships with Diana and Camilla Parker-Bowles (Emerald Fennell).
The Crown is available to stream on Netflix.
