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Devil's Advocate: Should the Crown be Allowed to Cause so Much Disruption?


YES - Sairaa Bains


Of the many things that are disruptive, from loud interruptions to untimely intrusions, the filming of a renowned series in St Andrews is far from it. The filming of The Crown is the least shocking and unexpected, since every student studying here regularly uses the ‘William and Kate’ card to provide some context about their university. This is also not the first time that St Andrews has become a film set as the West Sands beach was used in the 1980s for the filming of Chariots of Fire. This should put things into perspective because as a town, St Andrews is known for its historic golf course, castle ruins, and scenic beaches. It is no surprise that The Crown decided to film here and they should by all means be permitted to. Populated by celebrities throughout the year, this small town serves as a space both for momentous occasions (including this one), temporary vacationing, and seasonal golf championships. From seeing Andrew Scott at your local pub to coming across golfing legends on the street, St Andrews is more than a university town. An act becomes entirely disruptive when it holds no value in the grand scheme of things. Filming a TV series in St Andrews is of immense value — serving as a peak university experience for many and carving a bigger name for the town where countless film-worthy stories began.

Undeniably so, the town has been stimulated with a different yet boisterous energy since filming began. Students and locals have been moving around town in a bid to both witness and procure some behind the scenes footage. Not only has this broken the monotonous continuity of everyday existence but also added an element of amusement to a St Andrean’s otherwise bleak life. You are not merely witnessing but actively partaking in a film shooting, in a capacity resembling that of a film crew member. I implore you to ask those (lucky) students who got chosen to feature as ‘extras’ in the filming. Whether waving the British flag in a classic sequence, or shooting a scene at Molly Malones, every part of town is charismatic enough to be memorialised. There may be policemen, barriers, and tons of trucks, but like all kinds of commotion this one deserves an audience. Even if you were stalled or stopped from crossing the street for a few minutes, I’m sure this pause did more good than harm. All pauses need not be interruptions and can instead serve as standstill moments of reflection. Even though cars were stopped from traversing North Street, it was in no way a deal as big as the Berlin Blockade. Witnessing the filming of a tv series is not a daily occurrence, nor one that everybody gets to witness first-hand. Instead of a disruption, this is more of an iconic experience, which should force you to temporarily depart from your daily schedule of getting a coffee, going to the library and staying stuck to one seat for the rest of the day.

Apparently, the location fees procured through the filming, will be going towards student scholarships, and if that statement is true, there are no reasons why The Crown shouldn’t be allowed to cause any disruption. Some things are worthy of leaving their mark, and attracting attention, this being one of them. Speaking of disruptions, there are a stack of things people do despite knowing that it’ll disrupt their life in some way — be it drinking too much and beginning your day with a brutal hangover or wasting time gossiping about inconsequential things when you have a deadline to meet. The filming of The Crown may not be self-inflicted, yet it may only serve as a slight inconvenience rather than a full-fledged dire case of disruption. It’s a speck in the void and I’m sure those who couldn’t enter Sallies were happy about their newly acquired excuse for being late to class. There’s nothing like adding an element of variation to an otherwise tight and unalterable schedule. Besides, most people did not feel in the least affected by the film crew’s presence in town. Even if you were to call it a disruption of sorts, it’s positively moulding your university experience, serving as a persistent reminder of the bigger space you as an individual inhabit. Call it a meaningful disruption, one that allows you to step back and think about the privileges of studying in a space that can so easily be transformed from an ordinary university to an iconic film set. In recapturing a true story through a cinematic lens, the filming of The Crown emphasizes how close life itself is to a film, and how we’re performing all the time — as protagonists in our own stories.


NO - William Finlator


The strangest part about the filming of The Crown is that when asked, anyone involved with the filming of The Crown refuses to admit that The Crown is actually filming here. With Prince William and Kate lookalikes literally in view, I asked how long The Crown was filming for. I was not only refused an answer by a bouncer 7ft tall and 7ft wide, but rebuffed in my initial assumption that The Crown was even filming at all.


“Sorry, silly me,” I should have responded, I meant to ask how long is Pingu the Musical, Cocaine Earthworm or Fast and Furious 15: This Time it’s Serious filming for. Or, perhaps the bouncer was in fact making a profound epistemological point, arguing that we can’t be certain that that’s a camera, what filming is or whether there exists such a thing as time.


Unfortunately, I feel that this was not what bouncer meant. Instead, my interaction with the bouncer, who was refusing me access to the street I live on, displayed the arrogance and moral superiority typical of The Crown’s takeover of the town.

The Crown was probably doing something illegal by refusing me access to my house, yet was attempting to make me feel guilty for even trying to exercise a basic legal right. I have deadlines, things to do — I have essays to finish, lectures to go to, and articles to produce. I have my own little world to keep in order. And so I don’t have the time and don’t want to have to expend the effort to deal with the twisted whims of Netflix. I speak for the residents of Hope Street and Howard Place, when I say that this was one of the rather, albeit only slightly, annoying things to happen to me this past week.


Ok, ok, yes, we residents of Hope Street aren’t exactly the sort of people you may feel most sympathy for, living on Hope Street and all, but I think this misses the point. What’s wrong with how Netflix acted is not what sort of harm they created, but the failure to recognise that they were forcing people to make changes to their lives. All that I ask for was to not be treated like an inebriated rascal outside the Vic at 1.20am when attempting to enter my own house. All I wanted was a little respect — and it is this respect which was not forthcoming.


Netflix is a globe-spanning mega-corporation, one that’s properly loaded — and with this money comes power, and with this power a duty to be responsible or at least pretend to be caring. Netflix did not do this. Instead, Netflix acted like it literally owned the place, that rules that even they had to abide by were none of their business. It felt as if the priority was doing what they needed to be doing, regardless of whether they were actually allowed to or whether it was inordinately disruptive. And to my mind, that’s an abuse of power.


Because we can say The Crown’s actions in St Andrews are history, something really significant and cool – maybe they are. But this shouldn’t justify The Crown acting as if they were literal medieval monarchs, able to make others bend to their will, just because they want them to.


And perhaps this comparison to feudal kingship is a broader point. The Crown makes damning judgements on our monarchy and their actions through both fair and unfair portrayal of our royal family. But I would argue it could learn a thing or two from them. Because, when our real royals visit a place, there is, bar a few dissenters, an overbearing sense of joy, pride and affection. Royals take care to greet, to be seen to do the so-called boring things – visiting primary schools, shaking hands with the public and cutting the ribbons at leisure centres. In doing so, they make a community feel special - even if they obviously aren’t.

Despite the patent weirdness of most royals’ lives, actions like these tend to give a sense that the royals are one of us. Whatever your experience over the past week or so, one thing is clear: that same sort of effort and care has not been made by Netflix. Perhaps Netflix should look at itself and its flaws before it criticises those who actually fulfill an important public service.



Photo: Unsplash

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