I was completely puzzled by the cartoon of the Queen and Paddington Bear circulating around social media in the wake of Her Majesty’s passing. It seemed as if Paddington was leading her “off stage” and that the corgi at her side had some detritus of her recent jubilee celebration on his back. My first response was “aww,” shortly followed by… huh? Is Paddington dead too? Where are they headed? Is there some pop culture reference to the bear from Peru being a heavenly escort after death that I was unaware of? And did the Queen have some long-standing affection for the incorrigible, sweet but bumbling, marmalade-sandwich loving furry dude?
It was very confusing.
My niece Catherine, who lives in London, cleared up some of the mystery by explaining that for her Jubilee, the Queen appeared in a video co-starring the latest version of Paddington. (Aside - if you haven’t seen Paddington and Paddington II, all joking aside, run, don’t walk. Quite entertaining and Ben Whishaw’s voice acting really makes the big P quite irresistible.) There is apparently no other evidence the Queen was particularly fond of this character although there is abundant evidence she approved of dogs and horses.
I am not the first to note this but perhaps the most amazing thing about a woman who spent over 70 years on a stage that does not get any bigger than that of one of the last globally recognized monarchies in history is how little we really knew about her. In an age of authenticity where First Lady Jill Biden tweets about watching the series premiere of Abbot Elementary before going into her classroom the next day, the Queen transcended.
Even the Pope takes selfies!
(https://stateofformation.org/2015/07/on-taking-a-selfie-with-pope-francis/
The Queen was committed to remaining a familiar yet distant figure. I would have been hard pressed to describe what her voice sounded like although I would always be able to have identified the coiffed helmet hair, the monochromatic outfits, the handbag from back in 1964. While perhaps from time to time she longed to try layers in a hair cut, or wear cargo pants, or finally have her hands free by carrying a crossbody bag, I’m glad she didn’t. I’ll take my Q of E traditional - and predictable.
She was born in 1926 and her great grandmother Victoria had only died 25 years before. The Royal Family had a job to do and a major part of that job was to smile and wave when appropriate, look serious when appropriate, and project an unwavering confidence in the strong spirit of the British people. The job was not to share feelings and be an authentic human. (I do think Mr. Authentic is now coming our way as King Charles III, so be prepared for the editorials in the British press - did anyone not see “the pen incident”?) Queen Victoria was devastated by the early death of her beloved husband Prince Albert and was regularly criticized for her extended period of mourning. Queen Elizabeth sat stoically alone in St George’s Chapel during the pandemic, burying her husband of 74 years. The image is moving because of how solitary, alone, and accepting her lot in her grief, stoically modeling what has to be sacrificed when doing the “right thing” by social distancing.
Our social media/authenticity obsessed world has produced a cacophony of memes and commentary in response to the Queen’s passing. Besides Paddington, and the cartoon of the corgis welcoming her at the Pearly Gates (as a dog owner I confess to getting teared up seeing the corgis outside waiting for her funeral cortege to arrive at Windsor) there was also the predictable Twitter grumpiness, the reminders that she was just another 1% of a particularly vile ancient British land owning variety. The responses reveal more about the cartoonists, commentators, and re-posters than it does about the woman - exactly what she always intended. I greatly admire the discipline and consistency. Consistency is underrated in leadership and it is exactly the factor people underestimate when stepping into a new leader’s shoes. Good or bad, it didn’t matter, so much as there was a consistency and predictability to help people in their day to day understand what to expect.
On my flight back from California, I listened to Marc Maron’s WTF interview with Brett Morgen, whose “cinematic experience” centering on David Bowie, Moonage Daydream, opened earlier this month. I’m a moderate Bowie fan who can’t help but admire his relentless artistic quest, his embrace of change and experimentation, his engagement across art forms, and of course, the undeniably huge scale of his talents. I have my favorite songs but I am not particularly invested or disdainful of any one Bowie period (hey, music dudes, can you give 80’s Bowie a break?).
Quite the opposite of the Queen’s approach to living on the projection screen, Bowie dared people to project on to him by being so many things to so many people at so many different times. In Maron’s interview with Morgen he commented that he had gained new insights into Bowie as a flawed human being that lessened his pure admiration. Morgen’s description of what went into creating the film was fascinating - many years in the making with access to all the film and video the Bowie estate had to offer and final cut. Then the Hilton Als review of the film in the New Yorker criticizes it for not capturing the Bowie he knew - the one with ironic humor and playfulness. In the New York Times review, AO Scott comments that the approach Morgen takes emphasizes the artist’s “essential sanity.” He also comments that Bowie was a pretty good actor - whereas Morgen and Maron have a laugh over how neither thought the clips from the Elephant Man was Bowie’s finest hour. Then Gareth Roberts in the Spectator (UK) writes about how the film fails because the point was always Bowie’s total lack of authenticity.
I hope somewhere David Bowie is enjoying all of this.
The projection screen is all about the viewer and not the object and both Queen Elizabeth and David Bowie were keenly aware of this in their own ways, for their own very different purpose. The importance is in their intentionality. The Queen saw her job as projecting stability and predictability, reassuring everyone that no matter what, the sun comes up again tomorrow. Bowie was a seeker, making meaning of the human experience and having the talent and confidence to do it over many years in many mediums. People responded to the reassurance the Queen’s presence offered. People saw their own meaning making journeys in Bowie’s chameleon.
It can be frustrating as a leader to be the star of your community’s projection screen, but it’s a fact and it can’t be helped. We've been trained to do it since birth. When my dad turned 85 many years ago, I was relieved to find that the tributes my sister and I both wrote were largely the same - recognizing his engagement in the world in everything from music to politics, his calm even keel, his delightful sense of irony and his essential compassion for others. Our values were reflected back to us. Because sometimes the image on the projection screen is seen differently, even from child to child in the same family.
Like Bowie and the Queen, all we can control is our intention. Communication can be endlessly crafted. Decisions can be agonized over. Some people will maintain a negative projection no matter what, just as others will maintain a positive projection no matter what. It’s a lonely business being up on screen by yourself since no one can read your mind. Keeping your intention and your goal first and foremost in your choices is still crucially important and I have to believe, ultimately pays off with the vast majority of people. Whether it is seeing the crowds who came out to pay final respects for the Queen - and how much the idea of her meant to people - or the amount of ink being spilled assessing the work of David Bowie eight years after his death - ultimately they both stayed true to their intentions, played the long game, and won.
Now go listen to the song Moonage Daydream (true Ziggy Stardust alchemy) on Spotify, maybe repeat it a few times. I just turned it up loud.
I'm an alligator
I'm a mama-papa comin' for you
I'm the space invader
I'll be a rock 'n' rollin' bitch for you…
Don’t fake it baby
Lay the real thing on me…
Keep your ‘lectric eye on me, babe
Links
The Queen
The Queen and Paddington Jubilee short
The Queen was a good sport - her appearance with Daniel Craig for the 2012 Olympics
James Bond and The Queen London 2012 Performance
Queen and Paddington cartoon
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-61757555
The Queen’s funeral - corgis and her pony
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/19/queen-funeral-corgis-pony/
The Daily Mail desperately trying to create relatable moments for its readers - I think the caption should be “4 minutes of the Queen looking vaguely interested…”
4 minutes of the Queen being delighted by corgis and other cute dogs
David Bowie
WTF with Marc Maron - Interview with Moonage Daydream director Brett Morgen
http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1365-brett-morgen
Moonage Daydream review - New Yorker
Moonage Daydream review - New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/15/movies/moonage-daydream-review-david-bowie.html
Moonage Daydream (email sign up required) - Spectator (UK)
https://spectatorworld.com/book-and-art/david-bowie-authentic-queen/
Some 80’s fun