Re The Crown (on Netflix)

[viva la]

2. Well, "his finest hour" was long past when The Crown takes place.

1. He was a real character (boozing in the bathtub while aides had to take notes on his speech drafts)
2. He was a good thinker and writer, and fast with a quip.
3. His personal determination and great speeches really did make a difference in the darkest days of 1940-1941.
4. He could learn from mistakes-- many leaders can't.

He was a xenophobe, racist, anti-semite, sexist, rotten husband, booze hound, etc.

But he was what the world needed at a particularly dark moment in history.

The Crown is very good... I remind myself the royal family is (unlike Churchill) not nearly as interesting or deep as the portrayal here, but if we think of it as historical fiction, it's brilliantly written and especially acted.