False Identifications
Events like Diana's funeral punctuate the global consciousness. For the duration of the spectacle, billions of people worldwide focus on the same imagery and ideas even if just for a fleeting moment. Even for those who did not see Diana's funeral on television, her death evoked some universal themes. For instance, death in itself is a universal phenomenon. With no exception, death touches the lives of all persons regardless of their social status or their ethnic heritage. Romance or filial love are also universals, as are divorce, and depression. Social strata, social roles, and caste can also be considered universal phenomena: features of most if not all human societies.The funeral of Diana drew attention to the universality of these phenomena, as Diana Taylor points out in "False Identifications." However, Taylor also stresses that universality of theme does not necessarily mean that a performance plays well to a global audience. The spectacle of the "people's princess" only seemed to unite people across all cultures. In fact, Diana's funereal spectacle isolated key segments of the global population by pretending to represent "the people." Taylor notes that "mourning rituals" like Diana's funeral "may be similar; they may enco
Second, the owners of the media agreed to produce the performance, granting it a "visa" in Taylor's terms (147). Surfacing that which was already there, these two social dramas showed where power lies, and where it does not. The first social drama of the 21st century also created a makeshift community of global proportions like Diana's funeral: September 11. The global spectacle seems to traverse religious, racial, ethnic, geographic, and gender boundaries because it contains universal elements. People sitting in box seats are elite: they pay three times the price of a common ticket. Makeshift communities are by no means egalitarian. As with Diana's funeral too, the remains of the performance have taken on a "life of their own," and in fact the remains of September 11 have far outlived those of Diana (Taylor 142). Like Diana's funeral, the event played out "both globally and locally" (Taylor 135). The production of The Queen therefore proves Taylor's point about the "sacralization of the remains" (142). For example, the September 11 social drama was a far different performance live than the myth of it has become. Political and social problems seem suddenly blurred during iconic moments of social drama like Diana's funeral. Using Diana's funeral as an example, the makeshift community created by a makeshift community transcends national boundaries, cultural backgrounds, and religious ideologies. The makeshift community is temporary like an audience in a theater. The remains are what make the social drama seem universal. The way the drama changes over time reflects the changes taking place in that community.
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Acceptance Essays
