Intelligentsia

 "14-letter word that describes elite artistic thinkers"- went the Jeopardy clue from yesterday, June 19, but also could be the name of a coffee chain MJ likes and would very likely push to go to anytime we go to a new city. I am certainly not one of the intelligentsia, far from it I would probably be considered part of the "dumbsia" or "unintelligentsia," as I have very little artistic thought and value practicality over art. I do admit it's a great word though, evokes images of wisdom, sophistication, a hint of foreign influence, and the word itself isn't something the hoi polloi (the opposite of the intelligentsia) would say, knowing the word itself likely puts one closer (although definitely not IN the realms of the intelligentsia). 

Sometimes I feel closer to the intelligentsia when I watch the Crown, especially Season 4 where there's a whole episode devoted to the relationship between Charles and Diana, and their wedding. Whenever the opening shot pans over Windsor Castle (I've been there, it's not as impressive in the flesh as it is from the Netflix-enhanced imagery) I feel like I'm in the presence of royalty, and that others watching the Real Housewives or their local broadcast news just wouldn't enjoy. Anyway, I really feel for Charles's dilemma (did not realize their age difference was over 10 years, an eternity in a lifetime especially in the years 20-30, which Diana was foregoing by marrying Prince Charles at the time). The Crown played "The Edge of Seventeen" by Stevie Nix during a Diana montage, and that was close to her place in the world, just leaving the teenage years and establishing herself in the world but suddenly thrust into a completely differnet one as the most talked about person in Great Britain and making world news. My twenties are definitely not the years I would forgo, even for lifetime status as part of the royal family and a public figure, no more worries about finances or admiration, you're the Princess of Wales. But at what cost? You only get one shot to be in your twenties, and Diana had to spend it with someone she didn't really know that well (who was unfortunatley still in love with someone else) in a life she wasn't accustomed to, with billions of people around her watching her every move. No wonder she developed an eating disorder. The beauty of the Crown is also that you see the perspectives of multiple characters, there are no truly good people and no truly bad ones, just flawed people with different motives and ways of handling them. Even the Queen is portrayed as making some poor decisions, and it's not clear to me why she allowed her son to get married despite knowing (apparently from the show) he was unhappy about it. Life is so complicated, even for the Royal Family, if not more so. 

I don't talk about love much, and not sentimental person, the only things I "loved" in this blog were fantasy baseball players and Jeopardy clues, but how do you really love someone and know that there's no deeper love? How do you know you won't grow into that love later? What if you're just naturally not a sentimental person and "love" doesn't resonate to me like fireworks and candles and love poems and romantic getaways but instead as more loyalty, respect, and quiet times of shared moments and assumed togetherness (like me?) Love means different things for different people, and perhaps Charles thought he really did love Diana, and didn't just marry her because his family approved (such a tempting thing when it's so convenient) and he had to, that love just changed later. Maybe the intelligentsia know more about love and how to describe it and express it through artwork, but I wonder if that feeling can really be expressed because it means something so different for everyone. It's also used to sell a lot of things tike wedding rings (this is the skeptical side of me talking) and wedding receptions and honeymoon destinations, so I don't think it always has to be marriage and the same celebratory thing as everyone; it can be just an understanding, a link, an acknowledgment that we have been together and share everything, let's keep going further.