The expectations towards Polothe five-episode Netflix series created by principe Harrythey were very tall. With this job the Sussexes had to demonstrate that they knew how to walk alone through the bright but sometimes impervious streets of Hollywood. It was time to shine beyond the royal family. It seems, however, that the wait has not been rewarded. The documentary has been overwhelmed by criticism: many consider it a product “borious”, created for the use and consumption of the elite. Nothing creative, nothing original, no innovative perspective. Adding to the flop is the mystery regarding the cooking program wanted by Meghan. The public wonders where it went and when it will be aired. There are even those who speculate that it will never see the light.
A “dynamic” game and a “boring” series
“Polo is a new docuseries that follows the world’s most prominent players and offers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the dynamic world of sport…”Netflix declared triumphantly on September 9, 2024, presenting Prince Harry’s new work. The announcement arrived ninety minutes after the message through which Kate Middleton he had expressed his relief at the end of chemotherapy. A suspicious timing, according to some, which gave rise to a lot of controversy. Not exactly the best way to communicate the imminent release of the series to the public. The newspapers had already started talking about “Polo” in April 2024. The tone seemed enthusiastic. Deadline, for example, wrote: “[La docuserie] will offer spectators unprecedented access to the world of professional polo…It will raise the curtain on the grit and passion of the sport, capturing [tutto ciò che riguarda] the players and what it takes to compete at the highest level.” An announced success, at least in theory. In fact, things would have gone differently. The kindest criticism the program received from the media was a simple, fatal one “boring”.
The Sussexes’ kiss is not enough
In the documentary Harry e Meghan they make a very brief appearance: last April, in fact, the couple took part in the Sentebale Polo Classic in Wellington (Florida). With them there was a Netflix crew ready to collect material for the docuseries. The scenes in which the duchess, on the sidelines, cheers for her husband who is competing in the competition, the kiss that the two exchanged when the trophy won by the duke and the moments during which Harry presents the wife of the Argentine polo player Cambiaso. The prince highlights the fact that Meghan speaks fluent Spanish. At that point the duchess intervenes, recounting the times in which she lived in Buenos Aires, engaged in an internship at the US embassy during her senior year at Northwestern University. Nothing unforgettable, say the most critics.
“Out of reality”
Netflix users and newspapers save nothing from Harry’s docuseries. It would just be another failure for a couple who still haven’t figured out what they want to do when they grow up, so to speak. Apparently neither the content nor the production would have met the public’s tastes. “[Polo] It’s proof that money can’t buy good content.”public relations expert and president of Reputation Management Consultants Eric Schiffer told Newsweek, summarizing all the flaws in the product created by Harry and the public’s discontent. The topic, in fact, would not attract people’s interest, since polo is considered a niche sport. The series, according to the expert, outlines an elite “indifferent, disconnected from reality, self-centered”. Il polo it would be perceived as the symbol of a world so exclusive and snobbish as to be downright nauseating. “It is the pompous representation of privilege passed off as a documentary”Schiffer added. “Sounds fake.”
The new cure for insomnia
In addition to the theme of docuseriesbranded as tedious, Schiffer also criticized with biting irony the way in which it was conceived and created: “You may see a new advert, ‘polo, the new insomnia cure for you from the royal world. They have made it the new frontier of unreliability. This ensures that polo becomes even less popular for ordinary people…Leaves viewers indifferent. It seems like [gli autori] Googled how to bore Netflix subscribers to death.” To think that, according to what producer Miloš Balać reported to Variety, the series should have made this sport “Accessible…even if you don’t know anything about polo” and, consequently, “breaking the stereotype that it is exclusively” for one narrow circle Of “rich” e “famous”.
“The humanity” of the pole
Il principe he wouldn’t have been able to talk about his passion for polo. He would have limited himself to presenting this sport in an almost aseptic manner, without really involving the spectators. He wouldn’t have been able to put himself in the shoes of the many people who know nothing about it, but would like to know its history and rules, even just out of curiosity.“Unfortunately this great sport”, Schiffer continued, “…he doesn’t even have a chance to come to life and show his humanity. It’s an example of botched content, which is consistent with the brand [dei Sussex]…”.
“Unintentionally comical”
For the Telegraph “Polo” is “a tedious internal perspective” about this sport, told with “obtuse indulgence”. The Guardian claims that the serie reach the heights “of the involuntarily comical” and comes to define the pole “the stupidest and most unbearable sport known to mankind”while the Daily Beast summarizes its opinion with one simple word, “terrible”. The tenor of the criticisms in newspapers, websites and social media is this. Finally, the sentence of the critic Stuart Heritage, quoted by the New York Post, falls upon the documentary, heavy as a boulder: “Polo is destined to fall…into darkness at the speed of light. And rightly so.”
Beware of prejudices
Let’s leave Prince Harry’s documentary aside for a moment. True, polo has never been as popular as, say, football. It is no coincidence that it is defined “the sport of Kings”. It has a very particular history, which has distanced it from many other team games. However, we must be careful not to use the alibi of elitist sport to justify and, perhaps, fuel the public’s disinterest in polo, because in this way we risk creating a prejudice. The fact that it is a sporting activity for a few does not mean that it is not worthy of wider media and public attention. The problem is finding an original point of view that can inspire even those who cannot afford to play polo. Carry out the project with a clear purpose, that is: why tell the story? What would people need to know? How to present the series to the public in a way that captures their attention, making them forget, at least for the time of one episode, that the topic is an expensive sport? Perhaps Harry’s collaborators have asked themselves these questions, but the real doubt is: did the prince do it too?
End of year balance sheets
Things don’t seem to be going very well for Harry and Meghan, at least on the Netflix front. Let’s make a quick summary: in May 2022 the newspapers reported the news of the cancellation, well before broadcast, of the series dedicated to women “Pearl”, of which Meghan Markle she was supposed to be executive producer. Among the reasons there would have been a reduction in costs as a result of the drastic drop in subscriptions to the streaming giant. That same year, the Dukes launched the Live To Lead series, which focused on stories that inspired but failed to make an impact. At the end of 2022, “Harry & Meghan” arrived on Netflix, a docuseries about the couple that caused a sensation for the revelations about the royal family, but from a creative point of view it was not unforgettable. In 2023 the platform launched “Heart of Invictus”, based on the story of the Invictus Games, but this did not attract the general public either. Now comes the flop of “Polo”. Are the Sussexes, therefore, “condemned” to have visibility only when they talk about the royal family, as if they were a broken record? If this is the case, a rosy fate does not await them.
Where did Meghan’s cooking show go?
The media hopes for redemption through the show Meghan’s culinary program, announced last April, together with Harry’s. The program wants “celebrating the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining and friendship”wrote Deadline. Except that for months now, we’ve lost track of it. There isn’t even a date. An insider told the Daily Mail that “the show may never see the light of day”but the reason is not clear.
The source, however, specified:“[Sarà] crucial” for the Dukes’ future in the Netflix universe, especially since their contract with the platform is scheduled to expire in 2025. “There will not be another agreement.”
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