Would the Van Oranje family have also been watching, a bowl of chips and a coke next to the sofa, who knows, with one eye and anxiously biting the stitched cushions? After all, the popularity of the Dutch royal family has been in a dip for years. Willem-Alexander recently received a (well) six of his peoplePreviously, only a small majority (55 percent) was positive about the monarchy.
And then there’s always that stuff about his grandfather, a man who is also posthumously good for periodicals commotion.
High time for “moving stories” that keep the dynastic past alive. In The story of the Netherlands – Oranje Nassau, which started on Wednesday, presenter Daan Schuurmans once again walks through history. This time that of the Oranges, who – somewhat faintly – “like an orange thread” runs through our history. His previous hike, from prehistory, was a viewing success. Although the reviewer of this newspaper also saw some “silly scenes” with Schuurmans as a tour guide among the wild boars and red deer.
It is timely. Re-enacting famous national episodes is part of a trend. National history has also become an ‘experience economy’, for all your affective and physical experiences (the series includes a ‘pod walk’, so that the viewer can also walk into the past themselves). Not surprising, after all, history is ‘history’, a story with drama, a tension arc and, hopefully, a head and a tail.
The point of the order is that now anything and everything is called a ‘story’ or worse: a ‘narrative’. Politics (the ‘official’ story versus the ‘honest’ story), faith and science (‘also a story’), very homo sapiens (‘the story of humanity’). And of course your own life, a unique story that is constantly enriched like a site, with moving images and the ‘making’ of memories. Many Dutch people have their family stories written down by writers. Nothing should go unnoticed.
An ugly pet
How does Daan Schuurmans cope in this narrative proliferation? Pretty good, honestly.
In the first episode, about the famous William of Orange (1533-1584), costume scenes are alternated with commentary from historians, including Orange biographer René van Stipriaan, according to a proven recipe. A large place is reserved for the sad fate of William’s second wife Anna of Saxony, whom he leaves “icy cold”. That results in those “poignant” scenes, including a punch in her face.
That seems like a kneejerk for Yvonne Coldeweijer, but it is not: for Willem this marriage was a political issue and “a barometer for the storm”. Although the storm itself is in danger of disappearing into the background.
If it Story The question now is that it can help give the current Oranjes a boost. Judging from the kick-off, the series is too nuanced for that. The beloved Father of the Nation emerges historically faithfully as an agile diplomat and political opportunist, more or less reluctantly leader of a rebellion against the Spanish king. Also as a womanizer, who changed religions as easily as he changed wives, if necessary at the same time.
You can also doubt whether the series appeals to a TikTok generation that cares a lot about saving the world but little about years before their own birth (when the real story only began). The slow pace and solemn music make the series quite an experience for those who rely on mobile every few minutes must check.
What do we take away from it? “War made the Oranges great and war connected them with the Netherlands,” summarizes historian Geert Janssen. That sounds like a good prelude to future episodes – with that grandpa.