A movie released in 1998 starring Gwyneth Paltrow titled “Sliding Doors”, delves into an age-old ideas of life's 'sliding glass doors.' This idea is that the seemingly inconsequential everyday incidentsor decisions affect someone’s life negatively or positively–like the train you catch or miss.
In the 1998 film, Paltrow's character is rushing to make her train home and in one scenario, she makes the train, gets home, and finds her boyfriend cheating on her. In the second scenario, she misses the train giving the other woman enough time to leave the apartment before Paltrow gets home, so she doesn’t know she is being cheated on. In the first scenario, she is able to move on and live a happier life. Yet, in the second scenario, she is suspicious of her boyfriend's infidelity and grows miserable.
You could get on your regular bus and never think twice about it. But what if you missed your bus by a few seconds and ended up taking the next one? And on that bus is your future spouse or a life-altering accident. It’s these little “sliding door” moments that bring us to Lizzie, Lindsay Ekstrom's painting of young Queen Elizabeth II.
This work of art shows the queen’s life in an alternate universe where she never ascended to the throne. Queen Elizabeth’s uncle was originally in line to assume the throne, but he refused because he was determined to marry an American, which was forbidden. The throne then went to Elizabeth’s father making him king. If Elizabeth’s uncle hadn’t married his American love, Elizabeth wouldn’t have become Queen. This painting shows the alternate universe where she doesn’t take to the throne. The constraints of royalty dictated what Queen Elizabeth could and couldn’t wear throughout her life; but this is how Lindsay believes she would have chosen to dress in that alternate reality. Without all the pressure to be the perfect royal, she is living her life in the norm as a Chav.
