"The Tudors"

The Tudors is a dramatic series which showcases the life, reign and marriages of King Henry the VIII. I was personally drawn to this particular series, first because of its historical context (even though critics will destroy this series for tampering of the historical content) and second the acting was well-done. Undoubtedly, the importance of the theme for The Tudors is not to highlight the separation between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation. But, the importance of King Henry VIII, and his infamous six wives. Sex sells on television and the creator, Michael Hirst, of the The Tudors could not have picked a better history to tell, while exploiting the sex scenes, and making it into a television series. As Critic Heather Havrilesky says, The Tudors is a soft porn evolving around a historical context and I have to agree with this as I have only watched seasons one and two which contains 10 episodes each and King Henry VIII has had multiple sex scenes with various partners (mistresses). Havrilesky also makes a good point that if the scenes do not involve sex, it will still be portrayed in a sexual nature. Havrilesky gives examples of Anne Boleyn’s facial expression when she tells Henry VIII "Now, my love, let me conceive, and you will have a son!" the facial expression Havrilesky describes of Anne Boleyn is of a slight sneer of a porn star. Havrilesky states that The Tudors does leave little to the imagination by having no shame and revealing it all, but perhaps the others from court could learn from this dialogue between the Duke of Suffolk when he expresses his undesirability to see Lady Anne Boleyn’s coronation to his Wife Catherine. As quoted from the article from a dialogue from the series:






Catherine: Can you not plead some indisposition?


Suffolk: I could. Even though the king has made me high constable for the day. But if I did, His Majesty will remove my head and then I should be genuinely indisposed.


Catherine: So keep your head! It’s a pretty head in any case, and I don’t want to lose it either. But store up your knowledge and your anger. Don’t act impulsively; it’s always a mistake. But one day, with others so indisposed, use them both. If you can, bring her down and destroy her!









The critic remarks on how The Tudors is a historical drama, and yet a sexually explicit romantic novel. Havrilesky catches these moments of soft porn through dialogue, facial expressions, and of course, the sex scenes. I like her critique, because her opinion of The Tudors being a soft porn novel is backed up with a lot of insightful remarks upon the episodes, with which I agree. I like her writing style as well; it is a combination of both formal and informal. Havrilesky will not shy away from the use of exclamation points. In terms of formality, I mean by having to reread the sentence twice due to the excessive language, the article was difficult. But other than the formality of her writing, it was enjoyable. I also love her title "Pretty Heads Will Roll" Yes, heads are rolling one after another, which is the disturbing part of the show, but hence the title "Pretty Heads." Yes, the cast in The Tudors is gorgeous. They are in fact ridiculously beautiful, just take a glance of some of their beautiful cast!


















(Both pictures taken from Google images)





On the one hand, as Havrilesky remarks, The Tudors is a historically accurate soap opera with skillfully costumes and shots. On the other hand, critic and British historian Dr. Starkey picks on the inaccuracy of the show. I think it is interesting how Havrilesky sees this in a more soap opera context and gets the purpose of the show – (its TV drama, to entertain and not be weary of every historical detail), whereas another cannot see beyond the entertainment aspect beyond the flaws and inaccuracies of the show, like Dr. Starkey does. Dr. Starkey does not get it at all. He is too negative about it all. I can agree that I noticed some historical inaccuracies, but that did not make me hate the show. On the contrary, it got me interested in The Tudors history. I was not just engaged with the show, but it also sparked my interests and compelled me to learn more about the history through research on the web.


In Andrew Hough’s article, he talks about two historian perspectives: one, who I mentioned before, Dr. Starkey, as well as Dr. Borman. What is interesting about this article is that Hough uses two perspectives, sharing the same view with Starkey of how The Tudors has inaccuracies, but then it clicks for Dr. Borman; she gets it, just like Heather Havrilesky. I particularly like this article because Hough offers two historian’s tastes for the show.


Dr. Borman and Dr. Starkey both studied the Tudor period. However, given the fact that they both have passion for the history of the Tudor era, it was harder for Dr. Starkey to enjoy The Tudors in a different form of telling, which is by television. Dr. Starkey was ashamed of BBC; basically, he thinks BBC wasted their money for nothing. That BBC wasted their money on a historically distorted drama just to appeal to American audiences. Dr. Starkey was ashamed that King Henry VIII did not resemble the real King Henry VIII; the character in the show who plays the king (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) looks were completely different. Dr. Starkey also is disappointed with the fact that King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) did not gain weight to keep his sex appeal in the show, which was the end of discussion for Dr. Starkey. Dr. Borman, who also studied the Tudors, was initially determined to hate the series after all the distorting facts, but she admits: "with its unfeasibly beautiful actors, dodgy costumes and improbable storylines, [I] found myself becoming strangely addicted." Dr. Borman was able to aesthetically appreciate her topic of specialty and she was trapped in the story line which proves maybe at the end of the day, the drawn viewer is not waiting the next day to see the decision of the Catholic Church, but rather what gown Lady Anne Boleyn would be wearing. Dr. Borman acknowledges that the scriptwriters may have taken liberties with their facts, but are nonetheless able to depict the drama and atmosphere that took place in Henry VIII’s court. Finally, she also claims that, despite the inaccuracies, it still creates public interest in British history, and television dramas are a way to engage the viewer to create a passion for a subject.







Another article by Clemmie Moodie reveals more inaccuracies of the show. Alison Weir, another a historian, is worrisome of how the viewer can pick up inaccuracy and limit their knowledge to only that – the wrong fact. She says "Henry had red hair, not black hair as this actor has, and some of the scenes are just plain gratuitous…Henry was a very discreet king; he would never have indulged in womanizing openly. While he may have liked the ladies he would never have been so indiscreet - that is why there is so little evidence of his affairs…the truth is interesting enough so why try to glamorize it?" Why glamorize it? Maybe because The Tudors attracted over two million viewers, and television is synonymous with glamour. One of the reasons people watch television is because it is entertaining, and to distort historical facts once in awhile is most definitely not the end of history. I can understand the anger of historian Starkey, but history drama is embellished for mass appeal and that is not a new concept.




I don’t think Historian Clemmie Moodie, would have liked to see this, as the real King Henry VIII would not have been in the halls with Lady Anne Boleyn.






(Taken from Google images)










Article from Critic Heather Havrilesky: http://www.salon.com/2008/03/26/the_tudors/







Article from Critic Andrew Hough: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6005582/BBC-period-show-The-Tudors-is-historically-inaccurate-leading-historian-says.html


Article from Critic Clemmie Moodie: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-489336/Henry-VIII-The-glaring-errors-BBCs-sexed-dumbed-Tudors.html










Works Cited:


Moodie, Clemmie. "Henry VIII: The Glaring Errors in BBC's Sexed-up, Dumbed-down Tudors Read More: Http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-489336/Henry-VIII-The-glaring-errors-BBCs-sexed-dumbed-Tudors.html#ixzz3J4ML4fkt Follow Us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook." Dailymail.co.uk. Associated Newspapers Ltd, 24 Oct. 2007. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.


Hough, Andrew. "BBC Period Show, The Tudors, Is 'historically Inaccurate', Leading Historian Says." Telegraph.co.uk. Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2014, 10 Aug. 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.


Havrilesky, Heather. "Pretty Heads Will Roll." Salon.com. Salon Media Group, Inc., 26 Mar. 2008. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.