Monday, September 1, 2008

Showtime's Henry VIII won't get fat

I enjoyed the first two seasons of The Tudors, willing to overlook the various historical inaccuracies. However, I'm dismayed by reports that the producers have no intention of making Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, who admittedly has always been a somewhat eccentric choice for the lead role, appear to gain weight during the third season. The 2009 installments will presumably cover the period during which Henry VIII (who ceased exercising after a jousting accident in 1536 when he was 45, an event depicted in the second season) achieved his famous girth. Unlike all the other historical details that have been altered so far, most of which are only bothersome to history buffs, the aging king's obesity is a central feature of Henry's place in the popular imagination, and to keep him slim throughout his later marriages would seem to stretch suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. One wonders how viewers are supposed to feel particularly sorry for Catherine Howard if her husband (who was more than twice her age and overweight by the time he married her in 1540) still looks like a 31-year-old model and movie star.

3 comments:

Монархистичка Иницијатива said...

Did Henry VIII EVER look like a movie star?

Theodore Harvey said...

Supposedly, the young Henry VIII (he became King at 18) was indeed considered exceptionally handsome and athletic, the ideal Renaissance prince.

Unknown said...

I have lots of problems with this series, although I enjoy it immensely. The biggest one right now is this: if this is a show about 'the Tudors', why start with Henry VIII? Why not go back to at least his father, the first Tudor monarch, correct? Or even farther back to Owen Tudor?