I do feel the same way. I recently watched the Empress and was very disappointed. The modern hairstyle for her sister Helene took me right out of the show.
My biggest disappointment was with Versailles. I can't believe the direction they went with that show!
History, to me is fascinating enough and I find no need to dramatize the movies and shows in the way they do!
William, I can pretty much say ditto to all of Cynthia’s thoughts above. For instance I watched Versailles, The Tudors and The Empress with either a snicker on my face and/or my eyes rolling more often than not. Absurd rubbish, but I love to be amused and entertained so I compartmentalize my knowledge of history and just sit back and watch it all as fiction. …. Of course I do thoroughly pick it apart after I turn off the TV, and sometimes I will dish at length about a historical dramatization with those of my friends who are also readers of history.
It is unfortunate that screen writers and producers either think that history isn’t amazing enough, or feel too free to venture off into fantasy because they haven’t read deeply enough on the topic. When I saw all the rubbish in the Versailles series I felt sad, as I knew there was this amazing, colorful, dramatic *factual* story to be told, but for unknown reasons they went another route.
If people are looking for knowledge of history, read deeply. If they are looking to be entertained, then relax and enjoy- but be mindful that dramatizations are not history lessons.
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