What about American versions of Brit History?

[Loyalist Dave]

The CW show Reign which aired last Thursday, and which begins in 1558 (the era of the matchlock) deals with Mary Queen of Scots..., and is so poorly done the fact that the creator, producer, and director cash their paychecks borders on criminal theft. There is a point when "artistic license" is simply a BS excuse to be lazy.

Mary arrives in France with four ladies-in-waiting of her own age (true), but they are fresh from Scotland, and none have Scottish accents... English accents abound throughout the cast. :barf: None of the giggling girls have any court manners BUT they were sent to attend The Queen of Scotland?? :barf: Mary has survived one assissination atttempt..., but can wander outside the castle alone, and in fact the castle seems pretty deserted. :barf:

Half-way through the show the Scottish boyfriend of one of the ladies-in-waiting arrives, and walks into his girlfriend's room while she's taking a bath... sexy but manure! :barf: I guess in the name of "artistic license" we are to believe the French left the side door to the castle open as it was cleaning day, AND there were maps posted so the boy could find his girlfiend's room in castle he has never visited before? Really? :shake: He just wanders in and finds her? No guards, no letter of introduction, just walked over from Scotland, and wandered in? :shake: The next scene he's being interviewed by the Queen of France, herself? Again, really??? :shake: She doesn't have staff capable of dealing with the peasant boy?? :barf:

Not to mention the costuming for the men could use work and the costuming for the women is simply and totally wrong, and it's done on purpose. :barf:

When I looked up the creator and producer, it's no wonder. They are well known for selecting a target audience, crafting a show that they think appeals to that audience so that they maintain market-share and thus sell advertising. In this case it's high-school girls. God forbid they let facts get in the way...
..., and who cares if the BBC has demonstrated time and time again that a production company can produce blockbuster TV series that are historical and rather accurate...in America we do it fast, we do it cheap, make the money, and move on...



LD

 

[necchi]

Didn't Montey Python do English history with
Quest for the Holy Grail?

 

[colmoultrie]

Didn't Montey Python do English history with
Quest for the Holy Grail?

Their version of history is better than many others! At least they know and can explain what an anarcho-syndicalist commune is - and why the earth is banana-shaped. :wink:

 

[Woodyrock]

My family moved from Prince Edward Island, Canada to Virgina when I was in the fourth grade ...was sent home by the teacher the first day because I "did not speak English". I thought it was the other way around. I spoke the Queen's English thank you very much, and had no idea what that teacher spoke. Then came history......took me a few years to understand how both sides during the American War for Independence could claim to have 'won' military engagements.

Back on topic, I have never understood why American films or period mini series are SO off authenticity as opposed to those made in the Commonwealth.
Woody

 

[Cowboy2]

I imagine the heavy subsidization media outlets receive in many countries plays at least some role in the end product. If the government is footing a chunk of the bill, you have a bit more freedom to focus on authenticity than if the production costs are only recouped by viewership alone.

I'd also add that Hollywood has so straightjacketted itself with political correctness, activism, and downright religiously followed cookie cutter narratives/themes, that they've largely rendered themselves incapable of making a good product. Authenticity requires truth, and truth can often be uncomfortable for folks of certain sensibilities. Much better to produce something that everyone knows is BS than put out a product that might lead people to reach uncomfortable conclusions or ask uncomfortable questions....and thus render its creators professional outcasts.

 

[pargent]

Hollyweird can have all the expert advice and more but a film's producer can just disregaurd all of this to get the feel that the film makers want to put bums on seats .

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Somewhere, along my travels, I picked up a history of England, actually written and published there. Their account of the American Colonial uprising and the politics in England at the time were quite eye opening. Not so much that it was an opposite point of view, but just different. Some leaders in Parliament were sympathetic to the Americans. Some had other events to preoccupy their efforts and didn't seem to care much about the colonies.

I have been fascinated by Cresap's war and the odd events in British history that led to it. That Admiral Penn was an officer in Cromwell's Navy but offered to deliver the navy to the other side, etc. The king indeed owed a great debt to Penn, which was paid in great part by the Charter of Pennsylvania to William Penn. An error in an instrument reading led to the establishment of Philadelphia inside the boundaries of Maryland, etc. A crafty phrase by an English solicitor in the contractual settlement of the boundary dispute, signed by the Baron of Baltimore gave the Penns a huge chunk of Maryland. The king grew weary of the fighting and ordered both sides to pay a royal astronomer and royal surveyor to mark the boundary (Mason and Dixon.) with monuments quarried in England.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yeah we seem to have two additional counties that form the back of the Maryland "pan handle" that one does not find on early maps. I wonder if Virginia had a hand in any of that for that's where part of Old Virginia met PA and Maryland.

LD

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Dave, there was also a dispute between Delaware and Maryland, which was to be settled by Mason and Dixon, and because of the bizarre circular nature of the hook around Wilmington, there was the smugglers' triangle between Pa, MD and DE, which I understand was not finally settled between MD and DE until about 1920. Likewise caused by confusion over poor mapping at the time of the Charters. Although I understand that southern Delaware simply left Maryland because of lack of government control by Maryland. What is ironic, is that the settlers leaving Maryland to join Delaware were from Belgium and France and had come to the area through the negotiations of Calvert and their leader.

 

[pargent]

The worst that comes to mind is the latest Robin Hood ,good costumes and backgrounds etc. but the historical time line is like a 1200's pulpfiction story line and the end where the French use LANDING CRAFT BASED ON 1942 IS JUST THE BEST :rotf: :barf:

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

The French sound like they are from California! Like stated earlier this is made for a target audience. The rest of us are wasting our time unless you can turn off your brain before watching.

 

[pargent]

Even though they changed the time frame , so that the British were fighting the French and not the US , Master and Commander is a good movie .