My interest in British royalty ends with the Stuarts. My favorites are the Tudors. Game of Thrones renewed my interest in learning more about the Wars of the Roses since it inspired the popular HBO series. What better way to familiarize yourself with a historical period than watching a dramatized miniseries about that period? How can one satisfy a craving for more Game of Thrones episodes without starting a book series before it is finished? The correct answer is to watch The White Queen. There are no dragons, and the cover art for the DVD is a bit dramatic and not representative of what happens in The White Queen, but the ten part series was riveting until the last two episodes. The White Queen’s only flaw was the last two episodes. The pacing was weak, and The White Queen’s sympathies were divided among all the characters. I think that The White Queen’s should have ended with Edward IV’s reign, and a new mini series should have depicted the period leading to Henry VII’s reign. Other than that single flaw, I would highly recommend The White Queen to those looking for a little something to tide them over until the next season of Game of Thrones appears or if you like historical dramas. I watched it in two days, but it was totally possible to watch it in one day if you start early enough and have no other obligations or interruptions. What was true then is true now: if you don’t like a relative, don’t let it get so dramatic that it literally destroys your entire family.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS
Of all the characters, I find Lady Cecily, Edward IV’s mother, the most disturbing because I’ve seen real life people like her. I get that you love your child, and no one is good enough for him so you hate his wife, but so much that you’ll let your son’s children die? A lot of people feel less attachment to blood relatives in less than one generation, in her case, her grandchildren, and I do not get it. You would think that fierce love and loyalty would carry over to anyone related to you by blood, but it is limited to her baby. Many of the historical figures also lack basic empathy-they often did to others the same thing that hurt them and feel shocked when that person strikes out against them. Elizabeth starts out with no position. They kill her father and brother and when she decides to strike back, she is the witch. Got it. How dare she not like that they hate her and want her destroyed! A lot of history would have gone a lot differently if people stopped choosing to let other people’s life decisions, in this case a marriage, as a personal insult, communicated and empathized.
