Critics might argue there's just too much sex on The Tudors, Showtime's semi-true retelling of England's King Henry VIII. And were the show set in reality, where the king wasn't a strapping fit fella, and the women he slept with skinny model types, they might be right: Who would want to see gap-toothed monsters getting it on every other scene? But creator Michael Hirst didn't make a show that's historically accurate. He made a show that people wanted to see. Which explains why star Jonathan Rhys Meyers is treated like a sex object: the camera lingers on his torso, there are ass shots a plenty, and sex scenes are as much about showing bare breasted women as they are a grunting Meyers. Rather than criticizing The Tudors for having too much sex, we should be celebrating producers' decision to finally glorify a dude.
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His cokey eyes are a wee bit distracting.
All well and good, but why linger so much on JRM and give us so little of Henry Cavill, who must surely be the most handsome man ever to walk the earth? Objectify that, Tudors! Objectify that all to heck!
I love the Tudors and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. I saw him in a movie on TV this weekend about a bisexual glam rocker from the 70's. He kissed tons of guys in that movie and it was hot.
@alex: Hell yes. Velvet Goldmine is one of my favourite films. Love the glam rock, and Jonathan was absolutely delicious in it. The first time I saw that movie was the day I fell in love with the man.
I should really get around to seeing this show sooner or later.
@vernonvanderbilt:
He's very ac/dc looking no?? ;)
Cute though!
@John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's): He can be AC, DC, or Hi-C…I just want to marry him and have his babies.
Sorry, Ren history nerd here and going to beg to differ, the fact is good ol' Henry was in fact quite strapping in his youth, generally regarded as built like "yon bricke shite house" The image we are familiar with was painted much later in life, after he had destroyed and built up Merry Old England and became comfortable and relaxed and well fed.
@vernonvanderbilt:
He probably would too! Pity you're not from London, he lives near my sister and is a real equal opp goer…
Though his (life) story is pretty tragic…
:(
@Tara:
Yeah BUT he was still a ginge!
AND as you said strapping….Rhys isn't strapping..he's very, very pretty and gamine like..
Nothing strapping about him or that eric bana..
They are pretty boys..
Henry the 8th was roguish and intimidating with broad soldiers..
@John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's): If I were from London I'd probably be perfect. It's the Universe's way of keeping me humble. :P
Yeah, I'm a bit of an Anglophile.
@John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's):
And syphillis-ridden…
I think I read somewhere that he was raised by two gay men and that he is very comfortable with gay people.
Scratch that. Wikipedia says he was brought up by his mother. factFAIL.
That show is unwatchable. It is to the historical Henry VIII what "The 10 Commandments" is to the Book of Exodus.
"Henry the 8th was roguish and intimidating with broad soldiers.." What do women in the army have to do with anything?
:)
@Tara:
He was also a dancer and a virtual rock star (with his own band).
And yes, it was the leg injury that slowed him down.
Despite all the license they took with history I am surprised at some of the tidbits the show left unused, particularly with respect to Thomas More.
Several biographies describe him as a ruthless, intolerant sadist, hardly the sympathetic character in The Tudors.
At his house he had a tree in his garden where he would tie heretics up and beat them. Also, he used a fair bit of dirty and scatological language in his letters.
But then TV and Hollywood biographies often get it wrong. I was amused at how virginal Elizabeth I was portrayed in the recent films. In fact people were scandalized by how openly sexual she was; she would make out with men on the dance floor in public.
There is even an account of her as a very old woman flirting with a visiting ambassador with her shirt open and her breasts exposed.
But then she apparently had the character and magnetism to carry that off, despite the fact that even as a young woman she was almost bald and had terrible facial scars from smallpox, and had bad teeth.
Truth is often stranger than fiction.