Can we be historically accurate all the time?

       Let me be the first to say that I have very relaxed rules when it comes to historically accurate depictions in film and TV shows. I understand that true historical accuracy is just not feasible nor is it always entertaining. I am okay with creators taking certain liberties in order to make the story more interesting for continued audience-ship. However, where I draw the line is when a film or TV show just completely drops any pretense of actually trying to be accurate while still maintaining that it is. The worst offender of this, in my opinion, is Reign.

              The show follows the life of Mary Queen of Scots beginning with her courtship of Francis and through to his death and beyond. Mary is an extremely interesting figure in history. If I were to write a show about her, I would definitely want to include the historical mystery surrounding the death of her second husband, Lord Darnley. Historians have not been able to agree on how or why Lord Darnley died. Was he murdered or was it simply an accident? At the time, Mary was suspected of being involved in the plot to murder her husband with her alleged lover the Earl of Bothwell. Their subsequent marriage a year after Darnley’s death did nothing to quell these rumors and only enraged the nobles further. Mary was forced to abdicate under these conditions to her son, James. In today’s pop culture climate, this would make for a compelling true crime narrative.

              Reign however follows the love life of Mary, both real and imagined, and of her lady’s maids. Its more akin to a soap opera in 16^th century France than any real historical fact. On the surface, there are a few glaring details it is hard to get over. Primarily, the fact that while the series takes place in France, everyone speaks with an English accent. Even Mary, who is Scottish, speaks with an English accent. I can get behind the thought process that if everyone speaks with the same accent (French) then they could sound the same. So, in this case its more important everyone sound the same rather than having varying European accents. I also understand its not ideal to have the whole show with English subtitles. That degree of inaccuracy is okay, not ideal but I understand there are logistical humps to get over while producing a show geared towards English speakers. So fine. I’ll allow it. However, what frustrates me to my core, is that Mary speaks the same. She is not! She should at the bare minimum have a Scottish accent. There is some contention about whether or not she would have spoke with a French accent having been raised there or her native Scots accent. But, by all accounts she was surrounded by her Scottish ladies’ maids and household while in France and only left Scotland at the age of five. Therefore, she must have maintained some of her Scottish accent. I think a more generous understanding would be she probably accumulated a mix of French and Scottish having been around both most of her life.

              Another glaring issue is the clothing. There is a strong argument to be made that any depictions of historical clothing are inherently inaccurate simply because we lack the same knowledge and instruments. Clothes are made very differently today than they were 500 years ago and that will result in slight variations on the reproductions. This can be simple things like, there’s few people who know very specific methods of hand stitching, so the fabric won’t fall or look exactly the same as it had 500 years ago. There are also larger things like the placement of the shoulder stitching is completely different now. Women’s jackets and shirts have the stitching right at the apex of the shoulder, whereas historically, it was pulled back and was in-between the shoulder blades which change the posture of the wearer. All of these minute details go towards or against historical accuracy. However, I’m not advocating that all reproductions of clothing must have the correct stitching method otherwise it is historically inaccurate.

              Despite all the minute details that would render a garment historically inaccurate, there are very obvious ways to make the costumes feel as though they are of the historical period you are trying to depict, even if they are not. Reign however, drops all pretense of trying to make costumes that could be worn in the 16^th century. Mary and her ladies where dresses that are far too low cut and sleeveless. Regardless of status, no woman was wearing dresses that showed that much skin in the 1500s. It went against ideas of social morality at the time and quite simply it was not fashionable. Mary and her ladies would have been expected to be the most fashionable at court.

              There is however one glaring detail that I cannot overlook. In the show, Mary weds her first husband, Francis, in a white wedding dress. This is a completely modern convention.  A white wedding dress was popularized by Queen Victoria in the 19^th century, long after Mary’s time. Brides of this time could choose whatever colour they preferred as their wedding dress. Not only, is the colour unlikely, but the style is far too modern as well. The wedding dress in the show looked like it walked right out of Say Yes to the Dress.

 

Mary's Wedding Dress in Reign

 The final issue I want to point out about Reign is Francis. While the show starts with Mary living in a convent and meeting Francis for the first time at 18, in reality, they actually grew up together. Francis was a sickly boy, a stark contrast to the show where is in seemingly perfect health. Francis and Mary get married at the age of 15 and 16 respectively. This last only 1 year as Francis dies shortly after. The Francis depicted in the show is a typical teen heart-throb, vastly different from the real life figure.

Mary and Francis in Reign

 

 

 

The Real Mary and Francis

    All of this is to say that I don’t expect every historical drama to be exactly accurate since it isn’t always feasible or entertaining. That is fine. The problem comes when shows like this or movies are not upfront that they are not going to be historically accurate. If you want to make a reimagining of historical figures in modern times, that’s an entirely different genre and offers more freedom of creativity. If you are marketing your product to take place in a certain time period, there are expectations that most historical accuracies should be there. People should be wearing time appropriate clothing, accents should be the same and historical figures should remain fairly true to source.