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OK, so I have a confession to make. Yes, I’m a bit of a purist. Yes, I love my historical authenticity. Yes, when people whine that it is just “too hard” to make historical clothes correctly or to research actual historical recipes when making a feast, I want to throat punch them! But…
… Galavant was just AWESOME!
One of my biggest issues with movies (or TV shows) that depict something historical is when they decide that the original story and context just isn’t interesting enough. Arrogantly, they decide to make it “better”. And thus, we end up with stories like “The Tudors”, which depicts a non-readhead with a twinky build trying to fit in the shoes of the rockstar-turned-obese King Henry VIII. Or “The Borgias”, which showed an… “interesting” depiction of the splendor of Italian Renaissance costuming and the casting of the tall and rail-thin Jeremy Irons playing the part of the short fat bad-Pope, Alexander VI. And don’t EVEN get me going on “Reign”! I swear, whoever got pulled in to do the costumes for that historical (?) series must have been given $100, access to all the local Quinceanera shops, and the “used prom dress” section at Goodwill. And for the love of all things holy, I can’t think of anything worse than Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth (dubbed as Elizabeth ON MARS).
But then, now and again, we have some shows that are NOT actually meant to portray something historical but do a good job nevertheless. I remember when “Ever After” with Drew Barrymore came out. It was a retelling of Cinderella. OK, so right off the bat, I knew it was a fantasy – a FANTASTY – nothing more. But truthfully, a lot of the clothes were really nicely done. Sure, it was a mix of time periods and such, but in my mind’s eye, it was like attending an SCA event. I saw some Spanish renaissance – some really GOOD Spanish renaissance – along with some Italian Renaissance – some really GOOD Italian Renaissance – alongside of some pretty good middle-class working garments. Oh yah, and it was a fun little story that left me feeling good. One of my favorite flicks is Dangerous Beauty. Sure, it had a negative effect in the SCA in that a number of women decided they wanted to wear pretty and simple “courtesan” dresses based on the movie, which were pure fantasy. But like many history flicks, if you looked not at the stars, but at the people in the background, or the supporting characters, you saw some fantastic silhouettes. Oh yah, and it was a really great story that was visually stunning! It was not as spot-on as Zefferelli’s Romeo and Juliet, but I loved it nonetheless.
The thing about Galavant is that it not only embraces its hokeyness, it accentuates it! I don’t want to give away any spoilers for those of you who haven’t watched it, but it has so many dorky and silly little details that the episodes deserve a second watch. To me, it shows respect to historical fiction while also being just pretty damned campy, fun, and hokey as all get-out. A little Mel Brooks. A little Monty Python. And a whole lot of fun geekiness.
I mean, come on – John Stamos as a smarmy knight? GENIUS!
… Galavant was just AWESOME!
One of my biggest issues with movies (or TV shows) that depict something historical is when they decide that the original story and context just isn’t interesting enough. Arrogantly, they decide to make it “better”. And thus, we end up with stories like “The Tudors”, which depicts a non-readhead with a twinky build trying to fit in the shoes of the rockstar-turned-obese King Henry VIII. Or “The Borgias”, which showed an… “interesting” depiction of the splendor of Italian Renaissance costuming and the casting of the tall and rail-thin Jeremy Irons playing the part of the short fat bad-Pope, Alexander VI. And don’t EVEN get me going on “Reign”! I swear, whoever got pulled in to do the costumes for that historical (?) series must have been given $100, access to all the local Quinceanera shops, and the “used prom dress” section at Goodwill. And for the love of all things holy, I can’t think of anything worse than Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth (dubbed as Elizabeth ON MARS).
But then, now and again, we have some shows that are NOT actually meant to portray something historical but do a good job nevertheless. I remember when “Ever After” with Drew Barrymore came out. It was a retelling of Cinderella. OK, so right off the bat, I knew it was a fantasy – a FANTASTY – nothing more. But truthfully, a lot of the clothes were really nicely done. Sure, it was a mix of time periods and such, but in my mind’s eye, it was like attending an SCA event. I saw some Spanish renaissance – some really GOOD Spanish renaissance – along with some Italian Renaissance – some really GOOD Italian Renaissance – alongside of some pretty good middle-class working garments. Oh yah, and it was a fun little story that left me feeling good. One of my favorite flicks is Dangerous Beauty. Sure, it had a negative effect in the SCA in that a number of women decided they wanted to wear pretty and simple “courtesan” dresses based on the movie, which were pure fantasy. But like many history flicks, if you looked not at the stars, but at the people in the background, or the supporting characters, you saw some fantastic silhouettes. Oh yah, and it was a really great story that was visually stunning! It was not as spot-on as Zefferelli’s Romeo and Juliet, but I loved it nonetheless.
The thing about Galavant is that it not only embraces its hokeyness, it accentuates it! I don’t want to give away any spoilers for those of you who haven’t watched it, but it has so many dorky and silly little details that the episodes deserve a second watch. To me, it shows respect to historical fiction while also being just pretty damned campy, fun, and hokey as all get-out. A little Mel Brooks. A little Monty Python. And a whole lot of fun geekiness.
I mean, come on – John Stamos as a smarmy knight? GENIUS!
