For those of you who haven't seen Reign, it is based on Mary Stuart's life in France as a fiance/wife to Francis II. The tv series has received a lot of criticism for its historical inaccuracies, most prominently modern costume design and soundtracks. This is what I'd like to discuss in more depth today.
Reign costumes are not historically accurate
Obviously, anyone even slightly aware of the 16th century European fashion and having seen some period dramas knows it - and many people have commented on it. There are multiple articles on Frock Flicks website dedicated to Reign alone and tearing the show apart for it. Observer describes the show as 'a fashion girl’s fantasy and a history nerd’s nightmare' - exactly for this reason.
However, they aren't supposed to
In fact, Reign costume designer Meredith Markworth-Pollack explains the logic behind it - and it all comes down to how the executive producers of the show want it to be, after all. Being aired on CW, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Reign's primary target audience is female teenagers - and that the costumes have a certain role to play when it comes to target marketing. Not to say that teenage girls can't like characters in heavy corsets and funny medieval 'pumpkin' bottoms for men, it's more that they simply don't look sexy.
I wanted gowns that kept some kind of Elizabethan element, whether it was a nipped waist and extreme silhouette, or if it had a bit of a medieval feel.
So there we go. It does have the medieval feel - despite the open shoulders, chokers and no corset shape of dresses, they don't look exactly modern - or rather, they look like the perfect candidates for Heavenly Bodies 2018 Gala. Rich historically inspired dresses for young women addressing modern ideas and problems through a period setting.
And that's what this show is about. It's not really about teaching anyone history - and the people working on it have enough self-awareness to openly admit it. They're there to put up a show, tell an interesting relationship drama through the characters inspired by history. They play around with music, replace the sickly Francis II with the dashing young prince and create a fictional half-brother, placing the love triangle at the heart of the story. It is historically inaccurate and at times ridiculous from the start - yet in its own world of modern(ish) clothes, names and 21st century tunes, it is consistent.
The series follows the rules and style established in the very first episode - meanwhile dropping a name and a historical reference here and there. As a result, you have an engaging, easy to watch love story set in beautiful castles, filled with drama and character development, and funny moment from Meghan Follows.
As someone who never heard of Mary, Queen of Scots before I watched that series, I was intrigued. It gave me enough basic knowledge to connect the dots and get interested in Mary Stuart's story - and do some research and learn more about how exactly she became Elizabeth's rival through bloodlines, what exactly happened with her husbands - and it was after watching Reign that it suddenly made more sense to watch Elizabeth: The Golden Age and understand exactly how Mary was a problem for Elizabeth. It was easier to imagine the teenage girl in France, preparing her whole life to reclaim her Scottish throne and come back home.
Another thing is - theatre does it all the time, and goes much further. I saw Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch earlier this year - in modern setting, yet with the original dialogue. It was an interesting experience - of course, theatre is forgiven for lack of authenticity due to its limitations in a lot of cases, but many, many Shakespearean plays get the same treatment, whether it's the case of production costs or a stylistic choice, and they have a very loyal fan base. And there are numerous fans of such style - they love the modernization and many contemporary directors adapt historical pieces exactly like that, keeping the dialogue and introducing 21st century props and visual cues. It's experimental, they say for theatre performances. It's butchering history, say the film critics.
It is butchering history - of course it is! No less than letting skinny actresses portray the most beautiful women of the Medieval times - when the most attractive thing in a woman was childbearing properties, and girls were married off at the age of 13-14.
So, do the countless historical inaccuracies spoil Reign?
If you want a slightly more dramatic version of a documentary, certainly not. I am tempted to advise Wolf Hall for that kind of purpose - which is so meticulous about not stepping out of the line that it's dangerously close to falling flat at evoking real feeling in the viewer.
But if you're there for the ride and want an entertaining story - maybe it is the show for you. If you enjoy historical settings and a good old love triangle - why not?
