There is another scene that seemed out of place, and it involves Henry masturbating. Okay, so he masturbates just like everybody else—except he has a man kneeling in front of him, holding a strategically-placed towel to catch his, um, release. I understand that members of royalty have people to do everything for them, but is Henry so lazy that he can’t even bother to clean up after himself? Was this a standard practice among kings? This is not something that they covered in any history book I read. It gets more bizarre: between his grunts and moans are flashes of Anne sitting by herself, knitting. I suppose this suggests that Henry was thinking of Anne whilst pleasuring himself, but it seems an odd image to choose. Granted, she was wearing a low-cut dress (she and every other female character in this series), but she was knitting—is this his ultimate fantasy? It’s interesting to think that a man who has probably had a woman in every possible position would fantasize about something so simple and seemingly innocent, but the whole scene was just weird and disjointed.
However, neither of these moments decreased my level of enjoyment or interest in the show. I’ll definitely check out the second season when it premieres on March 30. Like any good soap opera, the ridiculous is nicely balanced by dramatic plot lines that draw in the viewer. The Tudors is by no means a documentary or biography—and it’s not trying to be one, either. It’s more like a guilty pleasure that entices you with tawdry scenes of sex and corruption—think Melrose Place in period costumes. Who knew that history could be such a turn-on?
