Are we there yet? No, we have one more episode to go and then we can forget we ever watched The White Queen (2013), at least as far as the costume content goes. That’s the thing I think I need to mention right now … This is actually, despite my bitching about it, a really entertaining show. I’m enjoying it far more than any other Philippa Gregory adaptation I’ve seen so far, even if I can quibble with the historical facts here and there. If I were just watching for the entertainment value and the history, these posts would be far different in tone and content. Maybe I’ll do a wrap-up post at some point, after I’ve recovered from the slog through the costume non-content, but not for a while. I need some breathing room, because at this point, I’m literally scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to find SOMETHING interesting to talk about, be it good, bad, or hell, even ugly. But there’s just SO little to work with! Case in point, today’s episode has literally two new costumes. TWO. Out of a cast of dozens, there are only two new outfits to report on.
So let’s get them out of the way before I struggle to come up with more things to talk about in order to flesh this post out.
So. That’s it. But I did notice as I was watching that this episode was particularly heavy on some of our most notorious frock flick tropes, so I figured I’d share them:
Welp, that’s all I got. Discuss!
This is the only PFG miniseries I can stand to watch without clawing anyone’s eyes out.
The York princesses most definitely DID NOT fetch and carry for themselves in sanctuary. And mismatched bodice and skirt combos were not a thing in 15th century dress.
Anne Neville is an intriguing character because she’s a total blank. We have no idea how she felt or what she thought of the crazy twists and turns of her life. All indications are she and Richard were an affectionate couple and we know both were crazy with grief on the death of their one and only child. Other than that, crickets. But Anne doesn’t seem to have done anything to help her mother, who was deprived of her lands and titles and interned at Middleham Castle. Was this because Anne had no power, or because she was taking out her anger and resentment at being sold to the Lancastrians and basically held hostage on her surviving parent? Was she timid and reclusive or was she fiercely ambitious behind a front of gentle femininity? Either could be true.
Why does the room in the final image look like a Lutheran church in rural Texas, right down to the scuffed linoleum?
XD! Nothings happening! Why is nothing happening in the costume department? White Queen needs to do better! Oh, Well, Next Week I’ll be raptor Screaming! Stay Tuned!
To be fair painted plaster floors looked much like that.
Although the lighting is very, very bad, that’s the Gothic City Hall in Bruges, so period perfect (although Flemish).
The White Queen takes fascinating women living in tumultuous times and turns them into caricatures of themselves, then dresses them badly!
Jacquetta of Luxembourg was a nineteen year old widow who defied convention and the king by marrying the man she loved – and got away with it.
Her daughter achieved the highest rank possible to a woman in England – and lost it all tragically, in a series of body blows, but came back strong toppling the usurper who killed her sons and putting her daughter on the throne.
Margaret Beaufort went from helpless child bride to powerful King’s Mother showing agency, determination and diplomacy as well as cunning along the way.
Anne Neville and Elizabeth of York suffered dizzying spns of Fortune’s wheel at very early ages and seem to have responded by withdrawal into a secure private world under their own control. Both achieved the crown of England and happy marriages.