I know this has been overdone to death, but I very strongly feel that many people miss the point of critiquing Historical Accuracy within Tudor Media. No, I am not talking about Philippa Gregory's abysmal writing and disregard for Historical Accuracy, I am a firm believer that those are meant to be enjoyed without taking into consideration the facts, sort of like the 'Rose of Versailles' a manga series about the French Revolution and Marie Antoinette, is not the book you'd want to read if you want insight into the French Revolution. They are entertainment and should be treated as such. For me, seriously critiquing whatever shite Phillipa Gregory writes is like critiquing Pocahontas for being inaccurate. They are simple films to be enjoyed, and I think that's fine, doesn't mean I have to like Gregory or her work.
What I am talking about is how terribly 'educational' works portray the people during the Tudorian Age and or the War of the Roses. Lets start with Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII of England. I absolutely despise how much she gets dunked on for literally no reason (and or petty reasons). Contrary to belief, she wasn't a fanatical scheming whore of babylon who wanted her son to dethrone the oh so precious House of York (Even prior to Gregory's works, that was somewhat the popular belief) if you look carefully into her personality, she never intended for her son to be King at all prior to Richard's rise to power. Both the Yorks and Lancasters already had their own heirs whom they were rallying around (For the House of Lancaster, it was Edward of Westminster and Edward IV for the House of York) and all she wanted was her son's return from exile in Brittany. She even agreed to RECOGNIZE the rights of the House of York just for her son to peacefully be allowed to return home. As for her religious affiliation, she wasn't that fanatical and she more or less became majorly religious in the later years of her life. As if that's somehow a bad thing though? Katherine of Aragon was incredibly religious yet no one ever dunks on her for it. As for the petty reasons, there is no evidence that Margaret Beaufort severely mistreated Elizabeth of York, she was more just haughty towards her in general.
I can't end this conundrum without mentioning the Six Wives of Henry VIII and how horribly they are perceived in popular culture. To clear up some perceptions; Katheryn Howard wasn't ever described as beautiful but more graceful and witty, but people mistake her youthfulness as 'extreme beauty' and hypersexualize her in a way which is sort of inappropriate considering she was a teenager at the time of her death. Jane Seymour also wasn't this villainess getting in the way of your favorite Anne Boleyn, Henry caused her downfall and he would've with or without Jane in the picture. And also, as much as I don't like Anne Boleyn and I hate to call out my fellow KoA fans, Anne Boleyn wasn't a pure evil malicious villain. Was she a great person? Eh no, but if it wasn't Anne, it would've been some other woman. Henry VIII needed a legitimate heir and KoA had already gone through menopause by 1520.
Feel free to debate me in the comments.