When I first heard about the new television series, The Tudors, I was excited and skeptical. How could a show with such a sexy portrayal of King Henry VIII possibly be historically accurate? Well. I'm no student of European royalty but frankly, the show is so hot, I kind of don't care. From whatever I have seen and read about the infamous Henry, so far it does seem to be faithful to true events. As Jonathan Rhys Meyers responded to the surprising depiction of an overweight, bearded old fart as a jacked, sweaty heartthrob: "The Henry that we portray is somebody who's a very, very athletic guy. But, if you were doing as much hunting, jousting, wrestling, running a country and having a lot of sex, you're going to be pretty trim." Well said. Of course there are certain liberties they take in order to make it a captivating show. Kind of like what they do in all the medical dramas - if they wanted those shows to be realistic, all you'd see is bleary-eyed residents sitting at computers checking lab results, attendings pimping medical students on esoteric biochemical pathways, and nurses taking vital signs. Not so thrilling. That's why they have floods and smallpox epidemics in the ER and people having sex in the operating room.
Speaking of which (the boring realities of medicine, that is), one of my NYC electives was approved! So I will be at the Beth Israel Medical Center in September. I will probably have to apply to another program in addition to Columbia as a safety because Columbia is playing kind of hard-to-get. In any case, I'm excited that I will be getting to try out Manhattan firsthand. I can't believe that I only have about seven weeks left of my research position at MGH. It feels like the year really flew by. I'm kind of nervous about going back to clinical work, but I know that it's just a matter of jumping in and then I'll remember how to swim. Whereas a year ago the prospect of graduating medical school was frankly terrifying, now... well, it's still terrifying but also a relief. I don't care what the media shows, med school ain't no picnic.
I'm also glad the weather is finally more conducive to outdoor activities. I've been able to go for my runs outside now, instead of slogging away on the treadmill indoors, as I prefer to do when it's below freezing. If you're an outdoor exerciser, you should check out this website which helps you map out routes anywhere in the country for running/walking. It gives total miles, elevation points, etc and you can search their database for routes other people have created. It's a pretty handy tool, and useful for traveling.
Well, that's all I have to say about that. Now I'm off to curl up with a good book and cup of tea on this rainy day...
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This show is revealing the psychology of a brutal tyrant, his reckless behavior and pursuit of immortal glory. That alone would be enough, but the chilling reminders of brutal and relevant history don't stop there. We see what it truly is to be subservient to a king, what buffoons he surrounds himself with, and the innocents who are imprisoned in between. We see how a king is easily manipulated by his closest advisor who consistently serves his own best interests. And as any decent telling of a monarchy should do, we see what it is to live in a world that demands loyalty above all else.
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