Accidental Ambivalence

Attraction to Power

I’ve always been a girl with a bit of an addictive personality. At least, I think I am. I don’t really become addicted to things that are awful for me though. Yes, I drink occasionally,* but I’ve never smoked a cigarette or a joint or ingested any other kind of illegal substance. The idea of losing control like that scares me. I am, after all, a bit of a control freak. Still, I do have my addictions, unhealthy or not. Gilmore Girls, the color pink, coffee, reading, writing in my journal, texting – the list goes on and on.

I’ve always been fascinated by English history, particularly during the Tudor reign. I found the life of Henry VIII both repugnant and fascinating. When I was introduced to Philippa Gregory’s novels via The Other Boleyn Girl,** my interest when to an entirely different level. Showtime’s creation of The Tudors, then, was super-exciting to me, even though I knew I was going to have to wait for the series to come to DVD to watch it.*** I borrowed it from a friend at work, watched all ten episodes in about three days, and then bought them for myself.

While re-watching them this past week, I have made a few observations:
First, Henry Cavill is my new celebrity crush. Seriously. Second, my boobs will never, ever look that amazing. Even if I had a costume designer putting me in specially-designed period dresses, I’m fairly certain that mine would never look like that.

Finally, I do not understand this attraction to men in power. I’ve never been presented with anything that makes me think that Anne Boleyn was actually in love with Henry VIII, so what exactly was the point? Yes, furthering her family and all that, but what was she getting out of it? Okay, so she was queen; wouldn’t it have been frightening to be in the same position that you just usurped from someone who was, probably, rightfully there? How on earth do the benefits outweigh the costs in this situation?

I know I’ll never get a real answer to my questions, but I can’t help wondering. I suppose I’ll just have to placate myself by watching Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Henry Cavill being attractive on my television.

*Occasionally, I drink excessively. I’m also twenty-two, so I think that’s to be expected.
**That movie was seriously disappointing. I was sad; I really wanted it to be good because the novel is fantastic.
***I was, until about a month ago, a very poor college student. Not much is different now. I am now a very poor college graduate.

Labels: boys, television

posted by nicalyse @ 4:26 PM