Buried Truth: Richard III and Toxic Males in The Lost King

In Shakespeare's Richard III, the doomed young Prince, about to be sent to the Tower by Richard, his guardian, says that "Methinks the truth should live from age to age / As 'twere retailed to all posterity / Even to the general all-ending day." To which Richard, already planning his next move, mutters "So wise so young, they say, do never live long."

No one denies the value of truth, not even Shakespeare's villainous Richard, and even as we struggle to find it in a world flooded with information and opinion. I can't tell you where you'll find the truth in the news media despite being a journalist, but as a movie critic I do know that you'll find a lot of things in the movies – wit, spectacle, beauty, horror – but that factual, objective truth isn't among them.

At the start of director Stephen Frears' The Lost King (2022), we're told that the film – a drama based on amateur historian Philippa Langley's successful search for the grave of Richard III – is not just "Based on a true story" but that it's "Her story." This implication – that one person can own the truth – is a very contemporary idea, and one that undermines what is an otherwise entertaining picture.

When we first meet Langley, she's at work in Edinburgh at some dispiriting office that demands regular meetings, during which she learns that she's been passed over for a promotion in favour of several younger colleagues, including a pretty blonde whose brief time on the job has nonetheless caught the attention of her oafish boss, who tells Philippa (while apparently reading from a human resources manual) that "you are at the right level for you."

Queen’s Lecture 2016 by Dr Turi King | King Richard III - the resolution of a 500-year-old mystery

6 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEU9_fbXW7I

The missing — undoubtedly murdered — two young princes in the tower could have become rival and more legitimate claimants to the crown had they lived. This seems to have covertly been a reason why Richard III got such a bad reputation in British history. No one could quite offer direct public proof that he had them killed, but elite circles knew well enough that was what happened to them.

This topic was posted 9/30/2023, thanks Twotone. No ping, just cleaning up some things in the "on deck" folder.

Most of the rest of the richardiii keyword, sorted:

King Richard III is now Black and Female. WAKANDA! [05/07/2023]
Renovations at Historic York Guildhall Reveal Human Remains, Roman Artifacts [07/07/2020]
Dissecting the true age of Old Tom Parr [09/26/2019]
New evidence: The bones of the 'Princes in the Tower' show no relationship to Richard III [07/15/2018]
King Richard III's grave [03/22/2016]
The House of Tudor Didn't Get the Last Word [03/27/2015]
Latin Mass to be offered to mark reinterment of Richard III [03/05/2015]
Thousands Sign Petition Calling for Richard III to Have a Catholic Burial [01/23/2015]
Coolest Archaeological Discoveries of 2014 [CHEESE!] [12/30/2014]
Richard III's DNA throws up infidelity surprise [12/02/2014]
Does Richard III's DNA question the Queen's right to the throne? Analysis reveals relative of [12/02/2014]
King Richard III's Final Moments Were Quick & Brutal [09/17/2014]
Reinterment of King Richard III Services Announced [09/07/2014]
Before He Died, Richard III Lived Large [08/24/2014]
Contemporary "War Of The Roses" Among Academics Over Claimed Richard III Remains Discovery [04/01/2014]
Are Richard III's secrets about to be revealed? [02/12/2014]
Hunchback King Richard III infected with worms [09/04/2013]
Last battle for Richard III as burial plans disputed in court [08/16/2013]
New mystery at Richard III burial site: A coffin inside a coffin [07/30/2013]
Mystery deepens in coffin-within-a-coffin found at Richard III site [07/30/2013]
Richard III: Facial reconstruction shows king's features [02/25/2013]
Bones Under Parking Lot Belonged to Richard III [02/08/2013]
Richard III body found under Leicester car park [02/07/2013]
Should Richard III Receive a Catholic Burial? [02/06/2013]
Richard III dig: Facial reconstruction shows how king may have looked [02/04/2013]
Skeleton found in parking lot identified as that of England's King Richard III, experts say [02/04/2013]
Experts find remains of England's King Richard III [02/04/2013]
Experts find remains of England's King Richard III [02/04/2013]
It IS King Richard III: Scientists reveal DNA results confirm regal identity of body... [02/04/2013]
Is Richard III buried under a parking lot? [01/31/2013]
Body Under British Parking Lot May Be King Richard III [12/29/2012]
Body of Richard III found (possibly) [09/16/2012]
Skeleton found in Leicester could be Richard III [09/12/2012]
Have UK archaeologists found Richard III's skeleton? [09/12/2012]
Shakespeare's Richard III Buried in a UK Parking Lot? [08/26/2012]
New Battle of Bosworth Field site revealed [along with site of Richard III's murder] [02/19/2010]
What if the Princes in the Tower survived into Tudor England? | Matthew Lewis | History Press UK
princes in the tower survived youtube [Brave search]
tony robinson britain's real monarch [Brave search]

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