Rating Random YouTube Documentaries on Queen Mary I
- E.G. Maladroit
- Nov 19, 2020
- 3 min read
Here are some ratings for the most accessible documentaries on the first monarch queen – from a semi-biased catholic sympathiser, though I hope I have provided as objective a viewpoint as is possible for such a controversial topic and ruler. No particular order, just the one I watched them in.
#1 – ‘Mary I of England FULL FILM, documentary, history, Bloody Mary, Mary Tudor’
- Whilst this was probably slowest, and most requiring a fast playback speed, it was the most amusing
- 10/10 for visuals, sad woman playing harp footage in abandoned ruin randomly pops up every now and again making for great viewing experience
- Actual content was interesting, but clearly biased in favour of Mary in a way that even dissatisfied me, despite that being my own inclination
- Use of first person narrator was very off-putting – dumbed it down quite a bit, and the whole tone of the documentary inclined it to being better suited to young children – though I couldn’t see anything to say that was its purpose
- Very meh, though somewhat interesting – provided much of the information that was needed
- 4/10 – not necessarily bad, but not particularly worth watching
#2 – ‘Mary I Tudor - Bloody Mary (Documentary)’
- 48 minutes, 23 seconds
- Fast paced, Interesting
- One best of all of that I watched
- Cohesively compacts all necessary information – not overfocussing on domestic intricacies as the others tended to, instead looking mostly at the significant events and turning points of her reign
- Actually classy visuals, non ironic 10/10
- Fair portrayel – doesn’t skim the fact she was competent and a strong ruler, but also doesn’t baby her and pretend she wasn’t slightly excessively violent
- Slightly skims over the heretic stuff, but that’s usually just due to how short her reign was – hard to avoid doing
- Comment section is 10/10
#3 – ‘The Most Evil Women in History – Bloody Mary Tudor’
- Extremely sensationalist – misrepresents burnings, implies that multiple pregnant women were burned when only one was, and that was not even in England
- Gets easy facts incorrect – misidentifies Henry VIII’s fourth wife
- Feels somewhat weaponised – constantly insulting Mary as being incapable and ‘bitter’
- Calls her religious devotion (during the time she was persecuted by her brother) ‘obsession’ for having continued it despite the consequences Edward enforced, but labels the protestant heretics as having ‘true conviction’ for their choices to not give up their religion despite the alternative being death – very obvious bias
- Completely omits the fact that for a decent portion of her unusually turbulent reign she was extremely capable and strong
- 1/10 – not informative, overwhelming bias, seems to be created just to insult Mary and doesn’t even provide accurate information
#4 – ‘How England Learned to Hate Catholics’
- Created by Alec Ryrie, so obviously going to be good – lack of vested interests as well, he’s a devout Anglican.
- Interesting standpoint – looks at consequences of the shortness of her reign, doesn’t try to defend killings – but explains them, makes intriguing speculations on where her policies were intending to progress to.
- Most analytic view of Mary’s reign, and views it in the context of wider anti-Catholicism in England, which makes for a more broadly informative video.
- The source for the information about the one pregnant heretic being burned in Guernsey, not England, under different laws.
- 10/10, other best documentary – focus on Mary’s reign is great, don’t be dissuaded by title.
- 10/10 for presentation, Ryrie is a very compelling speaker.
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