Product: Victoria & Albert: A Royal Love Affair [VHS] (2001)
Rating: 4.0
Why can't movie producers portray young Victoria as she was: homely, short and chunky
The movie is a fun feast for the eyes...kind of like watching The Swan or Roman Holiday. However, I kept forgetting this was supposed to be about queen Victoria. Young Victoria was short, chunky and homely as a mud fence. She was also said to have had a beautiful voice and a lovely laugh. If you were to put her in today's nondescript clothing and plunk her into a shopping mall she would be indistinguishable from all the other shoppers. The actresses that portray her are always very pretty, slim, and tallish. Victoria was one of the most photographed and recognizable women of her time. It's like making a movie about Eleanor Roosevelt and casting Elizabeth Taylor in the lead. The three cardinal sins of hollywood are to be fat, short,and homely. It is thought such people could not possibly have passionate fascinating personalities and movie makers believe that the public will not accept a feminine romantic lead who has such unfortunate dimensions. As a result, they are OK with an old fat Victoria but can't stomach a young chubby Victoria.Victoria and her times are a fascinating study. Movies about Victoria should concentrate more on the historical backgroud and the complexity of her personality. She had noble and maddingly neurotic traits. Royals were the rock stars of their day. People wanted to dress and do as they did. For example: When anesthesia was discovered in the early 1800s doctors were reluctant to give it to women in childbirth because, according to the Bible, God wanted them to suffer the pains of childbirth due to the sins of Eve. Victoria was having none of that and when offered said GIVE ME DRUGS. Her use of anesthesia during labor made it permissible for women to bypass the bible and avoid hours of painful labor.I'm still waiting for that 8 part series on Victoria and her times that realy does justice to the topic. When it comes it will be a knock-out!!!