#@hamilton fandom cause y’all need to hear this too👀

[please-help-this-little-lesbian]

On Historical Fiction, the Modernization of Historical People and Events, and how we Interact With It.

Let me first preface this by saying I love Six and it’s my current hyper-fixation, and I am also currently working on a piece of historical fiction where Katherine Howard time travels to the modern world. This rambling isn’t meant to hate on anyone it’s just me discussing stuff. However, recently I saw one of the Six actresses post a Tiktok where they said, “K Howard would’ve been a Gleek” and it honestly made me uncomfortable.

I’m not saying they were wrong for this. I understand that they are playing Katherine Howard as a character and as an actor you naturally look for things to help you portray and relate to the character. I also understand that Six takes place in a modern realm and Glee is a modern media. And I honestly really like modern takes on history! I think it helps make actual history more palatable to a modern audience. But, it goes make me a little uncomfortable because the line between fiction and reality gets blurred, and that’s hard to navigate as both an audience member and creator.

The thing is yes, if Katherine Howard were a modern teenager/young adult she very well might have liked Glee. Actual Katherine was known for her fun, bright personality and being quite fond of music and dancing. But the key word here is might. What bothers me is the lack of this word, the straight up assumption. We don’t and will never know if Katherine was a Gleek because she A, wasn’t around for it and B, is dead. And I know this actress was probably just referring to the character of Katherine in Six, but that bothers me because Katherine isn’t just a character! She’s an actual human being who was murdered! She died at no older than nineteen! (I know some sources say twenty-one but it’s more accurately seventeen to nineteen). She was a child who’s life and legacy were cut short, swept under the rug (her remains were destroyed,) and then slandered for a good 500 years! I think she deserves a little more respect than to be treated as a mere character in a musical!

I understand that as a writer and an actor this is hard to balance with the material you are presenting. Regarding my aforementioned story, I am actually really struggling with a plot line of Katherine turning to modern music and dance to process the reality of what she went through because, as I said, I don’t know what modern music Katherine would like, and I never will. Because she will never get to experience it. I’m not comfortable making these kinds of assumptions. And you can say, “L just remember that you are a writing a character of Katherine—” Yes I know but I am someone who likes things to be as accurate as possible. I don’t like making characterizations of real people, and I especially don’t like making one of Katherine, because people having been characterizing her for years, and they weren’t nice about it, either.

That being said, I don’t hate Six’s characterization of Katherine. I understand they were modernizing her and I honestly think they do a really good job of blending that and the actual Katherine together. I hate how this leads to (a lot of) people believing the character of Katherine and the actual Katherine are one in the same. I hate how this is a problem for all the queens (Esp Anne Boleyn). It also makes me uncomfortable when I see Six fanfics and AUs and incorrect quotes because these aren’t characters you’re talking about, they’re real people. (Note, I don’t inherently hate all Six fanfics, the premise just makes me uncomfortable. I actually read a really good one that I think explored the contrast between the reality of Katherine’s life and a modern lens on it really well. And when I say “reality” I don’t mean “IRL Kat was a slut” bc that is absolutely NOT true she was a VICTIM no matter WHAT the year is but I mean the way she and the other Queens would’ve seen it vs how we do). They deserve to be more than characters. Katherine deserves to be more than a character.

Again, I don’t think this actress had any ill will when she made the Tiktok. I think she just wanted to make a fun little video. I also do not think she is necessarily wrong. Again, I understand she is playing a character, and she was probably thinking about the character when she made the Tiktok. But it did bother me.

Katherine Howard isn’t your little blorbo to make headcanons about. She’s a teenager who was sexually abused her whole life and then was murdered for it.

And I really wish more people would remember that.

P.S: I also want to make it perfectly clear that I have zero problems with any of the actresses playing the queens. I’m not one of those “but _ wouldn’t have been poc1!1!” people. I think Six is incredible in terms of diverse casting, and POC Katherine would actually be AMAZING. (And give AYWD SO much more weight. Also yes I’ve hear Holli and she slayed). This post is about the blurred line between (fictional) characterization and reality.