Netflix's "Bridgerton" Was...

Duke of Hastings & Lady Daphne Bridgeton

So I decided to take Netflix’s recommendation and watch Bridgerton. So before anyone starts to hit at the fact that Regency “England” was not diverse in terms of the titled class, I want to point out that the world of Bridgerton is not met to be historically accurate. Inspired by Julia Quinn’s books series showcasing the Bridgerton family, this series was meant to take place in an alternative reality stemming from the fact that Queen Charlotte had a multiracial ancestry.

Let’s start with the good:

1. The blending of modern and vintage clothing and music styles.

2. The beautiful cast. The elegant Julie Andrews blesses us with her eloquent voice. Each and every cast member was perfectly chosen for their roles.

3. This show is so binge worthy.

4. The British accent was perfect since they casted British actors. I’m American but hate when people attempt accents and fail. So I wasn’t shocked out of the Bridgerton world when someone misspoke or just sounded out of place.

5. This show was so cheeky. I enjoyed the banter between the characters.

6. The virgin-mindednesses of the women. I can't believe it! I knew way more about sex at the age of 10. I couldn't stop laughing due to the second hand embarrassment I felt with Daphne as her Mother tried to give her “the talk” lol. #EpicFail

7. I honestly thought the sex scenes were done realistically. We don't have a variety of such scenes in Hollywood. We need more intimacy coordinators on set.

8. The supporting characters deserve their praise! Lady Danbury, Queen Charlotte and even Hyacinth stole the show in my opinion.

Although a beautiful world is portrayed, there are a lot of hit and misses to dissect from this Shondaland series. Here we go. No spoilers, I promise.

Racism: Black Women Replaced & Historically Insensitive Scripts

Now the story of the highly desirable Biracial/ambiguous woman, Marina, was a lot of things. One, she caught the eye of many men. Despite that, her plot line was quickly sullied and propagated by stereotypes. She was given the “baby mama” or in that time “not a lady” role and deemed “promiscuous”. Women during Regency England, I'm sure, were paraded as property or inept and their virtue was the seal of approval and dignity. Two, her being biracial and placed in front of the oldest and ickiest suitor made my stomach turn. The old suitor dehumanized Marina; he spoke about Marina like she wasn’t in the room, asked to assess her physical health by seeing her teeth, asked to see her social capabilities like she was an animal and only cared about her baby making capabilities. As fantastic as the show was, these scenes unfortunately brought me back to the slave selling blocks of Georgetown. Third, even if it was a biracial/racially ambiguous actress, she was specifically casted to represent what they were afraid to truly cast, a Black women. This is even more insidious because it places Black women's history on a character who phenotypically did not always receive such treatment which further erases Black women and their plight.

Colorism: So They Couldn’t Cast more Dark-Skinned Black women?!

I’m sick and tired of the erasure of undeniably Black/African women in television shows. Out of all of the Non-White characters of the show, only six where meant to represent Black people. Out of that six, only three were dark-skinned. Out of that three, only one woman [Lady Danbury] was "dark-skinned" (Note: dark-skinned is relative to regions... a lot of Continental Africans would consider Kelly Rowland as Brown skin). Each of the dark-skinned characters were supporting characters. I’m happy to see some diversity but as a woman, I’m so tired of not seeing dark-skinned women casted as much as dark-skinned men in major productions. What's more... they're always reduced to motherly/emotional supporting characters. I’m looking forward to seeing even more dark-skinned women as the love interest. Light skinned and/or mixed race women are always passed as the Black girl. Dark skinned Black women exist!

Sexism: Ignoring Male Sexual Assault/Rape Victims

Without delving too deep into the plot. I was very disappointed with the casual pass of the martial rape scene. I wish the showrunner showed the Duke’s feelings regarding the event as persistently as they did his childhood trauma. I loved how Outlander, a series on Showtime, really showed a male rape victim’s trauma and healing throughout the series.

Glorifying Toxic Relationships

Honestly, if I was Daphne, I would leave the Duke where I found him. Yes, the Duke is a handsome, wealthy man but he is clearly not ready for marriage. There are other suitors that are more emotionally stable, ready to love and super clear of their intentions. My personal favorite male character in the show is Will, the Duke’s fine boxer friend. That man was beautiful and the way he loved his family was even more attractive!

I know it’s the recipe of RomComs to show dysfunctional characters falling in love, but I’m weary of having more representation of painful/unhealthy love connections. Not saying that hurt people can’t or don’t deserve love. I’d like to see a balance in love stories displayed on screen. Daphne & the Duke is not a love story I aspire to emulate. Their lack of communication is unnerving and the sheer manipulation on both sides is extremely painful to watch.