By Jendayi Leben-Martin ’24
Contributing Writer
“Bridgerton,” a show released on Netflix on Christmas, is a period drama and romance series that has become so popular it’s brought Regency-era jewelry back into style. The show centers on the wealthy Bridgerton family and the people surrounding them as they embark on a journey to find love in one of the most affluent towns in Regency London. With Netflix being recently criticized for a lack of diversity in its casts and its portrayal of characters of color (when they are cast), many eyes were on “Bridgerton.” The show comes close to breaking through the standard Netflix has set for storylines of Black and queer characters, but regrettably misses the mark.
The drama features characters of all races living in historically inaccurate harmony in wealthy London. For several episodes, “Bridgerton” doesn’t acknowledge the question that seems obvious to me: How did this racial harmony come to be?
The casting directors used a method called “blind casting” where they didn’t select actors based off of their race. While “Bridgerton” is not the first project to use this method (ever heard of a musical called “Hamilton”?), it is not as “woke” a decision as many might think. Aside from the pros and cons of blind casting itself, I thought that the writers and producers (including Shonda Rhimes, who is also responsible for TV sensations “Scandal” and “Grey’s Anatomy”) chose to completely ignore the idea of race in the show and simply have the characters interact with no mention of their differences. Though I can’t say I completely agree with this method or with blind casting in general, I initially thought that this was a refreshing way to produce a show. I appreciated that the Black actors did not play Black characters, but simply played characters.
Unfortunately, just as I was making my way through the season and my respect for the show was growing, it all shattered in one scene.
In the fourth episode, Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) explains how racial relations in their society came to be. She reminds Simon (Regé-Jean Page) that the marriage between King George and Queen Charlotte, who is Black, has given Black people the opportunity to integrate seamlessly into society with no lasting negative effects or biases. While I understand that “Bridgerton” is a romance and that the creators are more committed to the sex scenes than they are to historical accuracy, the blatant disregard for race and the struggles undergone by people of color is hard to ignore. Put plainly, Black people have been literally risking their lives for hundreds of years just to be seen as equal to white people under the law, and in 2021, we are still so far from that goal. For the writers of “Bridgerton” to say that all racism and racial biases end with the union of a white king and an incredibly light-skinned queen is a slap in the face to the bitter reality of racism that has been at the forefront of many of our minds for the past year.
Unfortunately, race is not the only heavy theme “Bridgerton” brushes over. When Benedict, one of the Bridgerton brothers, attends a party with his friend Henry Granville, who happens to be a successful artist, he finds Henry in a room making out with an unknown man. I had been anticipating something like this, as I sensed sexual tension between the two from the moment they met. However, the show does not go anywhere with this story. Benedict simply confronts Henry, who is married to a woman, and he responds with a short monologue that can be summed up along the lines of “love is love.” Of course, we can all agree that representation is important in shows and movies, but one of the troubles of trying to include different types of marginalized characters simply for the sake of including them is that the characters often fall flat. This is exactly what happens with Henry Granville.
All in all, “Bridgerton” does a good job of creating a beautiful, whimsical world for viewers to escape into for eight episodes. However, shows shouldn’t haphazardly include Black or queer storylines that they are not prepared to flesh out. When writers, directors and producers add diversity to their casts and characters simply in order to say that they have done so rather than because they actually care about those stories, it shows. I regret to say that “Bridgerton” comes across as one of those projects.
