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On this lovely Saturday morning, I've got lavender chamomile tea & time. So, I'm going to go over the top 5 reasons Shondaland's Bridgerton is trash.
Reason #5: 99% of the major Black characters are played by light-skinned or biracial actors. There are only 3 dark-skinned characters in this show. And of course, the dark skin dad is evil. All other dark skin characters lurk in the background for aesthetic.
Reason #4: Once again we have a plus-size character, Penelope, whose plotline revolves around pining after a thinner handsomer Colin and how undesirable she is. When her crush is in jeopardy, naturally she becomes vindictive, jealous, and conniving. It's cringe-worthy to watch.
Reason #3: For a show to be touted for its blind casting, the show is still overwhelmingly white and centers around a disturbing theme: white is pure/precious/priceless. The leading lady is regarded as a "diamond", a "precious gem", and perfect in every way (pt 1)
Reason #3: I caught onto this theme very quickly. The white leading lady is one of the two most desirable during courting season. She's protected by all men. She's envied by all women. Such a perfect specimen, even the Queen becomes invested in her all due scandal papers. (pt 2)
Reason #3: You're probably thinking "maybe it wasn't intentional." I thought so too until I compared how our white leading lady was treated compared to her rival, a Black woman from the countryside who comes under the care of a rich white family who don't want here. (pt 3)
Reason #2: Marina's plotline is fucked up. At first, she is desired by all men until we learn she's "spoiled goods." She gave her "virtue" away and now she's pregnant. Our leading white lady is pure/untouched. Marina, a Black woman, is disgraced and ruined. (pt 1)
Reason #2: She's imprisoned in her room by her host family. The matron over her care meticulously breaks her heart to manipulate her into a scheme of marrying anyone quickly to "hide" her pregnancy including tricking Colin Bridgerton, plus-size Penelope's crush. (pt 2)
Reason #2: The scheme is revealed to all, Marina is vilified and villainized by her host family and society. She's evil apparently. So so evil for tricking a young eligible white bachelor into wanting to marry her to protect herself and her baby. So, she performs (pt 3)
Reason #2: an abortion on herself. I'm pro-choice. I applaud shows and books that explore it. What I'm not for is how abortion is used as a self-inflicted punishment on a young lady that's already suffering. The message to me was she did it because (pt 4)
Reason #2: everyone convinced her she didn't deserve happiness and protection. In contrast, while she's enduring the societal consequences, plus-size Penelope and all her scheming is happy her crush is safe and our leading white lady, Daphne doing things "the right way."
Reason #1: Which leads us to my main reason Bridgerton is trash. Daphne raped her husband, Simon. Apparently, this rape scene is a plot point in the books and the show tried and failed to make rape not feel like rape. Well, guess what? It's still rape. (pt 1)
Reason #1: Though her husband lied to her about "being unable to have children," she decided to call his bluff by holding him down as she's screwing him so he can't pull out. He's clearly distressed and she knows he wants her to stop but she keeps on going. (pt 2)
Reason #1: When confronted with what she's done, she plays the victim card and tells her husband he purposely tried to rob her of any chance at children and true happiness. He, the victim, becomes the villain. She believes she's taken what she's owed. (pt 3)
Reason #1: As the "victim," she stomps around her new home, so upset her husband who clearly stated he can't/won't have children still doesn't want children with her. She blames her mother for ill-informing her how sex works. When her husband confides in her (pt 4)
Reason #1: why he won't have children due to a traumatic and abusive childhood. She centers his pain/trauma around her and accuses him of not being able to put their marriage over his trauma. Once again, making him, the victim, a villain. (pt 5)
Reason #1: Her actions are never addressed & in the end, he sees the error in HIS ways and decides to make his wife a happy one by giving her a child. Daphne got what she wanted "the right way", but Marina is forced into a loveless marriage because she has no choice. (pt 6)
Conclusion: It's clear this story is supposed to be Regency Gossip Girl soapy raunchy fun, but its "blind" casting may have bit it in the ass. In a historical world where the Queen of England and the most desirable Duke are Black and color is "blind", (pt 1)
Conclusion: The racial overtones and undertones disturb what this show was trying to do. Does blind casting excuse a show's writers, producers, and showrunners from keeping an actor's skin tone in mind when they write these characters? I hope not. (pt 2)
Conclusion: I was so down for Bridgerton. I was so excited to see POC in Regency era getup, doing posh shit. I was fucking ecstatic to see a rich world of color not attached to race. And yet an undercurrent of racial shit prevented me from fully diving in. 
