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Added by Nerdfightergirl Posted in Diamond of the First Water (Netflix)Anthony Bridgerton (Netflix)/GallerySimon ANTHONY BRIDGERTON AND HIS CLOSE FRIEND SIMON BASSET,
DUKE OF HASTINGS
BRIDGERTON COLORBLIND-CASTING/
READERS!
You owe me a THANK YOU!/HAHAHAHA
For this is my THIRD Bridgerton post in a week, what was not planned by me!
But there is so much interesting to tell about these Netflix series, that
my writing about it ”comes with the job”’
My first Post was about the strained, complex, but loving relationship
between Lady Violet Bridgerton and her eldest son Anthony [1]
I expect to tell more about this, so keep following my posts!
My second Post [recently written] was about the reason I am so
much in favour to this Bridgerton story, based on the books, but with some
important, fascinating changes! [2]
There are some changes in the series [for example, in
the books the bond between Lady Violet and her son Anthony was less
strained and more loving [in the film she loves him dearly too, but also
scolds and critizes him sharply, sometimes even cruelly, stemming from
a number of causes, that have nothing to do with lack of love for him] [3]
However, the biggest difference between the books and the series is,
that while in the books, the characters are all British-white, in the series
black aristocrats mingle with white aristocrats and even intermarry.
So the ”black” Duke of Hastings, Simon Basset, is the very close friend
of Anthony Bridgerton [the Anthony who has that strained, but loving
relationship with his mother, Lady Violet] [4] and Simon marries,
out of love, with Anthony’s sister Daphne Bridgerton. [5]
Then there is a powerful black Lady, Lady Danbury, close friend of
Anthony’s mother Violet and that Lady is a favourite of Queen Charlotte,
who is also black in the series [some scholars say, she indeed had African descent] [6]
HISTORICAL REALITY
And I must confess, that when I first heard about Bridgerton I had my
doubts and I’ll explain why.
I learned that the series were about a noble Family in England in the Regency era [7] [so far, so good] and the cast was colorblind.
Which meant, that white and black nobles were part of the series on
equal stances.
I thought firstly:
What is that about?
In the Regency Time England, in which slavery and slavetrade flourished,
white and black aristocrats mingled and stood shoulder to shoulder?
That’s historically seen, nonsense.
And since I am an historian, I could know.
Of course there were already black people in England since the 16th century,
[8] but eventually they either left or mingled with the white British population.
And ”black aristocrats” even when they were in England in the Regency Time, were rare.
What happened was that there were a minority of rich black people
in England that time, mostly children of plantation owners and a black slave mother, who were sent to England by their fathers for education. [9]
SO FAR, SO GOOD
FAIRY TALE
But then I decided to step away from historical reality and look at the
storylines an sich, forgetting that black-white thing.
Because, so I thought:
What would it be beautiful if the history had gone another
way and indeed black and white aristocrats would have mingled with each
other in England, without the curse of racism?
Why the world should not be a Fairy Tale, at least for the time
watching the series?
And when you look at it from that perspective, the world, for a while,
is much more relaxed and then the Story an sich is relevant, not
the colour of people.
Would that not be a Relief in the real world?
Then let’s assume, for a moment, that it IS the real
world and black people regained their dignity again, which
was token from them by the nasty historical reality.
That was the moment, the Bridgerton Story, with a color blind cast, began to fascinate me.
COLORBLIND CAST/IDEA
RELAXING AND MORE EXCITING
SHORTLY SAID:
That colorblind idea [in the Bridgrton books, all the personae are,
of course, white] [10], is relaxing and makes the series more
interesting and exciting.
STORYLINES
Since the story is not ”hindred” by race and color issues, it is not
only more entertaining and relaxing, but there is more
room to focus on the Story Itself
And the storylines are fascinating:
Themes are forbidden love, unresolved trauma’s, warm, loving
motherhood, the Cinderella theme, strong family bonds, warm and intense
male friendships [like Anthony and Simon Basset], scandals, social
prejudice, great Family Stories and yet, the racism thing passes also,
but on a more relaxed way.
You see all aspects of human life pass the review.
Because you know?
Although racism and unequality do exist and the fight against it must
continue, it sometimes can overshadow human relations and certainly
in TV series, for entertainment, it can be boring and disturbing.
Let we fight the fight against racism in the streets, not in TV series!
FINAL
Sometimes race issues distract from an otherwise beautiful story.
Constantly emphazising on race issues [I mean in TV series even
if for entertainment] is not only boring, it can even dehumanize black people in films and series, as if black
people must always be the victim.
Bridgerton offers the opportunity to depict black people
in all their dignity, humanity and on equal, sometimes higher
level than white people [for example Anthony’s close friend,
Simon Basset, is a Duke, while Anthony is a Viscount] [11]
COLORBLIND-CASTING IN BRIDGERTON?
RELAXING, INSPIRING, UPLIFTING!
Untill the next Post!
ASTRID ESSED
NOTES
NOTES 1 T/M 5
NOTE 6
NOTES 7 T/M 9
NOTE 10
NOTE 11