It's Robert Macfarlane here and today we're gonna be taking a look at Bridgerton the
brand new hit tv series on Netflix and how its historical inaccuracies have led to its success
first of all spoiler alert if you haven't seen Bridgerton and I thoroughly rec it's actually a
really fun and entertaining tv series and well worth checking out on Netflix you could not
sleep for some reason all the excitement I presume Bridgerton has actually been one
of the most successful tv series of the last year for Netflix and that's saying something because
they get huge viewing figures how wonderful Shonda Rhimes congratulations you have finally
broken the death grip that the BBC has had on period dramas for the last 300 years it
is incredibly important to look at how this show has actually introduced a brand new generation a
brand new audience to the concept of the period drama you and I were destined for each other
so just to put this into context Hulu did a study on that particular generation 18 to 24 to see
what type of content they were watching this author wonders which brazen matchmaker shall
rise to such a challenge and what they found was this particular generation
were interested in non-traditional content which shared and explored cultural changes
and gravitated towards large social issues that are facing society today
however let's get back to Bridgerton now i think I need to dispel a couple of myths about Bridgerton
that I know have come out in the media surrounding its release over the Christmas holidays of 2020
or the year that shall not be named tell me I am wrong so the first myth Bridgerton has
been cited as being overtly sexualized it's not been sexualized towards one gender or another
and we're going to get back to how important that is but a lot of people have stated why
they feel like maybe this is too much of a sexualization of this particular period
however writers historians and the producers of the show
all agree that the Georgian period was the actual sexual revolution in the UK may god have mercy on
their souls now why do historians believe that this was the sexual revolution religion started
to leave a lot of its rules about sexuality by the wayside as it started to evolve alongside culture
on a side note it's actually quite amazing how many of the issues that Bridgerton deals with
that our generation are still having to deal with in some way shape and form most undignified
the second myth perpetuated by a lot of the media coming out around Bridgerton is that they
cast Black actors when there were no such people of color in such positions of power in that era
perhaps we need to help her to see things a bit more clearly well that is categorically untrue
I believe that this has probably come from the way in which media has been representing previous
period dramas as not really having Black people in society outside of being handmaids and
slaves and people of service instead of actually people who are in the upper echelons of society
which is what Bridgerton really brings to the fore and I think is an incredibly powerful empowering
moment in culture and the stories that we tell right now where one suitor goes the rest will
surely follow so with that in mind I think I really wanted to take a look at where I
think Bridgerton really shines really stands out from the crowd because I think it's made some
brilliant creative choices in its effort to ensure that it actually applies to not just
the audience that already enjoy period dramas but also the new audience also that younger
generation looking for content that they can feel connected to as well and the first thing
is actually going back to what I said before the choice of the ethnicities for the actors
is incredibly important so rather than just having the token actor on the side who fulfills a quota
Bridgerton feels like a fully cohesive decision about the mix of ethnicity within
the show which i think is absolutely brilliant especially considering going back to Hulu's
study talking about culture and the way culture is changing and I must say I'm impressed another
major creative choice which I think is absolutely brilliant is the modernization of the music
within the show and I'm not just talking about music that's laid in over the top which would
be non-diegetic sound I'm actually talking about the diegetic sound which means sound that could
have been recorded in the location itself so if I turn a radio on and that radio is in frame
or just off frame that is diegetic sound it's sound that has been created within that space
then if I'm walking down a road and there's rock music playing over the top that
would be non-diegetic sound that's a track that's been placed in over the top without any obvious
source for that sound so what Bridgerton have done then is they've actually chosen modern tracks
and then had the orchestras that are in the scenes play those tracks
they've had the various characters in those scenes dance to the modern music that's been interpreted
by an orchestra so the sound is of the era but the actual score is modern and in this way many
people probably wouldn't recognize it although they might recognize something similar but they
would actually start to more easily connect to the story to the content that they're watching
in a brilliant move that for most people will be totally subconscious I did not realize how could
you have done it it is the very reason I am here sister now this show is about coming of age both
emotionally and sexually seen through the eyes of a man and woman who are courting but don't
really know their courting that's in essence the story now both of the genders throughout the story
through these subplots are seen as sexualized in different ways and the series explores that in
very very interesting ways using the rules of the world that they've set up what are you suggesting
so when they actually show the male lead with a nine o'clock shadow that he's sporting throughout
the series this is really not a facial hair style that would have been seen in that era
most of them would have had mutton chops or a full-on beard or they would have been
completely shaven it was not a style that was seen as attractive in that period
at the same time it also differentiates that character to a lot of the other characters who
are sporting more traditional clean-shaven bearded looks throughout this series so it
was not only creative in that way but it also it means that he is more attractive
to the audience watching at home who have the more modern aesthetic ideals they're all staring mother
next area that i think was also quite interesting in sexualizing the male gender during the series
was when we actually got to see the male lead in a boxing ring with a friend admit it friend
you missed me so it isn't until you also get to the female sexualization that we also recognize
that there's been very very sensitive choices to the way in which they have been portrayed as well
and that's not always been through the showing of tons of flesh whenever possible they've not
overtly sexualized the women if you want to know more about the overt sexualization of women in
film and tv I've done a really really in-depth episode on the male gaze in the Queen's Gambit
I insist so in summary I believe Bridgerton has been such a resounding success not just
because it appealed to the original audience for period dramas but because they specifically chose
elements to tweak just slightly just enough to apply to a brand new audience interested in that
content interested in multi-cultural stories that are emotionally soothing and bringing
social issues that are affecting us today into the light in a new and interesting way
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