Spoilers warning!
The Gossip Girl reboot no one asked for is finally here! I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to watch it, I resisted it when it came out, but it turns out I’m a basic bitch who will watch anything on Netflix, the McDonald’s of streaming services, as long as it’s trending on Twitter. I can’t lie, I am happy that I did because Bridgerton has given me something to write about, of course in addition to the pleasure of seeing Lady Whistledown in action. For those who don’t care enough to watch the show, Lady Whistledown is a 19th-century version of Gossip Girl voiced by Julie Andrews (perhaps you should care about that); she’s the show’s one and only source into the scandalous lives of London’s elite.
Like Lady Whistledown, I have things to say even though no one asked. I do enjoy overanalyzing things so this is my moment, I guess (also, I’m unemployed meaning I have a lot of free time).
Maybe I should start with some comments on the casting. I personally love that the cast isn’t entirely white, even though the story is about the lives of London’s elite in the 1810s-1820s, but where are the black women? Where are the black women, Netflix? So many YouTubers and writers have brought this up and yet the same thing happens again and again.
The entire show has only one woman on the darker end of the spectrum, Lady Danbury (who we stan, by the way). Even though the character of Lady Danbury is absolutely fantastic, she plays into the Black Lady Therapist trope. We’re not told anything about Lady Danbury, but we’re shown numerous times that she exists to make Simon’s life easier. We don’t know anything about her life, her family or how she got her title. Everything she does in this season is directly connected to Simon; meetings with Mrs. Bridgerton to scheme so that Simon and Daphne could end up together, giving Simon words of advice, kicking everyone out of the ball so that Simon and Daphne can spend the night, the list goes on. On top of all that, even the other black women (Madam Delacroix and Marina) have somewhat unfavorable/undesirable characters in comparison to everyone else. Marina’s portrayal as the angry black girl reminds me of Vanessa from the original Gossip Girl. Take that as you will.
I would love to see more darker-skinned black women in the main cast in the following seasons because the colorism is not cute, Netflix. There’s an obvious pattern in Netflix-backed shows, and I think Bridgerton could be an opportunity to begin to end it. It would be refreshing to see a young darker-skinned black woman (who isn’t a prostitute) being courted, getting expensive dresses at Madam Delacroix’s shop, and having enough character depth (that doesn’t play into stereotypes) to make her memorable.
Now let’s talk about Simon. This is the tweet that pushed me to watch the show.
He really needs therapy, and not from Lady Danbury: I’m sure she has a life of her own to live. This man clearly has issues, which we all understand given the nature of his relationship (or lack of) with his father. The way he chooses to fix things by making a ridiculous revenge vow at his father’s deathbed and acting like he doesn’t care about the woman he loves was sad to watch. He is Chuck Bass himself; toxic just like his marriage to Daphne. Alexa play “Ruin My Life” by Zara Larsson. One thing I liked about their marriage was their honeymoon, which could easily count as a Netflix special for Ariana Grande’s positions album. They’re quite something. I’m sure some kid somewhere is working on a video compilation for a fake 34+35 or nasty music video to put on YouTube. I cannot wait to see it.
Daphne’s opposite is Sienna. Born without a title meaning she has to do all kinds of things to make ends meet; be both an opera singer and a sex worker. She even ends things with the man she loves because she respects herself enough not to be treated like anything short of a queen. Sienna and Anthony show us that if you’re going to love someone as you claim then you should love them however they are, and not try to change them so that they’re more presentable for you.
I also just want to say that I love Eloise and I wish I had a voice like hers. I’ve read the tweets calling her annoying and “a one-note character”. They have some truth in them. In a society like the one in Bridgerton, a young feminist character like her is very realistic and relevant. And, as we all know, a lot of the issues women had back then are still faced by hundreds of millions of women today, so we need characters like her to show us how much progress we’ve actually made since the 1800s, or not.
Lastly, I’m not sure if I should be promoting this show. I’m not getting paid to do that. But, if it means you’ll stay home then please go watch it and anything else you find interesting on Netflix or wherever.
the writing nib 