Why did the Bridgertons series, which was watched by 63 million viewers in a month, outraged Russian social networks?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

On December 25, 2020, the world premiere of the American TV series "Bridgertons" took place, but disputes about it in the Russian segment of the Internet do not cease to this day. More than 63 million viewers watched it on Netflix in just the first month, and a serious controversy erupted on social networks about the new project from the creator of the series Grey's Anatomy and How to Avoid Punishment for Murder, Shonda Rhimes. And even calls were made to refuse to watch.

The series is about the influential Bridgerton family. Outside the window - 1813, the secular season opens in London, which, in fact, is a kind of "brides' fair". In fact, an ordinary costume melodrama with numerous love adventures, as if descended from the pages of ladies' novels, unfolds on the screen in front of the audience.

But at the same time "Bridgerton" - this is not the good old England, which, for sure, expected to see the audience, who managed to get acquainted with the trailer. The series turns out to be very modern, filmed in the spirit of our fast-moving XXI century with all its problems and oddities. Only the heroes found themselves in the scenery of the Regency era.

At the ball, it is not the good old classics that sounds at all, the heroes in old-fashioned outfits circle to the orchestral arrangements of Maroon 5 and Billie Eilish, and they communicate with each other in some kind of invented version of the English language, as if stylized for the 19th century. And even gossip is not transmitted by word of mouth, but through a mini-newspaper edited by the mysterious "Lady Whistledown". However, the whole style of the series most of all resembles nothing more than Desperate Housewives.

But it is not easy to shock the modern viewer with such paradoxes. One can only complain about the historical inconsistency of the series with the spirit of the times, about which it tells. It is hard to imagine a 19th century lady seriously discussing the need for sex education. Or a gentleman complaining about gender stereotypes. True, all the characters do it in a special manner and without delving into modern terminology.

The controversy around the series unfolded on a completely different occasion. The first thing that catches your eye when watching is the presence of dark-skinned dukes and duchesses at balls and in the secular living rooms of good old England. Of course, historically this was not possible, but the filmmakers did not claim the Bridgertons as a historical drama.

The famous Russian writer Tatiana Nikitichna Tolstaya called the presence of black English nobility in Bridgertons "a small slap in the face of the viewer." However, it is worth remembering that Netflix viewers are about 200 million subscribers worldwide, and the creators of the series wanted to speak with each of them in a modern language.

The film crew, when approving the actors for the role, was not guided by the color of their skin, but only by the quality of the tests carried out - "blind casting", the results of which were so unhappy with many viewers and critics. In their opinion, it was impossible to ignore the suffering that people with dark skin had to go through for many centuries. That is, the creators of the series, in fact, simply leave the existing racial problems out of their zone of attention.

But while proponents and opponents of historical accuracy in films cross their spears, viewers can watch the Bridgertons and suddenly get indescribable pleasure from its unique style and even charm. The series looks easy, makes you get carried away with the plot and plunge into the problems and worries of the characters.

It is still worth giving up trying to figure out how the series fits the spirit of the Regency era, forgetting about the disputes over the color of the actors' skin, and just enjoying a cute, exciting and very bright project. Moreover, it promises to be very long-playing: in January 2021, Netflix announced the second season of the Bridgertons.

Historical cinema has always been a favorite in the film industry. And this is no accident, because all the events of past years have influenced our life and the course of history. Thanks to historical films, it is possible to touch all the significant events of our history, look into the castles of kings, see the horror of past wars, clashes of nations and much more.