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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to be disappointed in Bridgerton?

268 replies

Scatterlingsofafrica · 30/12/2020 02:07

I love costume dramas and was excited when I heard there was a new one on Netflix. But it’s awful! I can’t watch it- the costumes, the dialogue, the plot are all completely implausible and unconvincing. Anyone else feel the same?

OP posts:
longwayoff · 30/12/2020 20:11

The exterior was Castle Howard. Various different interiors.

PlanDeRaccordement · 30/12/2020 20:11

I thought most of the women cast were very pretty in their own way. I rather liked the diversity in looks. That’s a good thing surely? To have female characters who are unconventionally pretty being considered “most beautiful of all women” by their respective suitors?

Fifilafrog · 30/12/2020 20:17

I actually loved it! I think it was meant to be satirical or a bit tongue in cheek? Also, if you listen to the music during their dances etc, they're all today's music, just made to sound "of the era". Don't think it was meant to be serious at all, just entertaining 🤷🏻‍♀️

PronkWine · 30/12/2020 20:37

It reminded me of Plunkett and Mcclaine with Johnny Lee Miller!

MarieVanGoethem · 30/12/2020 21:17

@caperplips

So nobody thinks there's any possibility that Queen Charlotte could have been black? I had not heard this before so looked into it - some of the contemporary commentary was 'interesting'
It is so absolutely vanishingly unlikely that I’m willing to say no rather than maybe.

If she did have any “Moorish” ancestry (the fact that in & of itself is mere speculation isn’t exactly a great start) it would have been so many generations removed that her appearing anything other than as White European would not only be surprising in genetic terms; but would also have precluded her securing a match with George III. Then, when trying to uncover if she could possibly have been “visibly” non-white, the most important contemporary sources to consider are - slightly weirdly - the caricatures of her. They’d have been all-over any hint of that, and there are very well-known Super-Racist Tropes to look for, none of which we see - & they crossed every line going, so they wouldn’t have held back there. There would be a significant amount of contemporary - & explicit - commentary (particularly given London’s black community expanded significantly over the long 18th century) rather than scattered fragments of Maybe If You Squint A Bit. Plus we’re expected to believe that she alone of the entire extended line showed any hint of a trace of said ancestry. Just... no...

MirandaMarple · 30/12/2020 21:18

Yep. Stupid.

Lavanderrose · 30/12/2020 21:20

@SleepingStandingUp - “I think the Pregnant cousin is beautiful but of course was the wrong ethnicity for the family”

She was not the wrong ethnicity at all... also don’t forget that she was a distant cousin of the family. All it would take would be the dads sister or brother having a child with a black person...

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 30/12/2020 21:21

I thought it was entertaining and amusing, and I loved the costumes and settings. For me, it’s like The Tudors - I know it isn’t serious or accurate, but I enjoy watching it.

SleepingStandingUp · 30/12/2020 21:26

[quote Lavanderrose]@SleepingStandingUp - “I think the Pregnant cousin is beautiful but of course was the wrong ethnicity for the family”

She was not the wrong ethnicity at all... also don’t forget that she was a distant cousin of the family. All it would take would be the dads sister or brother having a child with a black person...[/quote]
Sorry totally wrote that wrong, I meant for her to be cast as Daphne.

BungleandGeorge · 30/12/2020 21:35

The set, costumes, surroundings, characterisations etc were much more accurate in the Tudors though, and the acting much better. In my opinion anyway!

longwayoff · 30/12/2020 22:36

Queen Charlotte had 15 children didnt she? If she had recent black ancestry surely it would have cropped up noticeably in one or more of them? Anyway, what does it matter here? She's beautifully, wickedly, cast.

HoxtonBonnet · 30/12/2020 23:29

I am enjoying it - love all the sparkly dresses and it's reminding me of all the Joanna Lindsay bodice rippers I read when I was a teenager!

SleepingStandingUp · 31/12/2020 00:29

@longwayoff

Queen Charlotte had 15 children didnt she? If she had recent black ancestry surely it would have cropped up noticeably in one or more of them? Anyway, what does it matter here? She's beautifully, wickedly, cast.
Yeah, 12 made it to adulthood altho she had a very low number of grand children. Seems the girls werent encouraged to marry
Youseethethingis · 31/12/2020 00:29

It was utter nonsense and I loved every second of it Grin

longwayoff · 31/12/2020 05:31

Phew. If I'd had 15 children in an age before contraception I would definitely have discouraged my daughters from marrying.

AppleKatie · 31/12/2020 06:01

@Butchyrestingface

I watched it for the view...

... of the Duke of Hastings. I'd watch him read the Tory Party Conference Executive Summary.

😍😍😍

this
TORDEVAN · 31/12/2020 06:12

Absolutely loved it. Can't wait for the next season. Started the book😀

sashagabadon · 31/12/2020 06:30

Two things I know about Queen Charlotte. She spent the summer in her cottage with n Kew Gardens (now). Which is in a bluebell wood so must be where the bluebells she mentioned episode 5 and also there is a maternity hospital in West London named after her where many West Londoners have their babies.

MariaK91 · 31/12/2020 10:50

It's complete trash but I just love it!!

MarieVanGoethem · 31/12/2020 11:46

@longwayoff
George III - or rather, trying to keep him somewhat stable - was actually the chief motivating factor for the princesses not being allowed to marry: I cannot deny that I have never wished to see any of them marry: I am happy in their company, and do not in the least want a separation. (It’s thought this probably suited Queen Charlotte as her husband’s illness progressed leaving her with only her daughters for company.)

The Princess Royal was eventually allowed to marry (at the great age of 31); but it wasn’t until the Regency was established the other princesses were free to marry. Too late for Amelia; & Sophia never married (allegedly as she’d had a child by a member of the King’s household...) but the others did - basically anyone who offered, though it may not be true Elizabeth actually said If he is single, I will marry him. about (Prince) Frederick of Hesse-Homburg.

longwayoff · 31/12/2020 12:06

Thank you Marie. Poor King George, in fact, poor Hanovers not a happy one amongst them as far as I know. Understandable reluctance to pass on KG illness makes a lot of sense.

MaMaLa321 · 31/12/2020 16:30

if anyone's interested, there's a good novel about Sophia but, helpfully, I can't remember the author or title, just that it was excellent. Called something like Ladies Companion.

user1485461206 · 31/12/2020 16:32

I was just about to start this, shall I bother?

MaMaLa321 · 31/12/2020 16:32

Got it. A Humble Companion by Laurie Graham.

ILiveInSalemsLot · 31/12/2020 17:50

@user1485461206 Have you read the thread?
Go with the majority Smile
Enjoy.