To not enjoy the "Bridgertonisation" of a lot of period dramas?

[weeddigger]

I Love Emily Dickinson's poetry and so I tried watching Dickinson on apple TV and its just so crap really, they turn this amazing writer into a very shallow, trope of feisty teen saying "dude" and "sick" while the women around her look on aghast and sniff their smelling salts i.e. they try to make Emily seem something by making all the other female characters nothing.

Ok so I admit I may be being unreasonable, that perhaps it isn't aimed at me but it just seems so flimsy, all style and no substance, the dialogue and so on. Sometimes mixing up time periods, using modern music and conventions can really work but other times it just seems like a lazy, formulaic way to try and appeal to the lowest common denominator.

I was looking at the new production of The Buccaneers that is going to be on Apple TV soon but that looks much the same. I suppose things like Bridgeton have influenced these things as well as Marie-Antoinette by Sophia Coppola which I enjoyed at the time but I do find myself wishing for a bit more old school BBC vibes in these productions now and again. I watched things like old productions of Middlemarch on dvd with my Mum growing up and thought they were so well done, and kept some semblance of the era.

Most of this stuff is made for new audiences, so historical accuracy isn't important. It's also something to do with a fascination with Britain and its aristocracy by other countries.
You can write all sorts of deluded stuff in period, but will it part? No, because it is scripted for an audience of that time, and their own preoccupations. Bridgerton was said to be groundbreaking. Give it a few years and it's limitations will be more obvious than its virtues.

I am watching I Claudius again. I do not think Bridgerton will be on repeat viewing in 40 years.

Oh watching with interest! Haven't seen The Great, Essex Serpent.

I loved Wolf Hall etc.

To be honest I see Poldark/Bridgestone etc as a different category, more silly, bodice ripping fun than a good, solid, historical drama.

Never got in to Downton Abbey really. I've seen it but felt wholly unsatisfied, bar maggie smith, it was so bland.

I agree. Although I do love Bridgeton, for what it is. But most period dramas should be an escape to a different era.
I feel the same way about Shakespeare too. I like a 'modern take' like Westside story. Usually though, if I'm going to the theatre to watch Shakespeare, I prefer it done traditionally, not in tracksuits.

Yeah I do know that but for me I didn't like Bridgerton

Did you watch Queen Charlotte as a matter of interest. That's very different in subject and tone than the first two.

I thought Queen Charlotte was much better than Bridgerton to be honest.

My favourite thing about either of those is challenging race perception, and the costumes.

I really enjoyed the first series. Great cast feat. Samantha Morton and Lesley Manville.

My favourite thing about either of those is challenging race perception, and the costumes.

Also the plight of women historically. Queen Charlotte could explore that in a really interesting way. Lady Danbury is one of my favourite fictional creations, having seen the backstory.

Yes, I agree. It was so much more interesting than Bridgerton for exploring the power, or lack of, for women.

I agree. “Bodies” had the 1890s detective saying OK.

It's popular media.
Mainstream budgets and a lack of vision - vision and depth aren't quite as profitable as trendy, safe bets.

I would search for lesser hyped work by more in depth directors, or those who use dramatisation as a vehicle of expression rather than bums on seats. This might take you to older work, or stuff that has passed you by. Youtube and Amazon should be a good place to search.
There are countless variants of classical works available to view, many overlooked, many celebrated by a more, perhaps avant garde crowd. It depends what you want from a drama.

Every era or decade will have it's own 'look' and focus. I do prefer to the 70-90's versions myself. I still haven't found the version of Wuthering Heights with Charlotte Gainsbourg but if anyone knows where I can stream it I would be so happy!

Am still recovering from a very high budget series set in the early 16th century in which everybody was saying "Okay!"

Guessing you mean The Tudors - that annoyed me too.

I'm generally in agreement with PPs, but what was it that people didn't like about 'Anne with an E'? I loved that!

I also enjoyed the Wuthering Heights with Samantha Morton. I do prefer them less simpering and pretty, and with a darker undertone than contemporary versions.

Personally I refused to watch Anne with an E because the Meghan Follows miniseries from the 1980s is perfection and I have no interest in anything lesser 😆

Yanbu.

I was even really sad that the Bridgerton books got ‘Bridgertonised’! I loved the books but for tv they made most of the characters shallow and stupid. Invented a ‘Queen’ character for no reason, weird. And most annoyingly of all they deleted the fabulous scene from the book where Daphne meets Simon…

Book: Daphne is in a corridor near a ballroom, trying to politely reject a proposal of marriage from an idiot who doesn’t fancy her, but who has her in the friend-zone, like all the men she knows. Simon overhears and is amused, but then when the man starts grabbing Daphne, Simon intervenes and knocks out the man. Then Daphne and Simon have to together sort out the unconscious buffoon who keeps comically coming round and wailing at them.

TV: Simon is first introduced having sex with a mistress. Then Daphne accidentally bumps into Simon on the dancefloor, and he accues her of trying to get his attention because he’s so important.

In the book’s first meeting Daphne was popular and Simon was good-humoured, physically strong, and chivalrous. On tv she was nervous and alone and he was an arrogant dick. Odd change to make. 🤷‍♀️ The tv show just wanted sexual escapism and it cut out all the humour and chivalry that attracts women to romance books. Sigh…

It veered so far from the books so as to bear little to no resemblance to the actual Anne.

I totally agree OP.
I think it is because they are aimed at a younger generation who would appreciate it and it probably feels more relatable to them.
But it does seem ridiculous sometimes. In the process of showing strong female characters, they show women being outspoken or assertive when I doubt most would have even voiced their concerns or opinions.

I watched a bit of The Spanish Queen about Catherine of Aragon, where she is determined to fulfil her destiny of being Queen of England but imho she just comes across as rude and cunning! Another one that bothers me is Reign, Oh God, the teenage dramatics!

I don't mind it but I think it can be overdone and just feel gratuitous an I think the novelty will wear off after a bit. There is a place for this and a place for just doing a good straightfoward adaptation of period stories.

It’s just a thing at the moment same as a few years ago camera angles where all over the place.

I couldn't get past the first episode of Bridgerton, it was so awful,and I entirely agree.

Harlots was awesome.

I have never dared watch Bridgerton. I get the concept, and I get why it's popular. There must be a middle ground - history with sex and drama but not as the main draw (Harlots did well on this score I felt - the stories and characters were real but also the nitty gritty of life - wringing out your used condom in the wash tub springs to mind).

I suspect I know all I need to about Bridgerton, possibly without spending hours of my life I will never get back depending on how desperate I am to put off doing my overdue coursework.

I rewatched Dr Zhivago, and Anna Karenina recently. I've read, but haven't watched a version of The Brother's Karamasov.

Versailles verged on Bridgerton to me.

There is a drama on Netflix, Forgotten Love (Znachor), that's supposed to be good, though I haven't seen it.

It had no bearing on the original story and was just a tick box list of the bleakest issues. Lots of the things it depicted eg. child abuse weren't evident in the book. The tone was just all wrong.

I must have a look for it, those are two names on my internal 'Make everything they're in at least 30% better by their presence' list.

Harlots is excellent, I’ve seen all the series and really enjoyed it. It’s very dark in places though.

I will admit to having liked Bridgerton but I knew it was going to annoy me. As if a duke would be seen in public without a hat! For what it was it was enjoyable though.