The Bridgerton Bringe
Binged Bridgerton over the weekend. Lots of Regency dresses that divide at the very spot your boobs end and your waist begins, making every women look possibly pregnant which seems to be half the fun if Lady Whistledown, the ton wag, has her way.
In general it's pretty and amusing except for the parts
And most of that has to do with power, class, income and sexual imbalances. I'm not sure when the novel was written but the series sticks *very* closely to the romance novel tropes I've studied during my self-publishing career.
Make them argue, make them confused, make them lust, throw up BIG PROBLEMS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS and eventually, after so much angst, the happily every after. PROFIT!
The drum blast of "Romancing the Beat" the romance novel writing guide book were more on time than a particularly well oiled metronome. Unfortunately this came with some serious consent issues at a point, all done to create more angst than the situation needed, by far.
This was irritating but holy moly, Anthony Shiterton made me want to punch his creepy ass self from the first moment until nearly the last. He's a gross gate keeper for his sister, he's an awful, awful, AWFUL rich man taking advantage of his mistress and he's a whiner on top of it. All I could do was wish he'd be run over by a carriage or something, what a miserable mess this creep was.
Not that his confusingly look-a-like brothers were that much better frankly because I couldn't tell any of them apart. (Seriously the casting director failed hard here.)
Back to Anthony, I don't know if this is the actor's or director's choices because I had to take a look at the novel itself to see what the actual fresh hell was going with this character and to my vast surprise, the novel Anthony was sensible, overwhelmed, sad and childish but trying his best. I was sincerely struck by how much more awful Netflix Anthony was than his predecessor and that, from what I read, there was no need for that.
In hindsight I'm going blame the producer's and director's bad choices for this, not the actor. The entire series takes a definite glee in its over-the-top dramatic trope mining. Nuance and subtlety would give the Lady Whistledown the vapors so must be avoid at all costs I suppose.
That being said, Queen Charlotte is hilarious, if way over-involved for a sovereign of that period. Eloise is cute but repetitive and oddly I feel a tremendous sympathy for the nerve-wracked misery factor that is Lady Featherton with her unwieldy troop that consists of Cinderella (Marina) and her less than gorgeous sisters. I'm looking forward to her unenviable storyline, far more than Anthony's whatever if a Season Two should arrive which I think it will.
In short it's a satire of a comic romance novel which makes it super crazy for a super crazy time and if they can stop making their unattractive characters so insanely foul it could be enjoyable viewing through a few seasons. Maybe.
In general it's pretty and amusing except for the parts
And most of that has to do with power, class, income and sexual imbalances. I'm not sure when the novel was written but the series sticks *very* closely to the romance novel tropes I've studied during my self-publishing career.
Make them argue, make them confused, make them lust, throw up BIG PROBLEMS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS and eventually, after so much angst, the happily every after. PROFIT!
The drum blast of "Romancing the Beat" the romance novel writing guide book were more on time than a particularly well oiled metronome. Unfortunately this came with some serious consent issues at a point, all done to create more angst than the situation needed, by far.
This was irritating but holy moly, Anthony Shiterton made me want to punch his creepy ass self from the first moment until nearly the last. He's a gross gate keeper for his sister, he's an awful, awful, AWFUL rich man taking advantage of his mistress and he's a whiner on top of it. All I could do was wish he'd be run over by a carriage or something, what a miserable mess this creep was.
Not that his confusingly look-a-like brothers were that much better frankly because I couldn't tell any of them apart. (Seriously the casting director failed hard here.)
Back to Anthony, I don't know if this is the actor's or director's choices because I had to take a look at the novel itself to see what the actual fresh hell was going with this character and to my vast surprise, the novel Anthony was sensible, overwhelmed, sad and childish but trying his best. I was sincerely struck by how much more awful Netflix Anthony was than his predecessor and that, from what I read, there was no need for that.
In hindsight I'm going blame the producer's and director's bad choices for this, not the actor. The entire series takes a definite glee in its over-the-top dramatic trope mining. Nuance and subtlety would give the Lady Whistledown the vapors so must be avoid at all costs I suppose.
That being said, Queen Charlotte is hilarious, if way over-involved for a sovereign of that period. Eloise is cute but repetitive and oddly I feel a tremendous sympathy for the nerve-wracked misery factor that is Lady Featherton with her unwieldy troop that consists of Cinderella (Marina) and her less than gorgeous sisters. I'm looking forward to her unenviable storyline, far more than Anthony's whatever if a Season Two should arrive which I think it will.
In short it's a satire of a comic romance novel which makes it super crazy for a super crazy time and if they can stop making their unattractive characters so insanely foul it could be enjoyable viewing through a few seasons. Maybe.