Bridgerton’s Diverse Cast Is a Step Forward, but It Could Have Done More

If you haven’t seen or at least heard of Bridgerton, where have you been? The Regency-era romance series launched on Netflix on Christmas day, and has since been watched by over 63 million households. It’s the ultimate exercise in escapism, giving us a glimpse into a semi-fictional world of glitter and opulence, where everyone goes to balls and dances to instrumental covers of Ariana Grande songs.

The series boasts a racially diverse cast – in the first episode we meet the Black male lead, Regé-Jean Page, as the charming bachelor the Duke of Hastings – which suggests a colour-blind approach to production and might encourage audiences to think of Bridgerton as free from any racial discourse. But in a recent interview with The Wrap, series creator Chris Van Dusen said, “I don’t call the casting colour blind, because I feel like the word colour blind implies that colour and race was never considered — and I don’t think that’s true for Bridgerton.”

In episode three, Lady Danbury, one of the show’s female Black leads, explains the story of how the king fell in love with a Black woman, Queen Charlotte – and that’s the reason why the utopian society is devoid of racism. That is pretty much where the references to race begin and end. Van Dusen explained, in another interview with the New York Times, that the idea for the series came to him when he learnt of the real Queen Charlotte and her African ancestry. He then thought along similar lines, pondering what the world would be like if Queen Charlotte could have used her power to elevate people of colour in society. Unfortunately, though, as we have seen in America, having a Black leader does not equate to a country devoid of racism.

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Of course, I don’t want to discredit Bridgerton, as it’s a rarity to see diverse, powerful characters in period dramas – it’s undoubtedly a step in the right direction. However, since Van Dusen claims the series isn’t a result of colour-blind casting – he wanted to incorporate what Queen Charlotte’s position actually did for people of colour – I felt as though it could’ve delved deeper. We need to look no further than Meghan Markle to see the implications of a woman of African heritage marrying into the royal family. She was heavily subjected to racial bias in the media, which ultimately led to both her and Prince Harry stepping down as royals.

I can appreciate the series for what it is, and the concept of colour-blind casting is a noble one, but for a series that claims race is “an important part of the show”, it could have done more than a few hints and winks at the topic. When Simon questions Lady Danbury about why they’re the only Black royals, Lady Danbury says, “We were two separate societies, divided by colour until a king fell in love with one of us.” Maybe Netflix didn’t want to make a big socio-political series, but the ‘love can conquer racism’ sentiment that’s just lightly sprinkled throughout is, in some ways, quite frustrating.

All in all, though, I do applaud Bridgerton for challenging norms, as creators of period-dramas in the past have always struggled to stretch their imaginations far enough to consider casting a person of colour as a royal. As a viewer, it’s refreshing to see, and I hope it’s something we see more of in the future.

Finished Bridgerton? Check out our picks for the best Netflix has to offer in January.