'The Bridgertons' Chronicle: When 'Grey's Anatomy' Creator Revolutionizes TV Diversity

After Grey's Anatomy, Murder or Scandal, Shonda Rhimes manages to enrich her world without straying from themes close to her heart. In The Bridgertons Chronicle, his paw is indeed there. We explain to you how, with a pop and tangy style, Shonda Rhimes has made this new Netflix series a monument of inclusivity, without making it too big… Amen!

A black queen of England, so what?

The Bridgerton Chronicle is part of the trend, still somewhat shy, of the so-called "color-blind" ("who do not see the colors"), meaning in which the skin color of the performer never influences the script. As much to say to you that it is a new wind in the televisual sphere. Queen Charlotte, for example, is played by Golda Rosheuvel, previously seen in The Young Lady. A choice that one might think is daring, but which above all reveals Shonda Rhimes' desire to highlight black actors in all roles, and not those in which Hollywood confines them (criminals, slaves, secondaries). roles hardly sketched …). Exit also the retro references like the Cosby Show where the Prince of Bel Air, which had the merit of bringing Afro-descendant families to the fore, but which remained focused on issues of identities / communities. The Bridgerton Chronicle plays inclusiveness without ever questioning it, in a beautiful burst of modernity.

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Mixed couples, so what?

From the first episodes, we are pleasantly surprised by the plurality of the cast. Black characters in particular hold a place just as important as their white acolytes. Better still: while very few works feature mixed couples, The Bridgertons Chronicle corrects this lack of representation on television. The Duke of Hastings, played by Rege-Jean Page, is thus coveted by many upper-class women. To top it off, he pretends to fall in love with Daphne Bridgerton, a young white woman of good family, before, finally, really falling under her spell. And if mixed couples come and go in Shonda Rhimes' series, the producer doesn't make them a central issue either, and that's good. She trivializes these idylls by avoiding making them a social issue, but also, playing the card of heavy fetishism, which could weigh on the different duos.

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This is not a historical series, so what?

So many racialized characters in the middle of 19th century England, the anachronism is obvious, you might say. It is in a short scene that the reasons for the place of the black community in this period series are explained, and it is fortunate that we do not dwell on this further. Because ultimately, we like to imagine, fantasize about a world where everyone's social status is not dictated by skin color. Do not expect a historic series with The Bridgerton Chronicle, But basically, we accepted, without complaining, the most improbable narrative arcs of Grey's Anatomy, another Shondaland creation. Or, that Ryan Murphy rewrite history in his superb series Hollywood, on Netflix. Isn't soap the ideal kind for us to suspend, for an hour or two, our disbelief?

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Conclusion: on the viewer side, this new series is tasted straight away, but also allows those who want to think about the next stages of equality, in pop culture and elsewhere. In terms of casting, what better reward for a black actor than being able to play a role without being reduced to this part of his identity? Not to make racism, stereotypes and violence suffered by minorities an anchor, an issue within a narrative remains far too rare on our screens. If these eminently political subjects must be treated, it is also important not to systematically "label" racialized characters. As the French actresses and queens of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival said, black is not a profession.

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