In our latest article, Amanda-Rae Prescott dives into the history of racism in period drama fandoms, and connects it to Bridgerton's massive global fandom today:
Bridgerton fandom is far from the only example of racism around period drama television. There’s a continual tug of war between audiences who want to see BIPOC in historical fiction stories where racial trauma doesn’t exist, and people who only want white supremacist narratives catered to. They don’t just want to deny BIPOC fans the same level of escapism white fans have enjoyed for years—they want to put an end to any BIPOC actors appearing in period dramas, full stop. Racists weaponize outdated, inaccurate, or politically distorted history to attack characters and casting. Rather than a reference to era-specific set design or correct dates of important events in scripts, the concept of “historical accuracy” has become a very specific dog-whistle.
Read or listen to an audio version via the link above!
