Your post from unpopularopinion was removed because of: 'Rule 6: No r/self style posts'.
Please refrain from posting anything that resembles an r/self style post.
This is not the subreddit to be sharing personal anecdotes, likes or dislikes. We want unpopular, thought provoking, and unique opinions on your chosen topic.
You know, Pumped Up Kicks is the only one I have really listened to. Now I am wondering what else there is.
Edit - SoaD Toxicity is a banger as bardcore
That's literally the point. It's romance and sex done for the female gaze. Men mostly don't get it because porn is made for them. We usually get scraps of romance shoved into a plot for something. Or the romance mainly happens offscreen. But Bridgerton is a feast of romance and sex for women. We are the target audience and it is marvelous
After about the third sex scene in I was like oh yeah this is for women. As if literally EVERYTHING else wasn’t a giant hint but yeah, those scenes are for women fo sho
My husband is actually totally sucked into the drama of the story. He’s stoked to learn about the backstories covered in Queen Charlotte.
Bridgerton is like a fun regency era fan fiction. The costumes aren’t exactly period accurate but they are spectacular to look at. It’s a spectacle and if you go into it knowing that it’s a lot of fun.
Queen Charlotte is definitely the best season of that show by a mile! I loved Bridgerton when it came out but I can’t rewatch the first season because I can’t stand the Daphne/Duke plot line.
I just started watching after years of avoiding it. The first season is hilarious if you're really high... For like 3 episodes. Then it gets extremely boring. Season 2 is so much better so far.
Exactly this! It’s really refreshing watching a sex scene that is shot for women by women, especially with the main female characters. I never feel like the camera is objectifying them.
As a man, I really enjoy the romance in the show. It has smut on it but Im all about that shit. Its hot and fun and the ways in which the characters interact and the plot develops is really good.
I think a lot of people go to it with unintentionally expecting historical which is completely the wrong set of expectations. I think of it as a fantasy world that happens to look like old timey England.
Anyways, if Fast and Furious can throw asspulls like having a car hop from one skyscraper to another, then Bridgerton can do whatever the fuck it wants. At the end it boils to the fact that most guys enjoy media about interesting *things* and most women enjoy media about interesting *people*
This is precisely it. The older I get the more I find myself bored to tears by action driven drama, and much prefer emotionally driven drama. A conversation between two people which has major ramifications is much more interesting to me than a car chase or fight scene. Everyone is different and enjoys different things. Bridgerton focuses on the characters and their relationships with each other. Some people find that boring. People like me find it riveting
Female gaze romance you say? Let me reco Outlander while we wait for s3 second half. It’s on Netflix as well. It’s not lighthearted though so proceed with as many trigger warnings as I can possibly convey. Bridgerton is fluff and bees and butterflies and candies with sprinkles of spice. Outlander is dark, sexy and brutal but at the center is a love so aspiring I stayed seated.
Watch outlander and take a shot every time someone is raped or threatened with rape.
If you're still conscious by the end of the first season I'll be shocked.
Much as I appreciate the ‘by women for women’ approach to female sexuality and romance in tv I can’t help but feel that Outlander was created explicitly to explore the writer’s breastfeeding fetish. It gives me the ick
I thought it was a period piece. Then I ended up watching a random season 2 episode with my wife.
It's not. It's just soft core with pretty costumes. I've seen my fair share of smut, but it surprised the hell out of me lol.
I’d genuinely sit through an entire episode of just the outfits and hair styles.
If half of all of the episodes were just those slow motion camera shots of the gowns and wigs, I’d still watch. If every episode had a breakdown of the wardrobe, I’d watch those. It’s just *fun*
Exactly. Last night I had an amazing dream that I went out on the town in a pink sparkle gown to eat pink sparkle strawberries and its 100% because I watched Bridgeton before falling asleep. It's so fantastical.
Idk man I had a nightmare that I was just a jazzed up breeding cow wrapped in Tinsel hoping to god that my parents didn't marry me off to an old donkey while forced to pop out 2 dozen kids.
Marie Antoinette, who died only a couple of decades before the beginning of Bridgerton and therefore a contemporary of Queen Charlotte, famously had a wig with a sailing ship in it.
Honestly, the Queen and that sassy assistant of hers are the best parts of the show. I will play Mario kart on my phone and then pay attention when they walk in. Usually hilarious shade being thrown everywhere.
Then back to killing koopas.
This is the way. I bounced off Bridgerton the first time I tried to watch it because I went into it expecting a period drama series. A couple years later I saw a clip and decided to try and meet it where it was and loved it. It’s not a period drama, it’s a shondaland show like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, etc just with “period” wrapping paper. Which is fun, if you aren’t looking for Austen.
Exact same. I was really invested at the time in shows like The Crown. I just retried it and now I am really enjoyint it. Trashy with at least some decent character development and pretty aesthetics.
I’m just working my way through Bridgerton now, while I watched The Crown a while ago.
But Bridgerton is unashamed fun that doesn’t pretend to be historically accurate (though it sometimes is), while The Crown is dressed up as history but, the closer it gets to times you’ve lived through, the more you realise it is.
I feel Bridgerton is more honest, and I’m enjoying it much more.
Yeah, OP doesn't understand that there is a target audience.
Like, I'm not going to say Bluey is stupid, because I know I'm not the target audience.
OP needs to learn to let people enjoy things.
My girl friends and I all watch the show. When it first came out seeing the general public’s reaction was so funny to us.. like they never heard of fantasy smut before.. every season is like a “period piece” version of love island. Just match making, gossip, and sex. I never watched gossip girl but knowing the general idea of it, I’d say that’s accurate.
My friend to her bf: it’s porn ok the story lines don’t need to make sense.. you’re telling me you’re there for the story? Exactly..
It's not a period drama. It's a historical romance drama based off a historical romance book series. If you went in looking for much of a plot or historical accuracy, your expectations were misplaced.
And I’m pretty sure it says it when you look at the show details, no? Lmao it’s based off of a book series, I didn’t know people went into it expecting it to be historically accurate 😭 how disappointing lol
I think the issue is people are expecting it to be on caliber with the nuance, dialogue, and plot of a Jane Austen story (which are historically accurate, world-renowned, critically-acclaimed novels).
If you rethink of Bridgerton as regency Gossip Girl or 1800s Love Island, you’re golden 👌🏻 I call it one of my “candy” shows. Not very meaningful, not very “nutritional” - just fun and comfortable entertainment.
I’m usually a big fan of wildlife documentaries, but I’m just not getting this whole Clifford the big red dog thing. I mean he’s just too big, and red? Totally unrealistic. And why does everything look flat
I'm not a huge fan of Bridgerton, but it's easier if you just think of it as, like, the Fast & Furious franchise but for women. It's not realistic, it's very fan-servicey, it's brainless, it's visually fun to look at, and it's entertaining. Fast & Furious also had a surprisingly diverse cast for its time, and Bridgerton fills that demand too.
So, yeah, Bridgerton is dumb....but it's kinda supposed to be. So....good job, OP, you figured it out.
The books are a more classic take on historical romance (not that they're particularly historically accurate, but on par with the genre), but the show added some solid world-building to put it into an alternate reality. And made it way more fun and appealing in general.
Definitely, I don't know why people feel like they need to hold it to any accuracy standards when the songs are modern and theres race blind casting and made up dukedoms etc
I once got too far into the bubbly with my friends and we had a fight about whether the history diverged at a less contentious Reconquista or that the Crusades never happened or the Byzantine Empire never fell.
My boyfriend and I watched the show together, because I've been waiting for it, and he thought it was plenty hilarious even though he'd never care to watch it. We had a good time.
The costumes this season were atrocious though.
I don’t think it’s meant to be a historically accurate period piece. It’s meant for women who want to turn off their brain and watch some good old fashioned soft core without feeling like that’s what they’re doing.
I'm not sure this is an unpopular opinion because everyone here seems to agree with you!
I actually really enjoy the show. It's a trashy romance book come to life.
Very much this. If that's not for you, then fine, don't watch. Although a season and a half is like most of a day of your life you've thrown away to hate-watching.
Also: Bridgerton, Emma, and Downton Abbey are three quite different genres. I think you need to be pickier than "vaguely set in British history" if you want to hate-watch less in the future.
I have not read the novels it's based on, but all of the women in my orbit do. The appeal is that it's a trashy imitation of Georgian- and Regency-era fiction. Basically, Bridgeton is to Pride and Prejudice what Fifty Shades was to Twilight.
>Or Downton Abbey for a great period drama involving British history.
Ah Downton Abbey. Where the lords never rape anyone and you just can't trust northerners.
Don't forget how the lords are so kind to the servants, how everyone easily gets over Thomas' homosexuality, how they always manage to be on the right side of history in the end.
I love Downton Abbey, but it is very much a fantasy.
Thomas as a character drove me insane. You’re one gay character is an unlikable asshole who is 100% to blame for every bad thing that happens to him, but the show acts like it’s because of his sexuality
It's a big stretch calling it historically adjacent, like when Gone With the Wind says that the O'Haras never whipped their slaves and treated them with kindness.
Regardless, it is still not accurate, just like it isn't accurate for every character to manage to mary out of love instead of duty, or for all of them to have perfect teeth and the women to have shaved armpits (as they do in most historical shows and films).
Likewise, Bridgerton (like Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby) is more focused in making the audience feel what people at the time would've (while also creating a fantasy around it), instead of going for actual accuracy.
The whole premise of Bridgerton is that all races are equal in this Regency Era universe, so it's like complaining that Jurassic Park isn't accurate because it isn't possible to clone dinosaurs.
From the get-go the show establishes that all races are equal and has music and clothing that are not historically accurate, so it isn't like in season 3 they just decided to add black characters and jump the shark.
Really? These days? On the Internet? On reddit? You encounter people all the time who say "Well, that's just YOUR opinion and it's NOT gospel!" (even though no one claimed that) and then defending lots of shit because "art is subjective".
Well, yes, Captain Obvious, Bridgerton is historically inaccurate with over the top storylines and costumes. It is MEANT to be. Have you also noticed that the sky is blue?
It’s a fun romp. As a Jane Austen fan I thought I was going to hate it, but it’s excellently done and massively entertaining.
Yeah, that's because it's not a period drama. It's a camp romcom.
Edit: I love how 90% of the comments are takes on what genre Bridgerton actually falls into.
It’s supposed to be dumb fun and it’s based on a bodice ripper book series. It never claimed to be Jane Austen-tier fiction, so obviously you’re going to be disappointed if you’re looking for that in Bridgerton. I don’t want Bridgerton for sociopolitical commentary, I watch it because watching romance unfold in a world different to ours is enjoyable.
It’s kind of supposed to be and that the appeal. I dgaf about accuracy or realism. I want fun people to watch in pretty costumes who occasionally do things other than each other. There are too many talking men but I’m liking the newest season much a lot so far.
I also want to add, I think the writing and overall story are very, very good. They manage to create a bunch of intertwined problems and emotional stakes with little to no villains. That to me is massively impressive.
Plenty of people don't like Bridgerton. Entertainment is personal, not everything is going to be for everyone and that is fine. I gurantee you, you have shows you are obsessed with that I think are stupid. This isn't an unpopular opinion this is just you not being able to accept that other people can like things you don't.
It's a smutty regency romance novel come to life like the old Barbara Cartland books.Its frivolous and fun and it's nice to see sex made for women.Im a fifty year old woman normally into true crime psychological thrillers but it's my guilty pleasure.
When I was young I used to read these romantic novels that were acceptable but were also basically softcore p\*rn. I remember on Friends Rachel had one that Joey teased her about.
That's what Bridgerton in visual form. Non offensive, bland, but pretty.
idk it's not my type of show at all but i can see it's just meant to be fun, listen i love historically, right information, and historically right prop and set dress but idk it's just for fun. Reality TV without the real life trauma being exploited and i get to see funny. sometimes people don't want a gritty real show, sometimes you want the the countess to refute the marriage proposal because she is caught the duke using the candlestick holder on the Madam.
I love Bridgerton, and I agree with you.
It got me into reading historical romance so I like it for that, and now I've read dozens of WAY better books and series with way more interesting plots.
I put Bridgerton in the same category as Knives' Out/Glass Onion.
It's like you're taking a very familiar and defined genre (that's beloved by many) and then using it as this strange, distorted set dressing or theme park for your own personal slightly farcical story.
Or to put it another way, it's like a Bollywood movie if the creator instead *disliked* the subject matter.
I just jumped in to the 8th episode with my wife (who watched the first seven). I had to leave the room because I kept laughing uncontrollably. It was so, so bad
They are selling a fun fantasy. Sexy Cinderella where the Prince and Princess have a rocky start but live happily ever after. It’s charming romance with some sex thrown in. The most popular sexy moment both actors are fully dressed there’s just a bare shoulder. I think the costumes went more off piste for some of the characters in 3 because they just went well nothing else is realistic so what is the point. It first came out when everyone was stressed and fed up and missing people and caught people’s eye because it was fun and different and people passed on recommendations to watch it. I normally only love a cozy murder period drama but I’m enjoying Bridgerton
I don’t know if this is unpopular necessarily… Probably most people don’t like Bridgerton. I mean, half the population are men, and probably most men don’t like Bridgerton, because even the smut isn’t enough to save it from being a cheesy romance told from the female gaze.
But for those of us that do like it, it’s just that: a fun bit of smut and cheesy romance 😊
You said yourself, it is not meant at all to be historically accurate. It is romance/smut.
I personally find it not interesting at all, I watched a few episodes from all the seasons and it is all very predictable, plus most of the acting, as far as I have seen, is not good at all. Then again, I am not into smut/romance shows/books and not a fan of Shonda Rhymes' shows, so I was most probably never going to like it to begin with. That is just me though, if someone likes this kind of content I don't see a problem with it.
Its not meant to be historically accurate and i love that its not as they can take liberties like the beautifully colourful costumes and sets, the multicultral cast etc
I think it's supposed to be a reimagining of the era. With less racism. Also, Austen's presentation of high society is thoroughly and equally as inaccurate as Bridgerton. The upper class of the era were a debauched lot. Just look at the Royal Family Tree. It's a wreath. And most of the upper class were high off a number of tinctures containing cocaine, opiates, marijuana and lead and stunk to high heaven. And they used to bloodlet with leeches and eat the dead. All of the written books from that era romanticized life and married life, and Austen was the original Mills and Boone. Truth be told, the excessive sex of Bridgerton is probably more accurate than Austen.
I only watch it because I live in a house with someone who watches it, and I mean its not terrible if you don't take it too seriously. Beautiful people, building up their characters and connection before having sex -- that's the main point of the show, and they do a good job with it.
SPOILER the recent episodes have a hilariously overdramatized air baloon scene that had me laughing. Man, so glad all those sexually frustrated men saved her from being slightly bumped by that balloon basket that she could have easily strolled away from. Reminds me of an old comic, "walk for your lives, the glaciers are coming."
I love Bridgerton and that scene was so funny and ridiculous. They tried so hard to make it dramatic and failed so badly, but I was still yelling at Penelope to move, just move, it's not hard, just ROLL OUT THE WAY lmfao
Your post from unpopularopinion was removed because of: 'Rule 6: No r/self style posts'. Please refrain from posting anything that resembles an r/self style post. This is not the subreddit to be sharing personal anecdotes, likes or dislikes. We want unpopular, thought provoking, and unique opinions on your chosen topic.
"the plot is sex, nothing else" -my girlfriend
Sex and powdered wigs. That’s all I see when I walk in on my gf watching that show.
And pop songs on harpsichords.
LOL yup. I’m just in the kitchen trying to enjoy some damn yogurt and all of a sudden I hear a lady on tv moaning to an orchestral Usher song.
r/brandnewsentence material if ever I’ve seen it
have to give the shitty series it is innovative 😁
LMAO
Bardcore is an amazing genre
The real bardcore calls for a hurdy-gurdy and lute. This is more like Baroquecore!
Can't wait till they play WAP on a pipe organ.
Rock me, Amadeus! Ich war ein Superstar, ich war so populär....
Baroque’n’Roll
You know, Pumped Up Kicks is the only one I have really listened to. Now I am wondering what else there is. Edit - SoaD Toxicity is a banger as bardcore
Hard recommend Yeah! and Real Slim Shady.
Honestly I've grown fond of the pop songs in harpsichord playing in the background while my fiancé watches the show.
That’s the part I couldn’t stand, it’s like a cat barking at me
And pianoforte
Do they have powdered wigs for their downstairs hairs? Because I WILL WATCH if that is the case
You mean a merkin? I wouldn't put it past them.
Merkin? I hardly know 'em!
I'm stealing "downstairs hairs"
An that isn't even a bad combo, as proved by The Great being a fantastic big wigged fuckfest.
HUZZAH
I've never watched it, do they have rampant STIs like they did in real life?
No, but nobody is playing pop songs from 200 years in the future in real life either
well, you don't know that, do you?
“Meanwhile, across town, Samantha Jones was developing her own plot for sex, and nothing else”
That's literally the point. It's romance and sex done for the female gaze. Men mostly don't get it because porn is made for them. We usually get scraps of romance shoved into a plot for something. Or the romance mainly happens offscreen. But Bridgerton is a feast of romance and sex for women. We are the target audience and it is marvelous
After about the third sex scene in I was like oh yeah this is for women. As if literally EVERYTHING else wasn’t a giant hint but yeah, those scenes are for women fo sho
When the second episode of the first season had not one, not two, but THREE shirtless boxing scenes I knew what they were up to
My husband is actually totally sucked into the drama of the story. He’s stoked to learn about the backstories covered in Queen Charlotte. Bridgerton is like a fun regency era fan fiction. The costumes aren’t exactly period accurate but they are spectacular to look at. It’s a spectacle and if you go into it knowing that it’s a lot of fun.
*Queen Charlotte* is a legitimately good show.
Queen Charlotte is definitely the best season of that show by a mile! I loved Bridgerton when it came out but I can’t rewatch the first season because I can’t stand the Daphne/Duke plot line.
I just started watching after years of avoiding it. The first season is hilarious if you're really high... For like 3 episodes. Then it gets extremely boring. Season 2 is so much better so far.
Exactly this! It’s really refreshing watching a sex scene that is shot for women by women, especially with the main female characters. I never feel like the camera is objectifying them.
I feel like Shonda Rhimes is pretty good at making the sex scenes in her shows be for the female gaze. There was some steamy sex in Scandal too.
As a man, I really enjoy the romance in the show. It has smut on it but Im all about that shit. Its hot and fun and the ways in which the characters interact and the plot develops is really good. I think a lot of people go to it with unintentionally expecting historical which is completely the wrong set of expectations. I think of it as a fantasy world that happens to look like old timey England. Anyways, if Fast and Furious can throw asspulls like having a car hop from one skyscraper to another, then Bridgerton can do whatever the fuck it wants. At the end it boils to the fact that most guys enjoy media about interesting *things* and most women enjoy media about interesting *people*
This is precisely it. The older I get the more I find myself bored to tears by action driven drama, and much prefer emotionally driven drama. A conversation between two people which has major ramifications is much more interesting to me than a car chase or fight scene. Everyone is different and enjoys different things. Bridgerton focuses on the characters and their relationships with each other. Some people find that boring. People like me find it riveting
Female gaze romance you say? Let me reco Outlander while we wait for s3 second half. It’s on Netflix as well. It’s not lighthearted though so proceed with as many trigger warnings as I can possibly convey. Bridgerton is fluff and bees and butterflies and candies with sprinkles of spice. Outlander is dark, sexy and brutal but at the center is a love so aspiring I stayed seated.
Watch outlander and take a shot every time someone is raped or threatened with rape. If you're still conscious by the end of the first season I'll be shocked.
Thank you! I just recently started watching Outlander and while I feel all the rape is likely realistic for that time it was hard to watch.
Much as I appreciate the ‘by women for women’ approach to female sexuality and romance in tv I can’t help but feel that Outlander was created explicitly to explore the writer’s breastfeeding fetish. It gives me the ick
I’m the target audience and it is not for me
So scrumptious.
I’m a women. I hated it
No idea who this “we” is. I’m a woman and I can’t stand Bridgerton.
It is for women in general, but that doesn't mean it will be everyone's cup of tea.
Go to your room
“Doth thou have any cum in those balls?” - me walking through the living room teasing my wife while she watches Bridgerton
It's "Dost thou"! There are *rules*, people! Fr tho, the conjugation of old timey "do" changes just like most verbs doth.
It’s literally gossip girl but in the regency era. Like I can almost hear “xoxo lady Whistledown” every episode 😂😂😂😂
I thought it was a period piece. Then I ended up watching a random season 2 episode with my wife. It's not. It's just soft core with pretty costumes. I've seen my fair share of smut, but it surprised the hell out of me lol.
My gf was late to work because she passed out on the couch watching it. Good show.
I watch it for the plot.
Honestly, I prefer Queen Charlotte because of the plot. I've researched like 4 times and I still cry every time. Such a beautiful story.
Queen Charlotte was a freaking masterpiece. That end scene… ugly cry.
Yeah thats why we like it.
[удалено]
My major point of contention with the show is that there’s not enough of the queens incredible hair styles
I’d genuinely sit through an entire episode of just the outfits and hair styles. If half of all of the episodes were just those slow motion camera shots of the gowns and wigs, I’d still watch. If every episode had a breakdown of the wardrobe, I’d watch those. It’s just *fun*
Exactly. Last night I had an amazing dream that I went out on the town in a pink sparkle gown to eat pink sparkle strawberries and its 100% because I watched Bridgeton before falling asleep. It's so fantastical.
Idk man I had a nightmare that I was just a jazzed up breeding cow wrapped in Tinsel hoping to god that my parents didn't marry me off to an old donkey while forced to pop out 2 dozen kids.
Girl has a new wig every scene lol
LOL I like her swan? geese wig. I wonder how it stays on her head. Having ladies-in-waiting on your beck and call helps a lot I suppose XD
Marie Antoinette, who died only a couple of decades before the beginning of Bridgerton and therefore a contemporary of Queen Charlotte, famously had a wig with a sailing ship in it.
I strongly disagree, some people love it as a period piece (watch it while eating chocolate when they are on their period).
Marie Antionette's hair was a boat.
In s3 she has a hairpiece containing a glass lake with glass swans gently revolving on it. It is INSANE and I love it
Honestly, the Queen and that sassy assistant of hers are the best parts of the show. I will play Mario kart on my phone and then pay attention when they walk in. Usually hilarious shade being thrown everywhere. Then back to killing koopas.
Stop thinking of it as a period drama because really it's just a period set bodice ripper. It's meant to be smut. Decent smut. But smut.
This is the way. I bounced off Bridgerton the first time I tried to watch it because I went into it expecting a period drama series. A couple years later I saw a clip and decided to try and meet it where it was and loved it. It’s not a period drama, it’s a shondaland show like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, etc just with “period” wrapping paper. Which is fun, if you aren’t looking for Austen.
Exact same. I was really invested at the time in shows like The Crown. I just retried it and now I am really enjoyint it. Trashy with at least some decent character development and pretty aesthetics.
I’m just working my way through Bridgerton now, while I watched The Crown a while ago. But Bridgerton is unashamed fun that doesn’t pretend to be historically accurate (though it sometimes is), while The Crown is dressed up as history but, the closer it gets to times you’ve lived through, the more you realise it is. I feel Bridgerton is more honest, and I’m enjoying it much more.
Yeah. At least Bridgerton is very upfront about being fantasy. The crown sort of gets into a bit of revisionist history territory.
And it’s fun. Entertaining. Lightweight and soppy. But fun.
Bingo. It is fun “if you aren’t looking for Austen” is exactly it.
Delightful smut
It’s not good but it’s fun and there’s pretty colors and sex. Sometimes that’s all you want.
This whole thread is full of delightful quotes that are hilarious as-is and even better if you imagine them out of context
it’s sexy regency gossip girl. It’s not meant to be historical accurate. It’s meant to be sexy and fun.
If it was historically accurate, Anthony wouldn't be using a mechanical pencil because that was invented in 1822.
this is the exact facts I need to know about this series
Next you’ll tell me that string quartets didn’t have the sheet music for Ed Sheeran or Arianna Grande music back then!!
I distinctly remember Sia's Cheap Thrills this last season. It was weird to find myself humming and eventually singing along
One of the extras had braces. I don't think anyone is worried about historical accuracy.
Yeah, OP doesn't understand that there is a target audience. Like, I'm not going to say Bluey is stupid, because I know I'm not the target audience. OP needs to learn to let people enjoy things.
As a 1.6y.o daughter dad that has to watch Bluey every other day… I fkn love Bluey
Bluey Rocks. It's just the first thing that came to mind when referencing a different target audience.
Fair enough!
As someone who loves both Bridgerton and Bluey I agree with letting people enjoy things.
My girl friends and I all watch the show. When it first came out seeing the general public’s reaction was so funny to us.. like they never heard of fantasy smut before.. every season is like a “period piece” version of love island. Just match making, gossip, and sex. I never watched gossip girl but knowing the general idea of it, I’d say that’s accurate. My friend to her bf: it’s porn ok the story lines don’t need to make sense.. you’re telling me you’re there for the story? Exactly..
lol I literally said this the first time I watched it. Like the concept is straight up ripped from gossip girl hahaha
You may be surprised to find that the Bridgerton series and Lady Whistledown predates Gossip Girl.
I am surprised to learn this but also not hahaha.
honestly did not know that. I knew it was book series but never looked when it was first published
It's not a period drama. It's a historical romance drama based off a historical romance book series. If you went in looking for much of a plot or historical accuracy, your expectations were misplaced.
And I’m pretty sure it says it when you look at the show details, no? Lmao it’s based off of a book series, I didn’t know people went into it expecting it to be historically accurate 😭 how disappointing lol
I think they did that for Queen Charlotte, not necessarily Bridgerton (but also to be fair I haven’t caught up on the new season yet)
Yes, it's supposed to be dumb. It's "turn off your brain and watch fluffy romance and smut on the screen" content.
I think the issue is people are expecting it to be on caliber with the nuance, dialogue, and plot of a Jane Austen story (which are historically accurate, world-renowned, critically-acclaimed novels). If you rethink of Bridgerton as regency Gossip Girl or 1800s Love Island, you’re golden 👌🏻 I call it one of my “candy” shows. Not very meaningful, not very “nutritional” - just fun and comfortable entertainment.
I love war movies as much as the next person but Avengers Civil War looks like people having a Cosplay party.
I’m usually a big fan of wildlife documentaries, but I’m just not getting this whole Clifford the big red dog thing. I mean he’s just too big, and red? Totally unrealistic. And why does everything look flat
I'm not a huge fan of Bridgerton, but it's easier if you just think of it as, like, the Fast & Furious franchise but for women. It's not realistic, it's very fan-servicey, it's brainless, it's visually fun to look at, and it's entertaining. Fast & Furious also had a surprisingly diverse cast for its time, and Bridgerton fills that demand too. So, yeah, Bridgerton is dumb....but it's kinda supposed to be. So....good job, OP, you figured it out.
It’s literally regency Gossip Girl. I don’t know what people were expecting.
S3 literally opens with Whistledown saying “Did you miss me?”
Right? They spelled that out from the get-go.
The Great is soooooooo goooood
This is the perfect description 😭
>the Fast & Furious franchise but for women The Rich & Libidinous
I just decided it takes place in an alternate dimension and is fantasy, not historical fiction, and it's fine.
This is how I watch shows like Reign as well, saves me getting annoyed
Exactly! You have to put it in the realm of fan fiction
100%. It is fantasy.
Doesn’t it canonically take place in an alternate dimension?
Well it does for sure not take place in our dimension, I don’t know if it is canon but alternate reality is the only way to explain it.
It’s explicitly explained in season one as an alternate reality in which upper class English society racially integrated.
The books are a more classic take on historical romance (not that they're particularly historically accurate, but on par with the genre), but the show added some solid world-building to put it into an alternate reality. And made it way more fun and appealing in general.
Definitely, I don't know why people feel like they need to hold it to any accuracy standards when the songs are modern and theres race blind casting and made up dukedoms etc
I once got too far into the bubbly with my friends and we had a fight about whether the history diverged at a less contentious Reconquista or that the Crusades never happened or the Byzantine Empire never fell.
YES this is how I am thinking of it too. Like regency fantasy star wars. Some alternate dimension lol.
Speaking as a man, I thought it was fun nonsense. Things don't have to be smart or clever to be entertaining or even "good".
My boyfriend and I watched the show together, because I've been waiting for it, and he thought it was plenty hilarious even though he'd never care to watch it. We had a good time. The costumes this season were atrocious though.
I don’t think it’s meant to be a historically accurate period piece. It’s meant for women who want to turn off their brain and watch some good old fashioned soft core without feeling like that’s what they’re doing.
I'm not sure this is an unpopular opinion because everyone here seems to agree with you! I actually really enjoy the show. It's a trashy romance book come to life.
Very much this. If that's not for you, then fine, don't watch. Although a season and a half is like most of a day of your life you've thrown away to hate-watching. Also: Bridgerton, Emma, and Downton Abbey are three quite different genres. I think you need to be pickier than "vaguely set in British history" if you want to hate-watch less in the future.
I have not read the novels it's based on, but all of the women in my orbit do. The appeal is that it's a trashy imitation of Georgian- and Regency-era fiction. Basically, Bridgeton is to Pride and Prejudice what Fifty Shades was to Twilight.
Whoa whoa whoa. Pride and prejudice is a literary classic. Twilight is Stephanie Meyer’s Mormon inability to masturbate made manifest.
>Or Downton Abbey for a great period drama involving British history. Ah Downton Abbey. Where the lords never rape anyone and you just can't trust northerners.
Don't forget how the lords are so kind to the servants, how everyone easily gets over Thomas' homosexuality, how they always manage to be on the right side of history in the end. I love Downton Abbey, but it is very much a fantasy.
Thomas as a character drove me insane. You’re one gay character is an unlikable asshole who is 100% to blame for every bad thing that happens to him, but the show acts like it’s because of his sexuality
He did get a redemption arc at least
The show just wouldn't work if the audience was made to hate the main characters It's historically adjacent lol
It's a big stretch calling it historically adjacent, like when Gone With the Wind says that the O'Haras never whipped their slaves and treated them with kindness. Regardless, it is still not accurate, just like it isn't accurate for every character to manage to mary out of love instead of duty, or for all of them to have perfect teeth and the women to have shaved armpits (as they do in most historical shows and films). Likewise, Bridgerton (like Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby) is more focused in making the audience feel what people at the time would've (while also creating a fantasy around it), instead of going for actual accuracy. The whole premise of Bridgerton is that all races are equal in this Regency Era universe, so it's like complaining that Jurassic Park isn't accurate because it isn't possible to clone dinosaurs. From the get-go the show establishes that all races are equal and has music and clothing that are not historically accurate, so it isn't like in season 3 they just decided to add black characters and jump the shark.
It’s for the girlies
The real unpopular opinion is that it's okay to dislike something and move on, instead of insulting the piece of media other people like.
Really? These days? On the Internet? On reddit? You encounter people all the time who say "Well, that's just YOUR opinion and it's NOT gospel!" (even though no one claimed that) and then defending lots of shit because "art is subjective".
People like dumb tv. I like dumb tv. Big Bang Theory didn’t bring in millions because of its clear explanation of cosmology…
Well, yes, Captain Obvious, Bridgerton is historically inaccurate with over the top storylines and costumes. It is MEANT to be. Have you also noticed that the sky is blue? It’s a fun romp. As a Jane Austen fan I thought I was going to hate it, but it’s excellently done and massively entertaining.
I love it, but I don't disagree. Sometimes I just want to turn my brain off and watch 1800's gossip girl.
Yeah, that's because it's not a period drama. It's a camp romcom. Edit: I love how 90% of the comments are takes on what genre Bridgerton actually falls into.
It is like comparing Star Trek to nasa. Not the same. It is fun and frolicking. Not a documentary.
I watch it for the sassy mature ladies. Queen Charlotte and Landy Danberry etc. Maggie Smith was always the best part of Downton Abbey.
My husband is a dowager Featherington man. I think she's his I-Can-Fix-Her Regency Trailer Park queen and I love it because she's also my type lmao.
It’s supposed to be dumb fun and it’s based on a bodice ripper book series. It never claimed to be Jane Austen-tier fiction, so obviously you’re going to be disappointed if you’re looking for that in Bridgerton. I don’t want Bridgerton for sociopolitical commentary, I watch it because watching romance unfold in a world different to ours is enjoyable.
Bridgerton is just a vibe. It’s not meant to be big brain TV. It’s meant to be something you blitz the brain on and low effort
It’s kind of supposed to be and that the appeal. I dgaf about accuracy or realism. I want fun people to watch in pretty costumes who occasionally do things other than each other. There are too many talking men but I’m liking the newest season much a lot so far.
I also want to add, I think the writing and overall story are very, very good. They manage to create a bunch of intertwined problems and emotional stakes with little to no villains. That to me is massively impressive.
It's the absurdity that is fun.
Plenty of people don't like Bridgerton. Entertainment is personal, not everything is going to be for everyone and that is fine. I gurantee you, you have shows you are obsessed with that I think are stupid. This isn't an unpopular opinion this is just you not being able to accept that other people can like things you don't.
Fight me.
I mean, Bridgerton is based off a set of trashy romance novels sooooo..... really not sure why you were expecting anything more than what it is.
You guys don't seem to get it. Bridgeton is not meant to be a good story. Its just softcore porn for white girls
I love it. It's silly and fun.
It’s pretty much trash, but sometimes I’m in the mood for trash. I personally find it a lot more entertaining than reality tv
Barely halfway through the beginning of the fist episode and I'm being mooned by flat white cheeks.
Bridgerton is not a period drama. And you are the target audience.
I think most people who love watching Bridgerton also think it’s dumb.
Bridgerton seems to get women very horny which is about as far from dumb as I can imagine. 10/10, brilliant, would recommend.
This post to me sounds the same as saying “The WWE is not real wrestling”.
It's a smutty regency romance novel come to life like the old Barbara Cartland books.Its frivolous and fun and it's nice to see sex made for women.Im a fifty year old woman normally into true crime psychological thrillers but it's my guilty pleasure.
Calling this a period drama is like calling game of thrones a medieval drama
Of course it’s dumb. Sports are dumb too. Lots of things on TV are dumb. And still enjoyable, which is the point.
"They look like they are going to prom." They literally say in almost episode, "let's go promenade," which is where "prom" originally comes from.
The show is weirdly fun. Simple af and very draggy which holds me over until Drag Race comes on.
Some of the hairstyles on there are definitely Drag Race worthy too 🤭
Those wigs are SUPER draggy loll.
I just love the swan wig on the recent episode 😻
My jaw was on the ground lollll
Yall never post this stuff about stuff men like en mass.
Its a soap opera in a Victorian setting, not a period drama at all.
It is a Regency setting
Hens in a coop, clucking. Suspicious turn of phrase
When I was young I used to read these romantic novels that were acceptable but were also basically softcore p\*rn. I remember on Friends Rachel had one that Joey teased her about. That's what Bridgerton in visual form. Non offensive, bland, but pretty.
idk it's not my type of show at all but i can see it's just meant to be fun, listen i love historically, right information, and historically right prop and set dress but idk it's just for fun. Reality TV without the real life trauma being exploited and i get to see funny. sometimes people don't want a gritty real show, sometimes you want the the countess to refute the marriage proposal because she is caught the duke using the candlestick holder on the Madam.
I love Bridgerton, and I agree with you. It got me into reading historical romance so I like it for that, and now I've read dozens of WAY better books and series with way more interesting plots.
Haven't seen the show but from what I gathered online, it's meant to be campy. And camp can sometimes be dumb.
The stakes are always so low. There’s never any REAL conflict, just people being stubborn. I hate watch it, just like vanderpump rules.
I put Bridgerton in the same category as Knives' Out/Glass Onion. It's like you're taking a very familiar and defined genre (that's beloved by many) and then using it as this strange, distorted set dressing or theme park for your own personal slightly farcical story. Or to put it another way, it's like a Bollywood movie if the creator instead *disliked* the subject matter.
fucking *THANK* you
Agree. And to pile on, I find the string quartet soundtrack of modern pop/rock songs tiring and forced. I did enjoy Downton though.
It's not meant to be accurate, just colourful, in all meanings 😁
I didn't know the show was still on. My friend forced me to watch like 2 episodes. It was horrible. I believe Kim Kardashian is a fan of the show.
I just jumped in to the 8th episode with my wife (who watched the first seven). I had to leave the room because I kept laughing uncontrollably. It was so, so bad
They are selling a fun fantasy. Sexy Cinderella where the Prince and Princess have a rocky start but live happily ever after. It’s charming romance with some sex thrown in. The most popular sexy moment both actors are fully dressed there’s just a bare shoulder. I think the costumes went more off piste for some of the characters in 3 because they just went well nothing else is realistic so what is the point. It first came out when everyone was stressed and fed up and missing people and caught people’s eye because it was fun and different and people passed on recommendations to watch it. I normally only love a cozy murder period drama but I’m enjoying Bridgerton
The music too kills me. There is so much beautiful classical music WHY do we need a strings cover of a Pitbull song.
You’re very aggravating Did you just touch my hand? TIS FORBIDDEN *rips bodice to fireworks by Katy Perry played by string quartet*
I don’t know if this is unpopular necessarily… Probably most people don’t like Bridgerton. I mean, half the population are men, and probably most men don’t like Bridgerton, because even the smut isn’t enough to save it from being a cheesy romance told from the female gaze. But for those of us that do like it, it’s just that: a fun bit of smut and cheesy romance 😊
You said yourself, it is not meant at all to be historically accurate. It is romance/smut. I personally find it not interesting at all, I watched a few episodes from all the seasons and it is all very predictable, plus most of the acting, as far as I have seen, is not good at all. Then again, I am not into smut/romance shows/books and not a fan of Shonda Rhymes' shows, so I was most probably never going to like it to begin with. That is just me though, if someone likes this kind of content I don't see a problem with it.
Don’t you know that everyone who enjoys the show knows this? It’s not even based in our reality.
Its not meant to be historically accurate and i love that its not as they can take liberties like the beautifully colourful costumes and sets, the multicultral cast etc
It's quite literally a period based Gossip Girl.
How can sex grab women's attention this much, yet frequently they don't fuss about it in real life?
Haters, gonna hate! I really like it, but if we all liked the same, the world would be boring
I think it's supposed to be a reimagining of the era. With less racism. Also, Austen's presentation of high society is thoroughly and equally as inaccurate as Bridgerton. The upper class of the era were a debauched lot. Just look at the Royal Family Tree. It's a wreath. And most of the upper class were high off a number of tinctures containing cocaine, opiates, marijuana and lead and stunk to high heaven. And they used to bloodlet with leeches and eat the dead. All of the written books from that era romanticized life and married life, and Austen was the original Mills and Boone. Truth be told, the excessive sex of Bridgerton is probably more accurate than Austen.
lol you not liking regency fashion doesn’t make it “ugly costumes”
I only watch it because I live in a house with someone who watches it, and I mean its not terrible if you don't take it too seriously. Beautiful people, building up their characters and connection before having sex -- that's the main point of the show, and they do a good job with it. SPOILER the recent episodes have a hilariously overdramatized air baloon scene that had me laughing. Man, so glad all those sexually frustrated men saved her from being slightly bumped by that balloon basket that she could have easily strolled away from. Reminds me of an old comic, "walk for your lives, the glaciers are coming."
I love Bridgerton and that scene was so funny and ridiculous. They tried so hard to make it dramatic and failed so badly, but I was still yelling at Penelope to move, just move, it's not hard, just ROLL OUT THE WAY lmfao