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we're not getting that cinderella trope by the time we reach benedict's season lmfao

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“I never wavered,” [Emma Holly Jones] says of casting Dìrísù. “It’s him, or we don’t make the film. It’s the best decision I ever made. He’s handsome, he’s talented, he’s gentle, he’s complex.”

That was partly what drew Dìrísù, who is British Nigerian, to the film. Previously, the actor didn’t care much for period dramas of this era, nor did he get opportunities to star in them. “There were no stories of color being told in those films,” he says. “Many young, white British actors would leave drama school and get a period drama, and that would be their route to success.” That wasn’t the case for Dìrísù, who went on to star in shows like Gangs of London and movies like His House. However, he connected with the script for Mr. Malcolm’s List, finding it a funny, interesting departure from other work he was being offered. Jones knew the moment she met him that she had found “the new Mr. Darcy.”

Once cast, Dìrísù got to work nailing his character’s accent, fixing his posture, and finding ways he could inhabit the role on a deeper level, like convincing Jones to include a scene where Mr. Malcolm speaks Yoruba. “I was conscious of not color-washing the story,” Dìrísù says. “I didn’t want this to just be a white character played by a person of color. I wanted him to feel like a real, lived-in person.”

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Reasons Why I'm Okay With Polin Being the Season 3 Couple

It has been confirmed that the main couple of season 3 will not be Benedict x Sophie after all and instead, Colin and Penelope will be taking center stage. Now, book purists are probably incensed that the show is screwing with the book order, but I don't think it's going to be the end of the world for them to shuffle things around this way.

Here are a few reasons why I'm okay with Penelope and Colin (Polin) being the main couple of season 3.

1- They already set it up to happen in the final episode of season 2

Colin stated quite loudly to the Asshole Brigade at the Featherington Ball that he would "never dream of courting Penelope Featherington." This is already a departure from the books since in An Offer From a Gentleman, he said something similar, but it was to his brothers on a relatively empty street.

Another departure from page to screen is that in the books, Colin was made aware pretty much immediately that Penelope had heard every word he said. But in the show, Colin doesn't know that Penelope heard him.

This will set up the conflict at the beginning of season 3 when Penelope is giving Colin the cold shoulder and Colin will be very confused as to why it's happening.

2- It makes more sense for Eloise's story to follow right after Benedict's

In the books, Eloise decides to try and see if marriage to Phillip Crane would suit her after Penelope marries Colin. But she also states in To Sir Phillip, With Love that the reason she went so long without getting married or accepting a proposal was the love story between Sophie and Benedict. If she was ever going to get married, she wanted a romance like theirs.

In the show, Benedict is Eloise's favorite brother and the Brigerton sibling she feels closest to. In the context of the show, it makes sense that Eloise would move her romance forward following the marriage of Sophie and Benedict.

3- Happily Ever Afters

(I would like to preface this point by saying I'm a white woman, not a person of color, but I'm going to try my best here. I'm mainly just repeating some points that people of color have already made.)

We're all well aware at this point that Bridgerton is not your typical period drama. Up until recently, most productions that took place in this era had a fully white cast. And when period productions do have people of color in more prominent roles, their plots tend to have them going through something traumatic. Like they have to go to hell and back and maybe get a happy ending kind of traumatic. And it's almost always about how that trauma affects the white lead or drives the plot of the white lead forward.

I think we can also safely say that women probably make up more of Bridgerton's viewership numbers than men. And to paraphrase Charithra Chandran from Netflix's TUDUM event, she never imagined that someone who looks like her would ever be in a production like Bridgerton. As someone who always had the luxury of seeing women who look like me getting their happily ever after onscreen, I can only imagine what it must feel like for women who look like Charithra and Simone.

Now, if the Bridgerton show remained in book order, then there would be four seasons in a row where women of color did not get to see other women of color in the starring role get their happily ever after in a genre they aren't normally seen in. These four women in the leading role would be Penelope, Eloise, Francesca, Hyacinth. If Colin's season comes first, that leaves room for a woman of color to be cast as Sophie in Benedict's season. It would still be three seasons in a row without a woman of color in the leading role, but it's a step up from four seasons.

And even with a three-season gap of women of color in the starring role, there are still other women of color in the show that will have more prominent roles, even if it's not the starring role (Kate, Lady Danbury, Queen Charlotte for example).

(I'm aware of some of the concerns that the Sophie/Benedict storyline could tread into white savior territory. But I don't want to overstay my welcome treading into a talk about representation.)

TL;DR: Polin is next year's main couple and that's fine with me.

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It was obvious, to me, that we'd have Polin for season three from the beginning if I'm being perfectly honest. Here's why:

TV is a very different medium than books. Especially in a show that has an almost two year gap between seasons (because period shows take longer to shoot, it's a fact of life). From the moment they revealed Penelope as Lady Whistledown in season one, the clock for her storyline started ticking.

We had the big reveal in season one (which I loved btw). And season two we had the Queen getting aggressive about her hunt for LW. And Eloise (the most important person in the world to Penelope, forget Colin) finding out. And Colin saying he would never court her at a public gathering (an improvement from the same scene we have on Benedict's book because of the implications).

The production has built momentum for this. Natural momentum. I might not personally like how that scene between Penelope and Eloise went down in season two, but it was a natural and organic reaction to all that preceded it during the season. It would be extremely foolish of the production to press pause on this or drag it along for another season. They would lose the momentum, and consequently the interest of all the people who have not read the books (who are the majority of their viewers, we can't forget that). And honestly, I don't think we, book readers, would like the result of this being dragged out as well. It would feel inconsistent to the story they have been telling so far. Because, ultimately, the show is not the books.

As for Benedict, considering where he ended last season, I think this is perfect to explore his character further. He ended season two in a low point by finding out Anthony had basically bought his spot at that fancy art school of his. It's the perfect opportunity for the writers to explore his feelings of who he is outside the family. Who he is besides Bridgerton #2. Maybe this is the push for him to get a place of his own in the countryside? And to make him hide his art from his family again, putting us right where he was when Sophie found him.

Not to mention that the ball where Colin announces Penelope's secret identity is so dramatic. The show could explore this in so many ways. Dare I say, make it a masquerade?

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I agree that there's been a large sum of racists no longer hiding their bigotry within the Bridgerton fandom. I'm starting to think it has more to do with the HR fandom consisting of white people or white apologists who prefer to see a white woman play the lead role instead.

They are enraged by the prospect of a dark-skinned WoC as the lead in a love story. They don't want to see WoC thrive in a space that's been dominated by them (cis white woman). They don't want to share that space with us.

I hope that Bridgerton S2 being the #1 most-watched English-language Netflix series of all time, will not only open doors for WoC (particularly dark-skinned) to be the lead in a historical romance, but in the romance genre as a whole.

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I just want to say I am happy for any couple taking the spotlight and drama next season.

I just need my small subplot of Kate and Anthony being happily married and supportive and Kate growing into her role as a Viscountess.

I don’t understand why there is so much hate on twitter about couples presumably „taking spotlight „ away. That will not happen! But if we have learned anything from season 2 is that the main couple will not get 8 hours of screentime.

Also Kate will not take away anything from Sophie, Violet or Francesca! But she can have a storyline of her own interacting with these women without you hating on her can she not?

Also why not take your anger towards the show(runners) ? Why attack the actors, characters or ships?

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Bridgerton Season 3 Predictions:

Benedict and Sophie giving me all the feels

Sophie being WOC (non-negotiable)

Benedict being a himbo & his will-you-be-my-mistress bs

Benedict: —BUt mY LaDy iN sLiVer

Boss Lady Kate and Simp Anthony, either being in a constant honeymoon phase, or going straight to married for over 30 years

Kate and Sophie bestie era

Penelope and Eloise friendship thriving once again

Finding Edwina a nerd boy she hoped for like in the books (or the prince, I ain't fussy)

Colin struggling with his place in the world

Ending the Featherington drama as soon as possible (please)

Penelope taking off her rose colored glasses with Colin

*heavy breathing* John Stirling & Michael Stirling cameo

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Simone Ashley in Bridgerton season 2 episode 8 (2022) dir. Cheryl Dunye

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1.03 “The Art Of The Swoon” | 2.08 “The Viscount Who Loved Me” BRIDGERTON (2020–)

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My thoughts:

I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. It's no different to how I felt with season one.

There are plenty of Kanthony moments in the book that the show could have used... it's a shame the writers settled for more drama instead.

It's also disappointing that this is more of Anthony's season than Kate's when they're both the main leads of this season. They gave Anthony his backstory but couldn't do the same for Kate? They didn't even have to come up with one because it's right there in the book. We could have gotten that in the library scene, but it was cut short.

As a fan of the book, I can't help but feel like we could have had it all with Kate and Anthony. They dragged the love triangle for far too long that we only managed to get Married Kanthony towards the very very end of the season. The best moments in the book would have definitely translated even better on screen so I see no reason why the writers didn't even try? They're a lot better than whatever the love triangle was supposed to be (also love triangles are so outdated now. Need everyone to leave that trope behind).

I wouldn't say this season is bad though. I actually enjoyed the subplots and the new characters that were introduced to us.

I liked that we got to see more of Eloise, but I'm not sure how her subplot alludes to her season. They didn't even make an attempt with Benedict's. I know that this season ends with Benedict feeling a lot more unsure of himself and his art and how that will eventually lead to his season, but it was barely expanded on. I don't think there has been a season (so far) where they really delved into Benedict's arc. That scene where Anthony tells Benedict that he's merely second in line when it comes to responsibilities, I wish we had seen more of Benedict's true feelings to Anthony's statement and how that affected him.

These are my initial thoughts for now. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say later.

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Riz Ahmed Wins Best Short Film The Long Goodbye

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im sure by now everyone’s seen news/images of the new ‘rings of power’ series amazon is making— and i don’t really want to speak on my issues with it specifically (just generally i’m uncomfortable with speaking online lol), also because many people already have, so i don’t want to repeat what’s already been said.

but i will say this. you can have whatever issue with the show because it’s all valid. but i feel like what no one’s talking about is the racism that’s still very present in this community (this isn’t targeted to anyone in specific, moreso targeted to commenters on the instagram accs for the show). i’ve seen many people complain about how having black actors wont be historically accurate— but historically accurate to what exactly? this is literally fantasy, there’s nothing to stay historically accurate to. it’s frustrating to see this kind of rhetoric because people are using a seemingly ‘rational’ argument when instead they’re hiding behind a fallacy that doesn’t even make sense (and if you really want to complain that black people in a fantasy show is historically in accurate, why not talk about all the times white actors have taken bipoc roles where real, historical accuracy mattered). just admit you’re racist and move on, stop trying to justify your hatred for black people. honestly, i EXPECTED people to still be racist. racism is very much alive so i’m not naive enough to think it wouldn’t still be present in many fandoms, it’s just very tiring and disheartening— because it just becomes more and more obvious that so many spaces will never accept bipoc into their spaces when all we want is to enjoy the same content that white people enjoy. if you have an issue with the actors, especially the black actors— think about why. again have whatever grievance you want with this show but let’s just critically think a bit here.

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Representation in Bridgerton matters.

“I think that ‘Bridgerton’ has done for TV what ‘Hamilton’ did for theatre,” Chandran told the Telegraph. “It encouraged a totally different audience to watch period drama and romances. And it made us feel seen on screen.”

Fans went wild after the trailer’s release, with one person writing on YouTube: “As a dark skinned Indian-American woman, for the first time in my life, I can see someone who looks like me being considered a desirable love interest in mainstream media with no caveats. Honestly I feel more moved than I thought I would. I can’t even explain, representation matters so so much."

Source

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orchard beach, 1946 by fred stein

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@butterflykisses86 I feel like everyone's interpreting what she's saying differently so I guess we'll never really know until S3 filming starts.

But yeah yours make more sense.

Kinda feel bad for Luke N. and Nicola if S3's going to be Polin's season. They deserve to be excited about their season but there hasn't been any official confirmation that S3 will be Penelope and Colin's season and yet I've already seen some people be openly fatphobic and largely so against it when they've overlooked the fact that Shonda also states that they'll be following each one of the siblings' romantic story.

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@pavl-atreides there's been speculation that Polin's season will be on S3 because of Penelope's extended screen time in S2 + Shonda saying that the show won't necessarily be following the book in order.

Kinda feel bad for Luke N. and Nicola if S3's going to be Polin's season. They deserve to be excited about their season but there hasn't been any official confirmation that S3 will be Penelope and Colin's season and yet I've already seen some people be openly fatphobic and largely so against it when they've overlooked the fact that Shonda also states that they'll be following each one of the siblings' romantic story.

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FOR THE LOVE OF GOD...

MORE POEPLE NEED TO TALK TO ME ABOUT THE PERFECTNESS OF LISA KLEYPAS’ MALE LEADS!