#anti bridgerton fandom

[artcinemas]

the racism and antiblackness in the bridgerton fandom might be the only period accurate thing about this show.

[remusawoooo]

I first watched bridgerton last month (all seasons for the first time), and the racism in fandom caught me by surprise somehow. there is always some to be expected in any fandom, unfortunately. but with black (light skin) leads and important characters, I expected a little different, I suppose.

anyway, this is about the general hate towards the actor portraying John Stirling. it is absolutely insane. It's driving me a little mad. He is so good in the role ! wdym he's not attractive??? you eurocentric racist freaks can't see beauty in dark skin, and we are sure of it. he was adorable in the role, btw. (saying his portrayal is akin to horror or that he's too "feminine" I SEE YOU ALL)

tbh I wouldn't have cared if all they did was call him unattractive (because theres the plausible deniability regarding racism). to go the next step and spew casually racist nonsense?? in 2024?? the fandom demographics are so obvious. sick sick people.

maybe it's the general state of this fandom idk I just got here but???? we need to bring back shame

[torchwood-99]

The Eloise Hate

Honestly at this point, it feels like the only way for a certain section of the fandom not to see Eloise as the ultimate villain would be for her to do everyone's emotional lifting, carry all their baggage, fix all their problems, and never have wants, needs or feelings of her own.

You've got other characters being actively cruel, actively doing harm to others, and Eloise's great crime is not knowing how best to respond to these situations.

JFC why is Eloise meant to take on the burden of everyone else's problems on her back!?!

Yeah, it's nice when characters look out for each other (and Eloise spent all of part two worrying about Colin and worrying about her family and trying to do what's best in the face of a drama other people created) but it seems like only Eloise is required to exist as everyone else's beast of burden, to put aside her own wants, needs, boundaries and principles for their benefit, in a way no other character is asked to.

[butyouaremymess]

ok sorry, but i'm in my "a huge part of the bridgerton fandom sucks era" because why the fuck do they think that telling penelope fans that she is just an self-insert character is an insult like ???

yeah, i want to see myself represented in media and i want people who have the same body or a similar body as me find love and romance and have a happy ending. am i supposed to apologize for that or what??? and it's telling that these are the same people who keep saying that s3 won't be successful because the leads are "not hot enough" and we all know what these fans actually mean

penelope as a character gets more hate than the (thin) character who sa-ed her husband and the (thin) character who was responsible for almost letting his sister get married to a horrible man and almost killed his best friend like ????

also, it's really telling that when the bridgerton fandom fancasts sophie or michael or gareth or lucy, it's always thin fancasts never plus size fancasts (plus size bipoc exist too js) because apparently plus size people are not sexy or hot enough

i can't wait for s3 where pen and colin will find love and have sex and penelope will have a happy end and she'll be part of the bridgerton family (i know that this part especially makes so many angry lol)

[artcinemas]

people should be thankful they have not adapted the exact book series those bridgerton brothers and the male li's were soooo nasty (derogatory)

"but it's not book accurate" well so isn't the whole show. there has been lot of changes in personality and story line for so many characters yet this outrage arises ONLY for francesca and michaela?? where did all of the "oh it's just a silly show it doesn't have to be accurate for us to enjoy" go? this show was never historically or book accurate so why is it a problem now? i hope eloise and cressida are lesbian too. i hope every person complaining about changes ends up even more miserable. you do not give a fuck about the integrity of the story, you just care that you no longer have yet another straight couple.

[shewhotellsstories]

I'm so glad someone said it. Between the writing and the racist fandom, I can't blame the Black actors for not wanting to stick around long.

"Bridgerton seems to reserve its true horrors for its Black characters in a similar way, with even the cast working to bring this show to life suffering for it. With every new season that is released of the Netflix phenomenon, a new wave of toxicity is unleashed on social media, varying from racist TikToks with thousands of likes disparaging how “ugly” Black characters like John Stirling supposedly are, or tweets harassing any actor of colour who they deem to be a “bad character” on the show as fans did with actress Ruby Barker (Marina Thompson).

The fun of a show like Bridgerton lies in its romantic escapism; we want to watch pretty people fall in love and court scandal in frothy gowns. We want the angst and the drama we were promised, but at every turn Black and brown fans of the show are reminded that they are simply guests in the Bridgerton universe."

[lovehatebridgerton]

Saw a post about Kanthony shippers “self-victimizing” which is an interesting way to characterize fans calling out production’s horrible treatment of their actors of color.

Article

This isn’t about ship wars, this isn’t about fans not understanding it’s an “ensemble” show. There’s a serious problem here, and more fans, no matter who their favorite character is, should acknowledge it.

[hamletshoeratio]

Theo Sharpe, Marina Thompson, and Eloise Bridgerton, they could never make me hate you <3

[bookish-cravings]

The same crowd that gets on Eloise’s neck about being rich and privileged and unaware of how hard other people’s lives are is the same crowd that trashed her for spending time with Theo, seeing more of the world outside of the ton, learning more about women’s rights and the world around her and called her selfish for wanting more than to spend her life as a man’s trophy-on-a-shelf

Almost like you guys don’t actually want her to grow and expand her worldview, you’re just waiting for Scumbag Ph*lip to come and completely destroy her spirit and punish her for thinking she could possibly do more with her life than be a wife and mother

And what exactly was so selfish about her spending time with Theo? You guys love Benophie as if the class difference isn’t also a factor there

[sukibenders]

"I'm team feminist/feminism!" But will quickly drag a female character through the mud without sympathy for their circumstances just because they don't fit your ideals, will get mad when poc criticize a female character's actions that are very thinly coded in racism and say "support her crimes!" while ignoring how that often leads to the harm of poc characters, will shade woc characters or put them on higher pedestals than their yte counterparts while ignoring the harm they face while trying to meet your standards, will victim blame those who suffer (and are still suffering) from abuse when they act out in ways you deem "wrong" because of it, following up with the last point will mock and laugh at said abuse to uplift another female character (pitting women against women, even when the narrative does not ask for that), will dismiss any valuable argument displayed if the said female character is a little mean but then go and say "why can't female characters be mean? 🙄"

I could go on.

[thedisdainfullysilentvisitor]

Friendly lil reminder that just because a show tells you a main character or recurring is a good person, that doesn't mean they necessarily are. Think for yourself.

[colinspens]

The Polin fandom needs to stop putting Debling on a pedestal when we know nothing about this man. I’ve seen horrible takes by “Polin fans” saying Debling will be Penelope’s knight in shining armor and teach Colin how to treat her right. That she needs to be properly courted and romanced before “settling” for Colin. These are the same people who campaigned for Debling and Penelope having sex the SECOND the fake Sun article dropped. There is a fine line between being a Polin fan and a Penelope only fan. You only see Colin as a prize Penelope earns instead of his own person. That’s why as soon as he doesn’t act according to your standards, you start rooting for the other guy. This season is about Penelope AND Colin. I’m tired of his own fans being his biggest haters.

[dollypopup]

yes yes, yeah yeah, blah blah 'Colin didn't see Penelope as a woman in S2 but Monopoly Man Plot Device did in S3' okay

I think we're all forgetting that Colin Bridgerton is miles and away better than Mr. NPC for this reason, in fact.

1: the 'I have given up on women (romance with women)' 'I am a woman' 'You are Pen, you do not count, you are my friend' is actually a really beautiful reassurance of Colin affirming his friendship and appreciation of Penelope OUTSIDE of romantic or sexual expectation. Which is RADICAL and wonderful. He loves Pen because she's PEN, not because she is a means to an end for marriage or a romp. Penelope is important to him and that he cannot give her up or bear the thought of never talking to her again. Yes, she found this hurtful because she wants to be an option, but

2: I actually think this will be the way that she realizes that being seen as a 'woman' is not enough. Debling is in his 30s, a man with a title and money and he says the right things and he courts her and he thinks she's pretty and it's NOT ENOUGH. She is not content in simply being seen as just a woman.

the entire purpose of Polin having interactions with other parties is to prove that it isn't enough for them. They require and desire and crave and NEED the emotional intimacy they have with each other that they can't get from anyone else. Because only with each other can they truly be themselves and unmask and be appreciated for the full people they are

because what Colin did, what he said, proves that he will forever be the better option. sure, maybe he didn't see Penelope as just a 'woman'

but he sees Penelope as a person

and that is infinitely better than anything Lorax Understudy could do in S3

[torchwood-99]

Ten seconds looking on twitter is enough to blow my mind. Philoise fans really are something else, one of their main arguments for their ship is that Eloise sucks so much that she will never amount to being anything other than a privileged housewife. And these are supposedly her fans.

El, El, I’m so sorry. I want to rescue you from your time period and this bloody fandom. 

[butyouaremymess]

No but I'm so happy you brought up Daphne saing her husband because I've literally been ranting to my friends for months about how apparently a 17-18 year old is fucking evil according to fandom for like...making bad decisions?? That she very clearly feels bad about even as she makes them? But its apparently fine for another thin conventionally pretty girl to literally assault her husband because he said he didn't want kids and because of her ignorance (due to not being told in her defense I guess) she thought that meant that he couldn't have them. Like thats so much fucking worse??? And I literally never see anyone talk about it??? Its just glossed over entirely??? Like idk man, I'm not gonna be hugely upset about a gossip sheet thats taking a toll on someones life because they're too young to understand the power they have when we literally have date-rape barbie

Let's be honest, a lot of people in the fandom ignore what Daphne did because she was a K*nth*ny (typing it like this so that this ask doesn't appear in the ship tag) cheerleader in S2 and because - as you said - the character is thin and conventionally pretty. (Don't even get me started on why they included that horrible storyline from the book in the show. They could've just done something else.)

The same with Anthony- he was AWFUL in S1 but I guess a glow up und daddy issues make everyone forget that.

But of course, a teenager writing a gossip sheet is the worst character in the show and - according to certain fans - deserves to die like ???

Also, interesting that Eloise's misogyny towards other women who want to marry and have kids is always excused with being young but the same fans never accept that Penelope is young and therefore makes mistakes. I wonder why... (we all know why)

[jack-ackles]

it's so funny that this whole "which bridgerton would cheat" discussion was started only to put down colin bridgerton but now that more people are getting involved the fingers are pointing towards everyone including anthony, benedict and even mrs frannie kilmartin 🤭