To begin with, it is important to understand exactly what period of Regency should be considered. Regency in France, II. of Orléans. It flourished during the reign of Louis (1715-1723) and did not reach England a century later, during the reign of Prince Regent George (1811-1820). And if the French nobility still doesn’t quite interest Hollywood, their English brethren are in the limelight. It’s not hard to assume that the protected monarchy in England, with its queen, heirs, beautiful princesses, and family scandals that regularly fueled the yellow press, reinforced this curiosity.
But while The Crown tries to tap into historical accuracy and operate on an almost documentary plane of authenticity (perhaps giving itself freedoms other than the regular replacement of the main cast), the Bridgertons and others like them operate in an entirely different way: by giving voice and rights to those who are deprived of those privileges in real life. they deliberately reassemble the history of an entire era.
But to understand the different historical approaches of popular shows of recent years, it is worth understanding how the demand for the life story of the British aristocracy has developed in general. Of course, the most important voice of the period is Jane Austen, author of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility. Interestingly, at the beginning of the 20th century, international attention to the works of the author was very little. Somehow, the 1940 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice tried to sway the situation, but World War II was raging and not everyone was hooked on the love shifts between stubborn Elizabeth Bennett and proud Mr. Darcy.
The mini-series, adapted from the 1995 novel starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, and which became the starting point for the mass explosion around Austen’s work, was met with a completely different audience. But if film adaptations from the mid-’90s and mid-noughts (“Pride and Prejudice” with Keira Knightley in 2005) praised the characters’ high romantic feelings and enjoyed the author’s rich literary language, then the Regency era in the twenties, a major historical revision It has become a testing ground for
The main palace coup was by Shonda Rhimes’ Bridgertons, who rethought the form of the medical drama in Grey’s Anatomy and the political thriller in Scandal. The series is based on a series of novels by Julia Quinn, but seems to be infused with the spirit of Austen. Rhimes did the trick with the project, earning black heroes aristocratic status. Those who were actually slaves and served the white nobility from now on hired servants themselves and could even ascend to the throne (in the show, the dark-skinned heir to the throne also becomes a queen).
It’s the same blind casting in action (color-blind casting is a term that refers to the selection of artists for a role regardless of their race, gender, and appearance) and is a skillful exercise in restoring historical justice – a gift that has traditionally been deprived of proper on-screen representation for centuries. from the same group of the world’s population that are disadvantaged.
And while Russian audiences barely passed the racism test (severe and often racist debates erupted on social networks over whether such historical liberties were acceptable), the Bridgertons’ international success (more than 100 million views) proves it. Rhimes’ bet worked – the audience may not have wanted such history lessons, but happily plunged into the world suggested by the showman, without challenging or resisting. Moreover, Rhimes never hid: we do not strive for historical accuracy, we relax and enjoy watching.
The 2022 film, Mr. Malcolm’s List, is handled similarly to the Regency period, based on the novel of the same name by contemporary author Suzanne Allen, but packaged entirely in Austen’s recognizable style. At the heart of the story, Mr Malcolm (Sope Dirisu of the London Gangs) is London’s most desirable bachelor and has compiled a list of qualities that should potentially possess his chosen one. When spoiled Julia (Zavi Ashton from The Handmaid’s Tale) learns she doesn’t have any of these qualities, she decides to piss off Malcolm. The girl tries to carry out her cunning plan with the help of her best friend Celine (Frida Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire), who later falls in love with her “enemy”.
“Mr. Malcolm’s List” went further than Shonda Rhimes’ originals: in addition to black characters (Dirisu, Ashton) and an Indian woman (Pinto), it also included Asian characters (Ashley Park, Gemma Chan) in the plot. If the domestic audience is still dazzled by the principle of increased diversity, the international audience gave the film a rather high rating: 81% of the tape has positive reviews in the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Similar inclusivity in the casting was inherited by the new “Persuasion” starring Dakota Johnson. Some friends and relatives of the main noble characters are also hybrids with noble titles. And while the film adaptation itself has turned out to be faded and boring, it still makes an important contribution to the common cause of historical revision.
But it’s always not just a matter of creating an alternate reality, it’s also a matter of education. One of the first signs of change was the 2013 “Belle” painting. In it, the future star of The Morning Show, Gugu Mbatha-Row, played the real dark-skinned aristocrat Daida Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate daughter of British Admiral John Lindsey and enslaved African Maria Belle. No matter how itchy racist conservatives were, the creators of the tape had nothing to resist – this story came true. And the first film adaptation from 10 years ago dared to reassemble the usual components of the historical movie genre, where the titled main character turned out to be a dark-skinned girl.
Although screenwriter Misan Sagai initially admitted that the audience saw a deliberate historical substitution in her plot: “People don’t know history well, and they judge different eras not based on actual facts and textbooks, but on the basis of films made in the same way. Similar stereotypes. Of course, this affects how the collective memory of certain events is formed over time. If you distort the story for years or only show part of it, people won’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.
Dating with the format continued on television: In early March 2022, NBC aired The Courtship, the romantic reality show filmed in Regency-era style. Male participants of different races fight for the sympathy of Nicole Remy, a dark-skinned girl. Heroes’ histories are played out in the Bridgertons’ style: Nicole lives in a luxurious mansion, dresses in exquisite clothes, and suitors who want her recognition dress in early 19th-century fashion, while also having to communicate with Nicole. hero and to look at him in accordance with that era.
Even if the format of the show is simply an attempt to shoot on the air thanks to a rethinking of the emerging hype era, the program somehow corrects and reinforces the new norm in the public’s mind: it can be done in different ways. roads. If there is no deliberate distortion and distortion of the facts, why not?
But it is premature to judge the genre and assume that such interpretations now await any Austen adaptation. The same movie “Emma”. 2020 with Anya Taylor-Joy, on the contrary, is made in accordance with the canon and does not deviate a step from the classic format with an all-white cast.
And whatever critics or allies of historical film revision think about the changes, it’s clear that the demand for such projects will continue to rise. Because the importance of the new interpretation of previous periods lies not only in the prominence of the ethnically diverse aristocracy, but also in the fact that all races cease to be erased from the history books.
And the courage of modern writers is nothing but the legacy of their predecessors and their predecessors’ freedom. After all, even Jane Austen in her novels “lied”: she gave the heroes etiquette and allowed them liberties that were not allowed then, but became the norm a few centuries later. And if art can affect reality in this way and make it better, then we have nothing to worry about.