We just finished watching Bridgerton on TV. Entirely inconsequential but entertaining diversion.
My question, however, concerns the manner in which the sex scenes were portrayed. I do not generally consider myself a prude, but I thought the sex scenes went a little further than I would have preferred in casual TV entertainment. Specifically - the Duke/Duchess’ wedding night in (I think) ep 5 or 6, and then their “honeymoon” sex in the following ep. Impressed me as crossing a line over into softcore porn.
I’ve got no issue with (and have enjoyed) porn - hard or soft - in print or vid. Just don’t generally think that it adds to storytelling. Sorta serves a different purpose. And I have no objection to naked bodies - male or female - or the suggestion/presentation of sex acts in print or vid.
(And - sorta having it both ways - tho I’m complaining about the length of the sex scenes, boy, they were pretty quick about it start to finish. Didn’t waste a ton of time on foreplay… ;))
Anyone else feel the same as I? Feel I’m completely off the mark? Or want to discuss any other aspect of this show?
So… do you not watch HBO shows? I felt the sex scenes were fairly tame - I mean there were a lot of them, but it’s a romance novel/show so that’s par for the course.
I don’t get HBO. I have watched some when they later became available on disc. I was surprised w/ GoT that even WITH the considerable sex and violence, I couldn’t stay interested!
So what other romance shows do you believe had as many sex scenes as the last 3 or so eps of B?
Maybe I AM a prude. But whether watching or reading, I guess I generally feel it enough to get the idea of what is being done and the characters’ response, w/o a detailed play-by-play. Don’t need to go back to the old days when every sex/death occurred off scene. Just stating my personal response.
In what way do you think such scenes enhance the overall work/viewing experience? To me, it sorta raises additional thoughts/questions that take me out of the show. “OK, they are willing to show his ass, but not hers. Oh - there’s a nipple! So, what did they go through to block that scene, such that that was enough, but no further?”
I mean it’s a romance show. Sex scenes are one of the points - shows you the passion the main characters have for each other that they are banging every chance they get. And of course in Ep6 they have a very distinct plot purpose.
That depends on what sort of shows you like. Bridgerton is basically Downton Abbey meets Scandal and Gossip Girl. I didn’t watch Gossip Girl or Scandal, but I loved DA, and enjoyed Bridgerton.
It is just a silly, lightweight take on the Jane Austen-type romances. We tend to like such things, so this was a pleasant enough diversion. Also - it is so popular these days, we like to make SOME effort to sorta keep up on what is currently popular.
Not sure any of the performances are phenomenal. The casting and costuming is novel. Some curious use of modern pop songs done with strings (tho I didn’t recognize any of the songs.) A LOT of the acting, behavior, scenarios were extremely inappropriate for the time period, so you just have to ignore that.
We’ve been watching so much TV recently, it was worth 8 hours of our time in a cold, snowy, dark days of winter. I was at least modestly curious as to how it ended up. The focus of the first 4 eps changed for the final 4. Around ep 3, I think I was wondering how they were gonna stretch it out for 8 eps.
I’m having similar reactions to Bridgerton. It is clearly a new sort of hybrid mash-up, as stated by ISiddiqui, with maybe a nod to “heaving bosom” pulp romance novels.
Where it hits me is that I am very much a target demographic of high production value genteel historical costume shows. Whereas this one checks those boxes, it also goes in the direction of shows that I would never in a million years watch (Gossip Girls). So, in a tiny way, it kinda comes off like a Spike Jones treatment of a Beethoven symphony.
That said, a show like The Great was also a mash-up of a high production value historical costume show with modern sexiness. However, that one did not try to be “genteel”, quite the opposite.
Maybe that’s the discordant note for some of us viewers? The combo of “genteel” with modern sexiness?
I’m trying to think of other similar shows. My kid is a HUGE fan of such literature/shows - I’m sure she’d be able to give me suggestions.
How about Moulin Rouge? Yeah, not the same era/effort, but sorta hyper vivid. I found it unwatchable - many others LOVE it.
Wasn’t there a recent film adaptation of Anna Karenina that kinda tried a different approach?
Speaking of which - I’ve never understood why Keira Knightly has been in so many period shows. I find her terribly unbelievable as a woman from the 1800s.
W/ this show, I was a little disappointed at the discussion of race somewhere around eps 3 or 4. I was perfectly happy to accept it as a color-blind society. But then they explained that there HAD been racial lines, until the white King fell in love with a woman of color. Which suggests that things COULD revery back…
I haven’t watched Bridgerton (my wife watched the first couple of episodes), but I have certainly seen TV series where the nudity seemed kind of gratuitous. For instance, I thought the Amazon Prime show Comrade Detective was a funny parody, but topless sex scene felt kind of gratuitous (although that was probably the point, since it was a parody of '80s movies which often had an obligatory topless scene).
The perv in me always feels funny describing nudity as “gratuitous”!
My wife and I also stopped watching CD when it got to the sex/blackmail scenes. Especially when combined w/ our having learned that it was NOT simply a dubbing of a period show.
Moulin Rouge was a musical though. Musicals tend to be slightly more vivid (FTR, I LOOOVE Moulin Rouge). Perhaps it’s more akin to the Marie Antoinette movie starring Kirsten Dunst.
Perhaps one sorta analogy is the various reimaginings/updatings of Shakespeare, opera, or Gilbert and Sullivan in various periods/dress… IMO some work, some don’t.
I thought the sex scenes were a little long.
I read that Bridgerton’s makers wanted the sex scenes to be more from a woman’s perspective, for a female audience. Once I knew that, the sex scenes were more interesting because I wanted to see what that meant.
I almost gave up on this after the first episode, but I hung in there and glad I did. It was a fun watch for a long cold winter weekend. The sex scenes between the duke and duchess were necessary for the storyline. I was a little surprised at first with the sex (I don’t have HBO either!) but I don’t think it detracted from the story. I didn’t mind watching the Duke
The actual, ahem, mechanics of the sex act for one couple are a plot point, so they have to show it.
I am not sure about the notion that the scenes are from a women’s perspective. I suspect a lot of women would be less than impressed with the Duke’s two-minute routine, not matter how good looking he is.
Yeah, I’ve described the series to others as “several episodes of Jane Austen followed by a couple episodes of softcore porn”. I don’t mind the odd sex scene but there were a lot of sex scenes, and it was the sheer volume that really put me off. The actor playing the Duke could have made a fortune selling advertising space on his ass, given the amount of time we spent watching it go up and down in those last few episodes. After a while it became apparent that it wasn’t about the story anymore.
On a different topic I found the music infuriating, to be honest. Use of period music - fine. Use of modern tunes adapted to string quartet - fine. Gratuitous mutilation of perfectly good classical music - not fine. What they did to that poor Vivaldi was a sin (quite apart from the fact that in that period they wouldn’t have been listening to Vivaldi in the first place); they would have been better served just using the original than the weird monstrosity they cobbled together.
Oh, and we correctly guessed who “Lady Whistledown” was quite early on. Once you know who to watch, there are a bazillion clues throughout the series to confirm.
That whole series was absolutely genius. I barely remember the topless sex scene though.
