#dark skin is beautiful
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Bridgerton: Colourism in Action
I finally got round to watching the Netflix series Bridgerton, by Executive producer Shonda Rhimes.
Like many Black women, I was eager to watch a fictitious show that would hopefully be “inclusive of all races” more importantly, I was sure that the show would go against the grain and cast Black dark skin women in leading roles.
I was sadly mistaken.
All the unambiguous looking Black women with dark to brown skin tones were casted as subservient characters with little to no lines, and used as part of the background scenery.
While the key female characters of colour were played by the following ambiguous looking Black women and Bi-racial women:
Golda Rosheuvel - plays Queen Charlotte
Adjoa Andoh - plays Lady Danbury
Ruby Barker - plays Marina Thompson
Kathryn Dysdale - plays Genevieve Delacroix
Emma Naomi plays - Alice Mondrich
I’m not surprised but I am disappointed, as this could have been avoided.
From a representation standpoint, Bridgerton is perpetuating the notion that Black women with light skin, particularly women with mixed ancestry, are more deserving of opportunities, admiration and a voice, over Black women with darker skin and Afrocentric phenotypes.
Colourism is just as dangerous on screen as it is off screen, as it reinforces the idea that dark skin is not good enough, or palatable for the dominate race to accept.
Anyway, I want to reinforce that lighter skin is not more beautiful than darker skin, they’re equally beautiful. However, I appreciate that so many, especially gatekeepers within media still haven’t got the memo.
Author - @iameriwa