A Generation Rotted by Bridgerton: Has ‘Spice’ Ruined Our Perception of the Period Drama?
Updated: 19 minutes ago
From a shockingly young age, the period drama has held an unbridled power over me. Whether I was seven years old sobbing over Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey or eighteen years old celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice, the period drama has always offered me and many others an escape from the modern world into a time of formality and romance.
So, as you may assume, I have been eagerly anticipating the release of Georgia Oakley’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, one of my personal favourite Austen novels, and I must admit, I was thoroughly impressed. The film perfectly and masterfully captures the complexities of love, whether romantic or familial, and leaves its viewer with a sense of giddiness worth melting over. Therefore, you can imagine my surprise when I returned home from the cinema, ready to consult the internet and quantify my own opinions of the film, that my eager adoration was to be met with videos condemning Sense and Sensibility for its lack of desire and, well, raunch!
One specific video, posted on TikTok by a user under the handle of @elsnuh, makes the startling claim that “[she] knew Sense and Sensibility wasn’t for [her] as soon as the ‘U’ rating came on the screen,” her point then further backed by the caption which read: “No sexy time, one kiss & no passion.” Jane Austen is probably turning in her grave!
It is an incredibly bold claim to assert that the work of Jane Austen has no passion and is ultimately unsexy, and the expected responses came rolling into the comments: “did you expect Sense and Sensibility by Colleen Hoover..?” (@user.here365) and “the concept of ‘spicy time’ in a Jane Austen adaptation is taking me out” (@debonthemhaters). Whilst the abundance of outrage at this post does restore some of my faith in the world, the post does currently have thirteen thousand likes, and I presume that a large majority of these likes are in agreement with the user’s claim.
But why? Why do we now have this expectation that the period drama must offer us some form of ‘spice '? Well, if you were to ask me, and many online users, the root of the problem is very clear: “Bridgerton has rotted an entire generation” (@minuartiamezlocilin); “wuthering heights movie has done irreparable damage” (@aleahadg). Have projects such as Bridgerton and “Wuthering Heights” set expectations of vulgarity and raunch which now loom over any and every new period piece moving forward?
Now I fear I must admit to you a small secret: I am a part of the problem. I cannot deny my love for the raunchy and far-fetched; I am (not so) patiently waiting for the next season of Bridgerton, and against my better judgement as an English student, I did enjoy Emerald Fennell’s loose adaptation of “Wuthering Heights.” But please, lower your pitchforks and take what I have to say with a pinch of salt. We must learn to differentiate between our guilty pleasures and truly well-crafted period pieces.
Have our minds become so distracted by blatant regency thirst traps that we can no longer appreciate pure love and desire, unriddled by lustful impulses? Bring back men who yearn, we cry, and yet when offered a piece of media so centrally focused on longing and yearning, we punish it for its chastity. Producers such as Emerald Fennell and Shonda Rhimes have successfully captured public attention and seemingly intend to maintain their monopoly over it; however, let us not forget our roots. Writing in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Jane Austen is obviously not going to construct long intimate descriptions of her characters’ sex lives, but why should that be necessary?
Yes, the modern audience craves promiscuity within the media and praises productions that prioritise this, but spare a thought for Austen, whose work has for centuries offered us true unadulterated love and desire, an abundance of great love stories unburdened by audiences' contemporary expectations and which stand the test of time. Do these expectations of promiscuity within the media speak to our modern interpretation of love? I see your steamy moments and kinkiness, and raise to you stolen glances, accidental touches and pining. These are the most enchanting moments of any period piece, whether it includes ‘spice’ or is entirely clean. Therefore, perhaps one suggestion: if it's romance and yearning you long for, shelf Bridgerton till next season and let yourself be drawn in by Sense and Sensibility.
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