Latest / gasp! the pod / bridgerton's queer stories are not the problem

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bridgerton's queer stories are not the problem · gasp! the pod

0:00
It's not about Francesca being gay, it's about how the
0:03
adaptation destroys one of the best books in the entire series.
0:07
I'm just going to go ahead and skip Franz season.
0:10
A queer character was literally just added for the sake of
0:13
adding a queer character and insulting the original
0:16
storyline. Francesca's story was about
0:19
motherhood and infertility. That cannot happen now.
0:23
SMH. You destroyed the show.
0:26
These are just some of the hate comments about the number one
0:29
show on Netflix soft launching a lesbian storyline.
0:43
Dearest listeners, welcome back to GASP the Pod.
0:50
Don't worry, I won't be doing a British accent the entire time.
0:55
I'm actually going to stop right now, and I apologize for all of
0:59
my British listeners for having to hear that, but I just needed
1:03
to give the Julie Andrews treatment.
1:05
I mean, that wasn't even close to Julie Andrews because we're
1:08
talking about Bridgerton, one of the most popular shows that
1:12
Netflix has ever had. Bridgerton, you may have heard,
1:17
is creating a lesbian storyline that has been soft launched
1:20
season 3 and with now season 4 completing.
1:25
I literally just finished season 4 an hour before I'm recording
1:30
this. It is very clear that Michaela
1:32
and Francesca are going to begin a love story.
1:35
And as you can kind of tell from the many hate comments I just
1:39
read, many viewers are peeved. They're fucking pissed,
1:43
actually. They're so mad.
1:45
But Bridgerton is no stranger to forbidden love stories.
1:48
That's like the whole nature of the show.
1:51
And if anything, the direction that they're taking with the
1:53
show is a natural course for its premise, right?
1:57
What is the premise of Bridgerton?
1:59
It's love based on love and not based on society.
2:03
Mayfair's rules. This episode we're examining
2:07
Bridgerton's queer love stories, specifically Benedict's.
2:11
Mostly we're going to get into Francesca's and Michaela's and
2:15
what could have been Eloise's. I'm going to tell you guys what
2:19
I think were the good choices and the bad choices that the
2:22
show has made. Also going to cover the twists
2:24
away from the books and all of the fan reactions.
2:27
Warning, this episode's going to have spoilers.
2:29
Like I already finished season 4 at Bridgerton.
2:33
Get to it guys. OK?
2:34
And if you have not watched the show or read the books, you
2:39
don't have to for this episode. Like I will explain the dynamics
2:42
for those have not that have not watched the show.
2:44
So this is not just for people that have watched Richard 10.
2:47
By the way, I have long hair, but it's because I'm recording
2:49
this the day before I actually cut my hair, which is actually
2:53
going to be T because look how long my hair is.
2:54
If you're watching on YouTube and if you watched my last
2:58
episode or listen to my last episode with Logan, you know
3:01
that I am recovering from a strange illness that I found out
3:04
was just bronchitis. But that's why my voice is kind
3:07
of hoarse. So hopefully it gives like sexy,
3:09
raspy and not like toad. OK, reminder, I'm looking at you
3:15
right now. People that have not subscribed
3:16
on YouTube and Spotify, do it right now because I'm about to
3:19
hit 1000 subscribers on YouTube and that's like super major for
3:22
me and pause this right now. Go ahead and do it.
3:26
Do it. Thank you.
3:27
If I haven't already done this, I'm about to do it.
3:30
I just recorded a double Gaylord Song of the Month episode.
3:35
This is a bonus episode on my Spotify and Patreon all about
3:39
Tolerate It and Exile, so that should be up soon if it's not up
3:43
already. And yeah, please share the pod
3:45
with your friends. Let me know guests you want me
3:48
to have on any topics you want me to cover.
3:50
Now let's get into it. People are so fucking mad and a
3:53
lot of the reasons why they're mad about this Francesca lesbian
3:59
dynamic that we are about to see at least not in the next season,
4:04
but I think in the next season, which is like sad that it's
4:06
going to be so long from now. But after like heated rivalry, I
4:11
know a lot of us have been like really wanting a main lesbian
4:16
couple. And again, of course it's going
4:19
to be in the 1800s because they love doing lesbian dynamics that
4:22
are not current. But like, this is a major show
4:25
and I don't think we've really seen a major show like this have
4:29
a lesbian couple. So this is huge.
4:30
And no wonder it's facing backlash because like my theory
4:33
from heated rivalry, I do think that there's a lot of women that
4:36
are more OK with watching gay men than they are with watching
4:41
gay women. And I don't know if that's
4:42
because they're worried that they're going to face their own
4:45
queerness or just because women love thirsting over men and that
4:49
they sentiment and everything. So anyways, I think that that's
4:53
a lot of the reason why people are freaking out.
4:55
But like, I'm so excited about this.
4:57
Like I'm fucking ecstatic about it.
4:59
A lot of people are using the excuse that like they're
5:02
changing the books as a reason to hate this new storyline with
5:06
Francesca and I'll get into it later in the episode, but that's
5:10
complete BS. Oh, and also I will be talking
5:13
about what we know happens from what the showrunner has told us,
5:19
who is queer the Bridgerton showrunner and like what we're
5:21
hearing from the cast. So I will be telling you rumors
5:26
and or confirmed information about what we're going to see in
5:29
the show. So just a heads up, Bridgerton
5:32
is a is a TV show on Netflix. It is a Shondaland show, which
5:36
is why it's so iconic and it follows close knit siblings that
5:40
are part of this like noble influential family in Regency
5:46
era London. The Regency era of Britain is
5:50
between 1795 and 1837. So we're talking like early
5:55
1800s. So this is based off of a book,
5:58
many books called Bridgerton OK by Julia Quinn.
6:02
Most of the plot of these books is this family and their love
6:08
stories and navigate dating the social season and like the
6:11
marriage marked, the show has taken a lot of liberty.
6:15
And that is the crux of what we're talking about today, is
6:19
the fact that the show has twisted every single story
6:22
pretty much. In the books, there was also a
6:25
prequel. It looks like there's going to
6:27
be another prequel following Violet Bridgerton, who is the
6:30
matriarch and the viscountess of the Bridgertons.
6:34
And there was already a prequel following Queen Charlotte.
6:37
So the characters, the main characters are all white in the
6:40
books. OK.
6:42
The show famously or infamously, depending on like what you
6:46
think, if you think it was a good idea or not, for them to
6:49
make a lot of these characters black or people of color.
6:52
The show has changed a lot. And not just the race of the
6:58
characters, OK. It's also changed dynamics and
7:02
complete plots because of the liberty they're taking not just
7:06
in race but also in class and status and queerness.
7:11
They've already told a queer story yet.
7:14
I'll talk about why I think people think that one's OK, but
7:18
not Francesca's. So this is an alternative world
7:21
where George the Third established racial quality after
7:25
he married Queen Charlotte, his wife, who is black, of African
7:30
heritage, right? So they don't really dive into a
7:33
lot. Like, they don't really dive
7:35
into slavery. They touch on like,
7:37
discrimination and like how it flips and how Queen Charlotte is
7:41
like changing a lot of this, but it is an alternative world, so
7:46
it's not going to be completely realistic.
7:48
Obviously, this is the 1800s. OK, This didn't really happen.
7:51
However, the actor for Queen Charlotte did actually, and I
7:56
think she's a lesbian. Wait, let me actually double
7:59
check that. OK, She's queer.
8:01
She has a wife which slay, but she was talking in an interview
8:06
or I think Lady Danbury's, I think the actor for Lady Danbury
8:09
was talking about this, about how Queen Charlotte in real life
8:14
actually was of African descent. She was portrayed in some
8:18
portraits as a woman of color. So it's actually not the
8:21
craziest idea that this queen would be black because Queen
8:25
Charlotte in real life was of African descent.
8:27
So it's an interesting alternative plot, the idea that
8:32
Queen Charlotte could have been that influential to then allow
8:36
other people that are not white to be a part of British noble
8:41
society, right? Obviously that didn't fucking
8:44
happen, OK, Because there was no systematic racial change in
8:48
London in British Regency times, OK.
8:52
The T is that they are taking a lot of creative liberty and that
8:56
has been a part of the show since the very beginning and the
9:01
stories are not going to remain the same.
9:04
The plots will be different because they are changing the
9:08
race of characters. The plots have already been
9:10
different. The plot for Benedict has been
9:13
different because of his sexuality.
9:15
All of that is to say that this show, they have already race
9:20
bended and sexuality bended characters and no one has seemed
9:25
to care until they made one new character a lesbian.
9:32
Let's talk about Benedict's story, his love story, the
9:36
queerness of his character and then we'll go into Francesca and
9:41
then what I think could have been a really great love story
9:44
for Eloise. And I have controversial
9:46
opinions on Eloise. So each season they are focusing
9:51
on a different love story of one of the Bridgerton children.
9:57
OK, Violet, the matriarch of the Bridgertons, her husband
10:01
tragically passed away from a bee sting.
10:03
There's a lot of tragedy that is now very preventable with modern
10:07
medicine. Benedict is the second oldest
10:09
brother. His older brother is inheriting
10:13
the land in Regency era Britain. This is like what is true, not
10:17
just for the show, but it's historically true.
10:20
If you're a noble, you inherent land, a title and an estate
10:24
through sexism and the patriarchy, all of that will
10:27
flood through the eldest son or the man of the family.
10:31
So since Violet's husband, Edmund Bridgerton passed away,
10:35
the oldest son now gets the land.
10:37
And then he just had a son with Kate Sharma, his wife.
10:41
That was a love story with Jonathan Bailey, which I think
10:43
was an amazing season. And honestly, I'm going to be so
10:47
honest, this past season with Benedict I literally think is
10:52
maybe better than even that season.
10:55
That was like probably the top one for me.
10:57
Even though people love the first one with Daphne,
11:00
Penelope's I thought could have been better.
11:02
I feel like they weaved in the storylines in a way that didn't
11:06
make me intrigued in any other storylines.
11:08
It just seemed like they were like coming up with other plot
11:10
points. However, this season I think
11:13
they balanced perfectly the love story and also weaving in other
11:18
characters and their stories that I was actually really
11:21
interested and excited for more seasons.
11:24
Specifically Eloise, Francesca, even Hyacinth.
11:27
And I love how they talked about the whole interworking of maids
11:31
and servants and like lower classes and how they were in
11:35
like, Regency era Britain. So we're going to have to
11:39
understand nuance as smart viewers of a show to realize
11:44
that there's some things in the show that are supposed to be
11:48
historically accurate, and there are other things that are not.
11:51
Queen Charlotte's plot was very different than real life, and
11:58
it's very different than the books.
12:00
So don't come to me and say that you were upset about Francesca's
12:04
storyline because it's different from the books and that you
12:07
didn't want to switch from the books.
12:10
We're barely looking at the books at this point.
12:13
OK, so let's just get Anthony is the eldest brother.
12:16
He just had a kid. So Benedict now knows he's the
12:20
second oldest brother, that he will probably not inherit the
12:25
title. He will not be the Viscount
12:28
Benedict has always been this wild child, AKA a rake.
12:33
And a rake in Regency terms apparently means whore.
12:37
In the books, he is not queer. In the show, he is very openly.
12:44
It's very obvious to a viewer that he is queer, probably in
12:48
modern terms by. But it's hard to kind of give
12:51
labels. And I'll also talk about what I
12:53
think Francesca is, if she's a lesbian or if she's by, and I'm
12:58
down to disagree on that. Benedict for the last few
13:01
seasons has kind of confided in Eloise, who is a another
13:05
daughter of the Bridgerton family because they are both not
13:09
interested in marriage. Up to this point.
13:10
He was very not interested. He was pursuing the arts.
13:13
He was not really interested in society and attending these
13:17
balls. His mother really wanted him to
13:20
be a part of these balls, right? And like find a wife, Violet is
13:25
very, very focused on love rather than like a society
13:30
match, one that will improve your status.
13:32
She's very focused on like finding a love match, which is
13:35
not always common in most of history, which mind you guys,
13:41
the idea of love is actually a very modern concept, like we
13:45
hear it talked about throughout history.
13:47
But like the idea of love and marriage being like the same
13:52
thing at all. He's rather new.
13:54
All these traditions are not just like, Oh my gosh, they
13:57
happen to be sexist traditions with with marriage.
14:00
No, it was literally like women are property.
14:03
So if you are a woman in Bridgerton times, that is
14:07
something that has that is historically accurate with this
14:11
show. And I'm interested to see how
14:12
that maybe changes for Francesca's storyline.
14:15
But noble society was like royally recognized rich people
14:20
that got their money from being in like Parliament or just
14:25
inheriting these estates. OK, so like land owning white
14:29
men and women could not access that without marriage.
14:32
So women were not treated well. So Benedict Bridgerton cannot
14:36
inherit the title anymore. He has been a rake.
14:39
He's been a whore. And what we did see the last few
14:42
seasons is him going to these drinking clubs, probably getting
14:46
an STD. Plus, if you had sex with a
14:49
woman before marriage, not only could she get pregnant and have
14:51
an STD, but she was completely now ruined.
14:54
Like she's a whore, OK? And not just a whore, but like
14:57
she's thrown out of society. It's crazy.
15:00
Tea. These drinking clubs happen to
15:01
have queer people. He is a part of this kind of
15:04
like lower class queer nightlife full of whores and drinkers and
15:11
queer people because they're all kind of the same thing in the
15:14
society. So these rumors are going around
15:16
town that he's a rake. It's not really obvious that
15:19
people know that he's been with men.
15:23
It seems like that is not really obvious, but people know he's
15:26
like sleeping with many women and being a whore.
15:30
OK? So he has slept with men in
15:33
episodes of Bridgerton before. That is not just random.
15:38
That is a clear part of the storyline that he is queer.
15:42
He is interested in both men and women.
15:45
OK, enter season 4. He pursues this relationship and
15:51
falls in love with a woman who happens to be a maid but is
15:54
being financially screwed over by her stepmom.
15:58
It is pretty much the plot of Cinderella.
16:00
And going into this season, I was kind of like, we know
16:05
exactly what's going to happen with Cinderella, but I was
16:07
happily surprised with how many twists and turns it took.
16:10
I didn't know, like, how it was going to work out with them if
16:13
they were going to have to go into the countryside.
16:15
And I was also shocked by how extreme everyone in the family
16:18
was being about her being a maid.
16:21
And I was thinking about it and I was like, damn class.
16:25
The classism is probably the hardest line right now in the
16:28
show because racism doesn't really exist in the show.
16:31
Now. It seems like it might be harder
16:34
for him to be with a maid than it would be for two women to be
16:38
together because have you guys ever heard of a Boston marriage?
16:41
A Boston marriage is a 19th slash early 20th century term
16:44
for two educated, financially independent women living
16:48
together in a long term, committed, socially accepted
16:51
partnership. Two women at the time, we're
16:54
just viewed as like friends, you know, so you could kind of
16:57
almost get away with it. I wonder if that's how they're
16:59
going to go about the Francesca. I think they're calling it
17:02
French Franchella or Franchella, like the ship of the two of them
17:08
in their plot, but with a maid and a nobleman.
17:13
Sophie who is the maid and meets Benedict because she's sneaking
17:17
into a ball. I mean it's literally
17:19
Cinderella. I'm not going to spoil the whole
17:20
thing, but obviously they end up together and they navigate a way
17:23
for it to make sense in this story.
17:25
But my question is for people that are upset about the
17:30
Francesca storyline. I don't know how you can be
17:32
upset about Francesca and not Benedict.
17:35
And the only thing that makes me think why people are not upset
17:39
about Benedict is because he ends up with a woman and not a
17:42
man. Obviously he still ends up with
17:46
A Cinderella like figure, but a lot of his back story is
17:50
different because he is hooking up with men.
17:52
He very could have likely fallen in love with a man.
17:55
It seems he is bisexual right? And he actually admits deeply
17:59
caring for men. And he tells this to Sophie in
18:03
one of my favorite scenes from the season.
18:07
And I'm really, really glad that the show included his coming out
18:10
to Sophie. And I'm really glad they didn't
18:12
act like it was just a random part of his past, that he was
18:15
hooking up with men and that like that is all forgotten
18:19
because he is still aware that he is bisexual.
18:22
He is still bisexual even though he is with Sophie.
18:25
And Sophie handles it very well. But he says that he has cared
18:29
deeply for men before. So I was very happy with how
18:34
with what I saw in this season and that when he fell in love
18:37
with a woman, it wasn't just forgotten that he was bi or
18:41
queer. And that was a point made in the
18:44
show. And I'm just so glad they did
18:47
that. And I think, listen, having at
18:50
least two queer people in a family makes sense.
18:54
OK? When you have like this many
18:57
children, the odds are going to be high that more than one
19:01
person is gay. So people saying like, uh,
19:04
there's too many queer storylines out there.
19:06
First of all, that's just like fucking homophobic.
19:08
Like, there's no way to get around it.
19:09
But if you want to like, watch specifically Bridgerton, which
19:13
is all about bending history, I think it's just like a genius
19:19
move to change things and see how it would have been if
19:25
something like this happened and Queen Charlotte shifted the
19:28
course of British history, right?
19:31
Except that and like, get into it.
19:33
It's creative, right? It's half historical, half not
19:37
historical. And if that doesn't make sense
19:40
to you, I don't know how to explain.
19:41
Like TV. And if you want to show that
19:44
doesn't explore different dynamics besides those same
19:47
straight white dynamics we've seen throughout all of history,
19:52
again, go to Fox News. They have that for you.
19:55
It just makes sense that there's more than one queer person in
19:57
this family. And I'm really glad they're
19:59
doing a whole season on Francesca.
20:02
Let's talk about Francesca. So the actor that plays
20:05
Francesca actually is a recast. The original actress left to be
20:10
on another show. Horrible timing for her.
20:13
I don't know why she did that. But the new actress, Hannah
20:16
Dodd, is absolutely mesmerizing. I'm obsessed with her.
20:19
I think that her acting is. Brilliant.
20:22
And I'm really excited to see her season.
20:25
Like I just can't wait and I'm sad that it's going to take two
20:28
seasons and I just as a girl in an interracial queer
20:32
relationship, super fucking major, super fucking major that
20:36
we're going to get an interracial queer relationship
20:38
and it just makes sense for Bridgerton.
20:40
They bend everything. Here's the plot.
20:43
Francesca Bridgerton is one of the daughters of the Bridgerton
20:47
family. She is on the quieter side.
20:50
She likes playing piano and wasn't super enthralled with
20:53
going into the marriage marked until she meets John Sterling,
20:58
who is an equally calm person, man of few words and very deeply
21:05
cares for Francesca. Now, what I do think is really
21:09
interesting in season 3, which is when we see them first get
21:12
together, is Violet, the mother of Francesca, has quite a few
21:17
pauses about Francesca being with John.
21:20
And the pauses are because she's like, do you love him?
21:24
I don't know if you're excited about him or not.
21:26
And even though Francesca feels very safe and has a wonderful
21:31
connection with John, that plot point is brought up many times.
21:35
And that's why I think Violet can see that Francesca may not
21:40
be in love with John, but maybe loves John.
21:45
I think there is a possibility that Francesca is a lesbian.
21:51
So before I get into that, to finish up what we know now,
21:55
Francesca and John get married. Francesca, when she marries
21:59
John, meets his cousin Michaela. I told Sophia this and my
22:05
girlfriend and she was like, wait, cousin?
22:06
And I was like, honestly, we just have to accept that.
22:10
Just don't think it's weird. Just accept it, OK?
22:12
It's not her cousin. Whatever meets John's cousin.
22:16
And they were very close as children.
22:18
Francesca and Michaela do not get along OK Michaela is very
22:23
bubbly, talkative. She's insistent on being a
22:27
spinster, which at this point you're kind of like, gay, right?
22:34
She wants to stay up late, and Francesca is very quiet and very
22:38
intent on fulfilling her womanly duties.
22:40
She wants to feel like she is a Good Wife.
22:42
And again, this is what women are taught, right?
22:45
Of course she wants to feel this way.
22:47
The plot of a lot of this season before John dies from a
22:51
headache. Francesca is having sex with
22:54
John and frustratingly cannot reach her pinnacle which is
22:59
modern day times an orgasm and she talks about this a lot.
23:03
Now in the books, her inability to have children with John is a
23:07
huge plot point. In the books, Michaela is
23:10
actually Michael. They change Michael to Michaela.
23:13
Grow up, get over it. OK, but Francesca is unable to
23:18
have children with John, and one of the reasons why his death is
23:21
so heartbreaking is because she doesn't have a piece of him to
23:25
remember him via a child. But she thinks a lot of the
23:28
reason why she can't have a kid is because she can't pinnacle
23:32
with him. And the fact that she can't
23:34
pinnacle with him, which we know that she probably will with
23:37
Michaela based on how we think this is going to go, based on
23:42
what the showrunner has told us. And like what Francesca, the
23:46
actors for Francesca Mikila told us, like also lends itself to
23:50
the idea that maybe she's a lesbian, right?
23:53
She's mourning John when he passes away, obviously is super
23:57
devastated. She loved John, but her mom
24:01
noticed that she wasn't like in love.
24:04
And Francesca can't pinnacle with him.
24:07
It's kind of maybe giving that she's a lesbian now, she could
24:10
be by and maybe like her level of relationship with John is
24:14
just different than it is with Michaela.
24:16
But why are we so resistant to the idea that maybe she's a
24:20
lesbian? She can't pinnacle with them.
24:22
That's all I'm saying. But anyways, John dies,
24:25
Francesca and Michaela are actually becoming friends
24:28
shortly before John passes away. They get close, they accept each
24:32
other's like differences and like the balance seems to like
24:35
work. There's like some longing
24:36
stares. And I don't think she is
24:38
emotionally cheating on John at this point.
24:40
I think that she thinks that this is completely friendship in
24:44
her mind at this point. So I don't know why people think
24:47
that there's emotional cheating. I don't see any of that.
24:50
John passes away, they get really close, they're mourning
24:53
him. She is like super sad that she
24:56
never had a kid with him. And Michaela leaves suddenly.
25:00
We know that they will pursue a romantic relationship because
25:03
that is how like what the show was told us.
25:06
OK, not in the next season, hopefully in the season after
25:09
that. But the reason why people say
25:12
they're so mad about the Michaela switch from Michael is
25:17
because of this plot line of infertility.
25:20
And they are saying that this completely ruined her plot.
25:24
And I was like, hmm, that's interesting.
25:26
Once I watched the show, that is the entire plot point for
25:31
Francesca this entire season. She had a lot of screen time.
25:34
She was in it a lot. It is very clear that she's
25:38
having frustrations with the fact that she's unable to get
25:40
pregnant. So that has not been missed
25:43
guys. And her wanting to be with a
25:46
woman later on in the show changes nothing about that plot
25:50
point. You can still struggle with
25:52
infertility and the struggle getting pregnant, being with a
25:55
woman. OK.
25:57
And again, before you say anything about like, that's not
25:59
historically accurate, a lot of this is not historically
26:02
accurate. A lot of this is the grief of
26:05
John and her inability to have kids.
26:09
That is the entire season. She shares a few longing glances
26:12
with Michaela. But like, that plot point has
26:16
definitely been hit and there are people that are saying like,
26:19
there's not enough shows that show women and the issue with
26:25
like infertility and like struggling to have children.
26:29
First of all, I'm not going to debate that.
26:32
There's probably not enough media around that, people that
26:35
are also saying, but there's too much gay representation.
26:39
Guys, the percent of gay population in the US, it's not
26:43
1%. It's like 30, at least in women,
26:46
Gen. Z women.
26:48
So no. OK, if you really want to take
26:51
30% and apply that to shows, definitely no.
26:55
So you can talk about that. You think that there needs to be
26:58
more representation for women that struggle with infertility
27:01
issues while not also discrediting queer stories?
27:07
Is that possible or can we not do that?
27:09
Also, they told that story this entire season and I'm sure that
27:13
she will continue to struggle with it because it seems like it
27:16
would be really strange to just drop off that story.
27:18
All I felt from Francesca this season was grief and that pain.
27:23
Hate to say it but there are a lot of people that are
27:25
scapegoating that as a reason for why they don't want Michaela
27:29
and Francesca to be together. They are saying Oh my God
27:32
Michael and Francesca were my favorite story.
27:35
Well guess what? You guys get every fucking love
27:37
story. You guys meeting straight
27:39
people. Now you guys have JoJo Siwa and
27:41
Fletcher. I mean I didn't actually want
27:43
JoJo Siwa but like you guys have enough.
27:47
You get every other story, you get every book.
27:49
Also, do you have the ability to see a love story that is not
27:54
exactly about you and also connect to it?
27:58
When Sophie and Benedict were together, I was like feeling it.
28:02
That's unrelated to me. I'm not in a relationship with a
28:05
maid. I'm not in a straight
28:07
relationship, yet I can still connect with it.
28:10
I think that straight women need to be able to hear stories that
28:15
are not exactly about their situation and connect with them
28:20
as well because queer people have had to do that our entire
28:23
lives. Get used to it.
28:25
I need a drink, guys. One second.
28:27
By the way, guys, Magic Mind reached out to me and sent me a
28:31
bunch of their like, mental performance shots.
28:34
I was like, OK, per send it to me and they wanted to see if it
28:38
would actually, like, help me before they sponsored me.
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And I've been trying it for seven days.
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It's supposed to make you feel like calm and also give you
28:45
energy at the same time, which coffee does not do.
28:48
And it's like matcha and so cute.
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It turns out super nice to not feel anxious every time you
28:54
drink caffeine. Like, yeah, like I don't
28:56
actually have to take all my daily supplements if I'm just
28:59
drinking this drink which has like BCD vitamin.
29:04
Anyways, if you want to try, the link's in my description on
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YouTube and Spotify and wherever you're watching or listening,
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you can use GASP 20 to get 20% off of Magic Mind.
29:14
Let's go back to Francesca. So at the end of season 4, John
29:19
is unfortunately dead and Michaela, who Francesca has
29:23
actually asked to stay with her, Michaela has left.
29:28
And I think it's because Michaela knows that she has like
29:32
budding feelings for Francesca and doesn't want to screw it up
29:35
with her. I think the what Bridgerton has
29:37
done with the story so far has been really amazing.
29:39
And I'm going to go into Eloise in a second.
29:42
But like, it's not obvious to make Francesca the queer one
29:46
that has a queer relationship. And I think that's often how it
29:49
goes. Sometimes it's not the person
29:52
that you would expect to be gay. We didn't see Francesca hooking
29:57
up with girls in bars. We saw Benedict hooking up with
30:01
men in bars and he ends up with a woman because life is random.
30:04
We don't know what's going to happen.
30:05
He's still queer even though he ends up with a woman.
30:08
But Francesca being with a woman, a lot of the concern and
30:12
the hate comes from straight people, by the way, straight
30:18
people that are like, it's not about being gay.
30:20
It's blank, blank, blank. Oh, it's not because I'm
30:22
homophobic, but blank, blank blank.
30:24
Just because you say it's not because I'm homophobic doesn't
30:28
mean it's not homophobic. You don't get to decide if
30:31
you're being homophobic. If someone said that something I
30:33
said is like racially insensitive or racist and
30:36
explained why, and that someone was a person of color and
30:39
explained why they felt that way, I don't get to say no, I'm
30:44
not racist. OK, so let's stop doing that.
30:48
It's not the same thing, obviously, but let's stop acting
30:51
like straight people can just decide if they're being
30:53
homophobic or not. It doesn't mean you're a bad
30:55
person. But like, try to like de learn
30:58
why you are feeling these things, OK?
31:00
You can't just say that it's not because she's gay, but it's
31:05
blank, blank, blank and it's every other excuse in the book.
31:08
But you're not mad at any of the other plot changes we've had for
31:12
the entire show. And so a lot of people are
31:14
saying that they're just randomly put in a queer story
31:17
for Francesca. I completely disagree.
31:20
Now, obviously I don't like tokenization, and I think you
31:23
can tell when something's tokenized, but I feel like
31:26
they're going about this in a very well done way.
31:30
Like they didn't rush into this. They're barely, barely showing
31:35
glimpses of Francesca and Michaela looking at each other
31:39
like we're really getting crumbs.
31:42
So this season they're not just trying to kill off John and then
31:46
boom, go right into Michaela. Like they are fully talking
31:50
about Francesca's infertility issues, her grief and setting up
31:55
for her wanting and longing to be with Michaela.
31:59
Maybe right now for comfort, and maybe later for something else.
32:03
Maybe later for a pinnacle. Lord knows she should have one.
32:06
So yeah, you don't get to just say it's not because I'm
32:10
homophobic, but like, what? You can't say that.
32:14
And I just don't think that this was randomly put in.
32:18
Not every queer story has to make sense from like birth.
32:21
And that's not how queer things work out.
32:23
Like just because she doesn't look gay or look stereotypically
32:27
gay or have a stereotypical gay story where she always hated
32:32
men, Like that's not how queer stories work all the time.
32:35
So I really enjoy that. It's not obvious that she was
32:40
always going to be gay. It's just slight feelings of her
32:44
feeling a little different and just not quite getting there
32:47
with John. I do think she might be a
32:50
lesbian. If you think that she's
32:51
bisexual, I actually totally see that for you.
32:54
I'm not here to hate on that for you, but we don't know for sure
32:57
right now. It just seems like there was
32:59
something a little messing with John based on also what her mom
33:02
was saying about them too. That's what we think about
33:04
Francesca. So let's talk about Eloise
33:07
finally. Eloise is another daughter of
33:10
the Bridgerton family. Now, this is a storyline that I
33:13
did believe, I did think that this was going to turn into a
33:17
queer storyline. And I am irritated about two
33:21
things for Richardson. Eloise will be the next story,
33:25
OK? It will be the next book.
33:27
Eloise, it seems like, had this connection with her brother
33:31
Benedict, where they both bonded over feeling very different and
33:35
not wanting to be part of the marriage mark process, right?
33:39
So in that way, I thought that we were going to get a queer
33:43
connecting between them. And I appreciate and I get that
33:48
it's not always the most obvious choice.
33:50
However, what if all three of them were gay?
33:55
Obviously, the gay jeans in the family, it's not the craziest
33:57
thing. Not that she has to be a lesbian
33:59
or not that she's a lesbian. Maybe she's my sexual too.
34:02
Like, I don't know. I just like Eloise seems so
34:04
queer and pretty much she has never wanted to be a part of
34:08
society. She's begged her mom to, like,
34:10
do other stuff. She's just like, read feminist
34:13
literature. And it seems like not it seems
34:15
like it's pretty much confirmed that next season she's going to
34:18
be in a romantic love story. And so, yeah, the one thing I'm
34:22
peeved about, honestly, is I think that Eloise and Francesca
34:26
and Benedict could have all been gay.
34:29
I kind of like to switch up. But also Eloise was just
34:34
screaming disinterest in men. And it wasn't just disinterest
34:37
in society. It was disinterest in men.
34:40
Like even when men talk to her, it wasn't like she was like, oh,
34:44
I wish I could have a love story without marriage.
34:46
Because she doesn't want to lose her independence.
34:48
She doesn't want to feel like she's just like every other
34:51
woman in society. That doesn't interest her,
34:54
right? She wanted to be, she kind of
34:57
wants to be a spinster at this point.
34:59
So like, it doesn't really make sense to me after like having
35:02
complete disinterest in every single man that tries to talk to
35:05
her that all of a sudden she's going to fall in love.
35:08
OK, I think she could also be gay, but I know that Bridgerton
35:13
is like, I can't make everything gay because then people would
35:16
really stop watching. Secondly, we're seeing towards
35:19
the end of this season when she's when Eloise is talking to
35:22
Hyacinth, her younger sister, about like love.
35:26
Eloise is like, I'm seeing the value in marriage and love now.
35:32
And it's like, what? Like, I get that people can
35:34
change and I just hope that Bridgerton makes it make sense
35:39
because I didn't like how suddenly she is going to have a
35:43
love story after for her whole life not wanting this.
35:48
And I don't really like the idea that it makes it seem like a man
35:51
can change a woman's mind, you know?
35:54
So those are my thoughts on Eloise.
35:57
I'm excited for her season. I again, I hope they make it
36:01
make sense with her love story, but she just screamed gay too.
36:04
Like I think Eloise and Francesca would be two good
36:08
examples of very two very different ways of being queer.
36:12
I get it, Richardson doesn't want to be only a queer show and
36:15
I think they've done a very good job so far.
36:18
That's my tea about Eloise. Let's talk about fan reactions
36:22
and my 4 main points. One, fans think it's completely
36:26
OK for Benedict to be by because he ends up with a woman.
36:29
People will not say that that's true, but it's absolutely
36:32
fucking true. If Benedict ended up with a man,
36:35
people would be pissed. However, I do think people are
36:39
less peeved at the idea of Benedict being queer because a
36:44
lot of Bridgerton fans are women and St. women.
36:47
You're at the scene of the crime again.
36:48
I just like we have this conversation over and over,
36:51
street girls what is going on and St. girls that watch this
36:54
right now. I know that you don't hate
36:55
lesbians because you're watching this right now.
36:57
So thank you so much. However, why do we love heated
37:00
rivalry so much and then one time we get a lesbian couple?
37:04
You guys are fucking pissed. Why do you like Benedict
37:07
sleeping with men but you don't like the idea that Francesca is
37:11
going to sleep with a woman? And I do think it's because a
37:15
lot of women need to decenter men because they think that
37:20
romance always involves a man and it's not your fault it's
37:24
been pushed down from the patriarchy.
37:27
But be able to connect to stories that don't directly
37:30
involve you. Secondly, a lot of you bitches
37:33
be gay and I think that you guys are literally afraid to watch
37:36
gay shit like it's giving DL men.
37:40
You might be gay and you're going to be OK too.
37:43
This idea that the plot point of Francesca's infertility is not
37:46
talked about enough. It's just so inaccurate and you
37:49
guys didn't even give this season chance before you started
37:53
complaining about it. Not only is it touched on, but
37:56
it is Francesca's entire plot for all of season 4.
38:00
If you didn't know that this show was going to turn gay, you
38:03
would have had no real idea probably that Michaela and
38:09
Francesca will end up together. I mean, and hopefully they end
38:11
up together. You wouldn't really know that.
38:14
There's really no queerness in this season stemming from
38:18
Francesca. I mean, there is once you notice
38:20
it, but it's not the plot. The plot is John her grief and
38:26
in her infertility. 3 Lesbophobia.
38:29
Sometimes girls are lesbians and not bisexual, and sometimes
38:34
lesbians don't look the way that we think that lesbians are going
38:38
to be like. Not every lesbian has to be like
38:41
men. EW yuck.
38:43
Maybe she has a lot of compact because she lives in Regency era
38:49
Mayfair, so maybe she loves John as a friend and doesn't really
38:55
know what it's like to be with a woman yet.
38:58
And maybe she's a lesbian. That's just possible.
39:01
I'm not saying if you think she's bisexual, that's
39:03
lesbophobia. However, I do think there's a
39:05
lot of people that are that haven't internalized
39:07
lesbophobia. Moving on four and my final
39:10
point, you're OK with race bending but not sexuality
39:13
bending And I guess that these are not fan reactions.
39:16
These are my reactions to fan reactions.
39:18
You're OK with race bending but not sexuality bending.
39:21
Let's unpack that. So those are my final thoughts
39:26
and opinions. My overarching thesis is that
39:29
Bridgerton seriously remarkable job this season was like one of
39:35
my favorites and I didn't expect it to be.
39:38
I loved almost every plot. I like the inner workings of the
39:43
maidservant industry. I think that is fascinating.
39:46
I do think the older Bridgerton siblings need to be in the show
39:50
or they need to recast them because it's kind of weird that
39:53
they're like dropping off. Because even though we want each
39:56
season to focus on a couple, if it's only on the couple, it
40:00
might be kind of weird when all of a sudden the next season
40:03
there's a whole new couple. Like we kind of need to see
40:05
other people and other characters.
40:07
So I think we need to bring those people back.
40:09
And actually, I don't think it's Daphne's, the actress that plays
40:13
Daphne. I don't think it's her fault.
40:14
I think it's the dude. Per usual, I'm just loving the
40:18
queerness. I'm loving the bending of
40:20
gender, sexuality, of race. I think it's fascinating.
40:25
And it's so cool to see like a very different vision than what
40:28
was historically accurate and get him to it.
40:32
All right, guys, that was my episode.
40:34
No one critique my British accent.
40:36
Sophia's actually very good at it if you guys ever want to hear
40:38
hers. If you want bonus content, it's
40:40
on Spotify. It's on Patreon.
40:43
What else? Thank you so much for listening,
40:45
for watching. Please subscribe on YouTube
40:47
right now if you haven't done it already.
40:50
Let me know if there's any guest content, TV shows, celebrities,
40:55
theories that you want me to cover.
40:58
Also, I'm going to do a bonus episode on Shelley Wright coming
41:01
up soon or maybe a full episode. I'm not actually sure yet.
41:06
I'm like in the middle of watching her documentary from
41:08
like 2012. Fascinating.
41:10
And there's actually some not Easter eggs, but like things
41:12
that I think Taylor Swift pulled from.
41:14
We will talk about that later. And yeah, thank you so much for
41:18
listening, watching and subscribing.
41:20
Please tell your friends about the podcast.
41:21
And reminder, if you want to try magic, mind the code is gasp 20
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for 20% off. Bye dearest listeners.