Queen Charlotte and the “familiarization” story about people of color in popular films

Just a few days after its release on the Netflix platform, the movie Queen Charlotte quickly topped the global viewing charts and became a hot topic of public discussion on social networks. Queen Charlotte was originally just a 6-episode side story written about the supporting character Queen Charlotte in the famous series Bridgerton. However, many viewers consider this to be the best part of the series compared to the two official parts that were previously released, also on Netflix.

In addition to the attraction of the beautiful setting as well as the elegant lifestyle “with character and spirit” of the British aristocracy and Royal Family in the Regency era, Bridgerton tells love stories that move people’s hearts with The final message is that the thing with the most extraordinary power, helping people overcome all suffering and at the same time achieve happiness, is love.

Queen Charlotte also carries such a beautiful message when depicting a love story that transcends all standards, full of sacrifice and expectation between a king of the British empire who suffers from mental illness and his wife Queen Charlotte. Furthermore, the film is also inspired by the true historical story between King George III and Queen Charlotte. Although the two had a royally arranged marriage and only met for the first time a few hours before the wedding, they loved each other passionately and proved it with 15 children. But the love affair was somewhat sad and endless because the king soon fell ill, gradually forgot everything and immersed himself in his own world.

But that’s not the only thing people say about Queen Charlotte! As soon as it was released, the film also received criticism because it was said to have details that were not historically appropriate. That is for a black actor to play the Queen of England, a rare image and too strange for many people’s imagination and understanding of the British Royal Family in the 18th century, which was always harsh and sensitive. ethnic feelings.

Right from the opening paragraph, the producer mentioned that every detail and character is a product of creativity, only inspired by history, hoping the audience will simply enjoy it. However, there are still some who believe that blackwashing the Queen is unnecessary for an entertaining film.

Although the filmmakers seem to be “hiding”, many moviegoers still realize the big message they want to incorporate. From the phrase “the great experiment” repeated many times throughout the film, to the marriage between two people of different skin color to the references to women’s freedom and racial equality. clan. The film seems to bring a new world, normalizing ethnic diversity and celebrating all beauty, no matter how different.

Thanks to focusing on great humanistic ideas but gently, without heavy dogmas. Queen Charlotte was accepted and loved by the audience. Basically, they gradually realized that every ethnic group has its own beauty and that there are no specific standards for what is called beautiful or elegant. If so, it is not a matter of skin color.

Under the background of a touching love story, Charlotte’s skin color seems to make the film’s message more convincing and pervasive about racial equality. This can be considered a very successful effort by the producer and screenwriter on the journey to orient and change all prejudices in the public’s subconscious.

In fact, the success of Queen Charlotte can be seen as an initial result inherited from many previous experiments from filmmakers of different genres and times. For example, we can mention Get Out, Black Panther, Moonlight, The Help, Django Unchained, Mudbound,… However, these are academic films that viewers approach with a pre-prepared mindset. issue will be mentioned. The majority of people who are willing to enjoy and reflect are those who actively seek out movies to watch.

As for more popular works, it seems to face many difficulties. Among them can be mentioned the disastrous failure in terms of sales and audience reviews of the live-action version (a live-action adaptation of the animated film) of Cinderella produced by Sony Pictures. Accordingly, the character Cinderella, originally known as a white blonde girl in a blue dress, is now played by Camila Cabello – a black female singer. The character of the fairy godmother is also portrayed by black actor Billy Porter.