Reception of Cinematic Diversity: Analyzing Pakistani Audience’s Response to Bridgerton series

Abstract

This study explores South Asian representation in the popular American show Bridgerton, which is available on the Netflix subscription streaming service and has been a global success. The research work is rooted in adaptation studies, as the show is based upon a specific series of novels by Julia Quinn and focuses on examining the responses of Pakistani audience to the cinematic representation of diversity in the American show. An analysis of the popular reception of the Season-2 of Bridgerton in Pakistan will help us in understanding how the concept of diversity is received in this part of the world. The Season-2 of Bridgerton is loosely based on Quinn’s The Viscount Who Loved Me and the plot is changed considerably to include South Asian actors. Kate Sheffield becomes Kate Sharma and her story becomes different from the novel, to incorporate her South Asian lineage. This study consists of two parts. First part provides a close textual analysis of Quinn’s The Viscount Who Loved Me, scaffolded by an analytical framework of adaptation studies, to examine the differences and similarities between the screen adaptation and the story from the novel. Findings from the textual analysis are then used to conduct structured interviews with Pakistani readers of the book series and viewers of the show. The purpose, therefore, is to investigate the reception of cinematic diversity created for a predominantly Anglophone audience by a non-Anglophone South Asian audience