Performative Casting: Bridgerton from Regency Romance to Social Media

Abstract: On January 6, 2021 Vikings, Roman gladiators, and American Revolutionary soldiers invaded the US Capitol Building. Meanwhile, Bridgerton , a Regency romance with a multiracial cast, became the most-watched Netflix series of all time. The series also inspired extensive user-generated social media content: on TikTok alone, #Bridgerton has 13.5 billion views as of this writing, more than an average of one and a half views per person on Earth. How can we understand this costume drama and its digital and live reenactments in relation to the white nationalist cosplay of January 6? Taking up both the colloquial and academic senses of the term performative, this article uses Bridgerton's popular and critical reception to consider what it means to perform history in a time of social media.