Bridgerton: Disability representation reviewed by Aditi Gangrade

I often see filmmakers use disability and neurodiversity as a plot to tell stories where the disability is shown as “the problem” that needs to be overcome. 

More often than not, these portrayals are ableist. But Bridgerton flipped the narrative. 

For those of you who don’t know the disabled and neurodivergent characters in Bridgerton, let's have a look: 

• Lord Remmington, played by Zak Ford-Williams, is a wheelchair user. The actor is also disabled in real life.
  

• Dolores Stowell and her mother Lady Stowell are both deaf and played by the deaf actors Kitty Devlin and Sophie Wooley. They communicate in British Sign Language in the show.
  

• Francesca Bridgerton played by Hannah Dodd is said to be autistic-coded.  
  

• And her sister Eloise Bridgerton played by Claudia Jessie appears to be ADHD-coded.
  

• Simon Basset played by Regé-Jean Page is shown to have speech disfluency as a kid and is ostracised by his own father for having a disability.
  

• Lady Danbury, played by the actor Adjoa Andoh uses a cane in the show and lives with dyspraxia in real life.

• King George lives with a mental illness and is played by James Fleet.
  

• And lastly, this character seemed very neurodivergent when I watched the show and when I looked him up I found out he has ADHD and dyslexia - Luke Newton who plays Colin Bridgerton.

All these characters are a natural part of society in the show. Their identities, their experiences are just naturally a part of the story. 

And that's something I really expect from more shows. Even if your stories and plots are about something totally different, show the natural diversity that exists all around us.

Include people who've been marginalised and badly represented in the past. Represent them well. 

The power of films and shows is immense.

Imagine a kid with a disability watching shows on OTTs and TV and seeing a character who's like them. It just changes how people grow up thinking about themselves.