In some of the leaks we see Kate and Anthony looking happy and content on two occasions that appear to be Penelope and Colin's engagement ball and their wedding. These events will come with a cloud hanging over Penelope for many fans, because I doubt there will be a satisfactory, if any, acknowledgement of Penelope's use of a racial slur in season 2 not long after Kate arrived in England.
Image Credit: Netflix
I wrote previously on the problem with the line 'Prickly Spinster of a Beast' and so won't go back into the details of that post, you can read it here. Over two years on however, this line still remains a problem that the Bridgerton show runner, and writers, should not be ignoring. In part 2 of this season, if the writers were smart and really cared about how they presented diversity on screen, they would have a scene or two showing Penelope having some self reflection over things she had written, including that line, and they should show her giving Kate a sincere and honest apology for using the racial slur to dehumanise her as she did. I think reflection, a self awareness, and an apology from Penelope around this matter is needed, for a number of reasons.
- We had Queen Charlotte set up what the pre Bridgerton world was like, and the introduction of the Great Experiment, that is one generation from Penelope so should still be present in the living memory of all the characters - including Lady Danbury and Violet (whose own mother was a racist). This should have meant that many in the Ton understood immediately that Penelope's words were a racial slur, and they should never have been accepted.
- Kate has been shown to be close to both Lady Danbury and Violet, and Penelope has been shown to be close to Violet as well. Once it is revealed that Penelope is Lady Whistledown, it should be shown that Violet remembers that line and links it to her own mother, and as such it could - or rather it should - cause a rift with Penelope. Also, realistically how can Lady Danbury, who is close to the Bridgertons, develop a close relationship with the newest Bridgerton knowing that she wrote such a thing about Kate, coming from a time during segregation and racism?
- Viewers would not be expected to accept a racial slur being used in a show set in modern times, so why is it acceptable for them to accept it in a show set in historical times - especially a show that marketed its point of difference being its diverse casting?
There are probably a lot more reasons why Penelope should apologise for calling Kate a beast, however, the only one that matters is that it was a racial slur and should never have been written, and if the writers had enough self awareness to write an apology from Penelope for the line then that would appease many viewers, not that they would - or should - forgive the show for thinking it was okay to include it in the first place.
Despite knowing that Kate is owed at the very least an apology from Penelope for the line, will we see one? I doubt it. Personally I don't think the writers, or the show runner, care enough about Kate as a character, or the viewers, to include an apology. I also don't think they have enough awareness of the world to even recognise how terrible that line was, nor do they have enough knowledge of history to grasp the historical context of such a word being used by an upper class English woman against an Indian woman. I imagine that the writer who wrote that line thought he was being clever and witty, when the reality was he was dehumanising a woman of colour with a racial slur.
However, I think the main reason we won't see any apology is because I very much doubt that we will see much more in terms of personal growth from Penelope, and I don't think she will have to face any negative consequences of her words, nor face the reality of what she was writing. I believe that the writers will ensure that all of the Bridgerton family - including Kate - will be welcoming to Penelope, and that she will not have to face up to some of the truly vile stuff she has written.
