Abstract
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is a sexy, historical drama that fictionalized the rise of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Charlotte meets and marries King George only to discover his undiagnosed mental illness. On the surface the series’ dominant focus is love, it also offers representations of intersectional identities. Queen Charlotte addresses issues of race through the concept of “the great experiment”. Using subtle language of “otherness” that never mentions race, the series can be seen to distort history and erase the pervasive racism of the time. Yet, when positioned within the context of health, therapeutic practice; the series offers covert stories of race, gender, sexuality, mental health, sexual assault, torture, generational trauma. Like art or play therapy, the show provides a container for processing the past and present complexities of intersectionality, mental health, wellness for clients and practitioners. This research puts media studies in dialogue with human services to explore the potentiality of Queen Charlotte to invite viewers to connect the series to their own identities, experiences and how it can be useful in a therapeutic setting. When thinking through concepts of covertness, layered shows can provide a setting to explore how media impacts mental health and wellness. The research presents qualitative data gathered from surveys, interviews with students in a social work course, where students participate in a group therapeutic learning experience to digest the show’s impact on their own mental health, wellness, identity development, and therapeutic processing. It reveals the challenges and opportunities of covert therapeutic practice through media.
Presenters
Erica BosqueAssistant Professor, Social Work, San Francisco State University, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
MENTAL HEALTH, WELLNESS, THERAPEUTIC PRACTICE, COVERT, RACE, SEXUALITY, SOCIAL WORK
