Provocative ‘The Confessions of Frannie Langton’ Heats Up Brit Box

 

The Confessions of Frannie Langton miniseries poster.

Although the classics have always enthralled me, especially those written by Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters, unsettling feelings still arise whenever thinking about what people of color were doing then, mainly Black people— those who were not even allowed to read, much less think for themselves, or gain a certain independence. Plus, these authors write exotic/foreign characters as lesser than, as unintelligent savages. It becomes a complicated uneasiness being swept up in the Bridgerton phenomenon (and Shonda Rhimes other fizzled period drama Still Star Crossed), enraptured by the color blind casting. At the same time, the glaring omission of racism is undeniably bothersome made worse with the Queen Charlotte prequel coming out by the most oblivious author.

A young Frannie (Caelan Best) with her mother (Mina Andala)— the first of Frannie’s many secrets. DP: Julian Hohndorf.

Thus, The Confessions of Frannie Langton, a four-part miniseries all directed by Andrea Harkin and based on the showrunner Sara Collins’ own 2019 novel, does not gloss over the often romanticized English nobility. A pleasure can still be a guilty one whilst simultaneously be informative about the abhorrent realities. There is no sugarcoating the experiences of a woman bearing witness to bodies used as cruel scientific experiments, as people made their hatred apparent with verbal insults and cold-hearted stares. 

In the 1800’s, Frannie Langton, daughter of a dark-skinned mother and Englishman, is forced to live with Madame Marguerite Benham, a young French wife and George Benham, her cruel older husband on the orders of John Langton. An instant attraction forms between Frannie and Marguerite, then igniting into a shockingly explicit affair— the two women becoming more than each other’s lady’s maids. Frannie often forgets herself, wanting to run away with Marguerite, shower her with all love and affection when queerness back then must be a secret no matter the country. Resources were limited for LGBTQIA+ identities unless knowing where to look. Although a privileged white woman, Marguerite has no freedom and prefers the clandestine affair. Of course, Frannie and Marguerite are so obviously improperly attached in the eyes of a jealous Hep— Marguerite’s close friend and perhaps the first scandalous teacher to Marguerite.

Adult Frannie (Karla-Simone Spence) and Marguerite (Sophie Cookson). DP: Julian Hohndorf.

Hep’s envy forces Frannie out in the cold and Marguerite has no courage to save her lover. 

Sal, the unambiguous Black leader of a kinky S&M brothel, highlights Frannie’s treasured mixed heritage, believing that clients would desire Frannie. This acknowledgement certainly addresses the colorism conversation remaining in existence today— that the closer blackness is to whiteness, the more admirable and rewarded that person will be. Yet, the fiery independent Sal presents quite attractive qualities too, her kindheartedness, her grit and spirit, and a fashionable beauty commanding any room. Sal could have easily left Frannie suffering, her body near collapsing from the laudanum high Marguerite has introduced. Sal instead offers the poor woman a home, unconventional and ill-regarded, but a far better situation than unsafe street corners. Their friendship begins, Frannie regarding Sal as a confidante, eventually shedding the truth about her and Marguerite. 

Without ever meeting her, Sal realizes just what kind of woman Marguerite is. 

Sal (Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn) visits Frannie (Karla-Simone Spence) in prison. Thankfully, they have a fireplace to keep our girl warm. Still, if only Frannie never left that brothel… DP: Julian Hohndorf.

Marguerite symbolizes the detrimental harm behind arranged marriages. How else explain her alarming addiction to laudanum— the tincture of the opium- driving women to excessive sleeping? In addition, Marguerite harbors a bisexual nature, having had intimacies with Hep, Frannie, and even her old friend Laddie Cambridge. Everyone indulges the pampered Marguerite, drawn into her lustful appetites, but she uses and disposes people quite selfishly, giving little regard to feelings. While Hep seems unable to forget their time together and Laddie will eventually fail at resisting her, Frannie remains convinced that their love will prevail. By returning to the Benham House, Frannie writes her own death certificate for a woman who would never do the same in return. Coincidentally, Hep’s jealousy of Frannie offers her an ammunition in a way that Frannie’s disappointment in Marguerite and Laddie’s plot twist cannot. 

During Frannie’s spectacle of a court case, George and Marguerite’s deaths are not the only “crimes” on trial— Frannie’s past and sensationalist love for Marguerite are also on the line. The all-white male jury represents the unfair justice system set in place. Whether evidence proved her innocence or character witnesses shined a positive light in Frannie’s favor, she was always bound to be denied true respect. Frannie may be sought after in a brothel— a place to hide fetishes. In public, however, her “tainted” ancestry prevented any real hope for equal treatment. 

Paddie, one of Marguerite’s past lovers, did not deserve Frannie’s allegiance— showing the strength in her character and the weakness in his. DP: Julian Hohndorf.

The Confessions of Frannie Langton bravely defies and challenges the imprudent naysayers who despise race conversations and consider them “too woke,” that works such as Sara Collins’ stains a genre where bodice ripping fantasies should focus on the romance factor and nothing heavier. Their negative critiques are saturated in racial discomfort, a preference that racism is not discussed in order to prevent them from deeply thinking/acknowledging about the realities of this particular time. From period pieces Amma Asante’s Belle film (based on a true story) to Bridgerton (which will focus on a white couple in its third season as opposed to earlier interracial pairings), the contemptuous come out to downplay and downvote, to smear the work that Collins actually researched for both her novel and series. Racial discourse is already being dismantled in the American South due to those believing withholding certain truths absolves white guilt and will guarantee an ignorance about the affects of colonialism to future generations. 

“It’s politically expedient not to face up to the full history. It’s very important to acknowledge that, to present stories that are authentic about the experience that people like my ancestors went through. It’s one way of paying tribute to them.... There are issues that we touch on in Frannie that have somehow reared their ugly heads in contemporary society again— for example the intelligence and distinction between races... it’s important that we indulge the fantasy elements, but we don’t lose sight of the power and the value and importance of truth telling,” creator Sara Collins on “the importance of telling the actual lived experiences of Black people in period dramas” to Washington Post. 

The truth behind George and Marguerite’s deaths causes Frannie’s trial to take an astonishing turn. Her testimony mirrors a holy confessional. DP: Julian Hohndorf.

Frannie makes mistakes as most people do. At her first, Frannie’s loyalty to Marguerite is genuine and freely given until turned into a twisted obligation. Sure, Frannie then crosses the unthinkable line— the most capital offense to a society that places pure whiteness above all human hierarchy. She cannot get away with her crimes whereas the remorseless John Langton can inflict his lecherous horrors on Black bodies without any penalty. Only John is allowed to abuse and wield power, not Frannie. 

The Confessions of Frannie Langton candidly examines the pros and cons of love in a period drama— Frannie’s fragmented daughter’s love for her mother, her romantic love for Marguerite, her friendship love for Sal, and the ancestral tie to Laddie (who certainly does not deserve it)— and the sacrifices she must make in order to finally obtain spiritual closure.