Post subject: Downton Abbey (No spoilers from the Brits until the episodes air for the Yanks please!)
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:16 pm
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Joe Mayer wrote:
Okay, I know NOTHING about this, but it seems to be all the rage. As people with similar interests as I have, what is the hook?
It has the oddity of the upper class and the serving class living their symbiotic lives.
It has the intrigue of the upper class trying to cling to their lifestyle as the world forces them towards middle class.
You have the serving class fighting amongst themselves, as you have those that are happy with their status, those that want to move up in their field, and those that want to get the hell out of there.
And it's packed with soap opera secrets and mysteries and crimes and cover-ups. But instead of everything being drawn out week to week, everything happens at a fast clip.
I think that if you watch the first episode, you'd either love it or hate it.
Post subject: Downton Abbey (No spoilers from the Brits until the episodes air for the Yanks please!)
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 4:18 pm
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RobertSwanderson wrote:
Joe Mayer wrote:
Okay, I know NOTHING about this, but it seems to be all the rage. As people with similar interests as I have, what is the hook?
It has the oddity of the upper class and the serving class living their symbiotic lives.
It has the intrigue of the upper class trying to cling to their lifestyle as the world forces them towards middle class.
You have the serving class fighting amongst themselves, as you have those that are happy with their status, those that want to move up in their field, and those that want to get the hell out of there.
And it's packed with soap opera secrets and mysteries and crimes and cover-ups. But instead of everything being drawn out week to week, everything happens at a fast clip.
I think that if you watch the first episode, you'd either love it or hate it.
Season one or two or does it matter?
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Post subject: Downton Abbey (No spoilers from the Brits until the episodes air for the Yanks please!)
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:25 pm
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RobertSwanderson wrote:
It has the intrigue of the upper class trying to cling to their lifestyle as the world forces them towards middle class.
Considering how much I loathe Gone With The Wind, in which we're supposed to mourn the loss of a lifestyle that I find more than a bit abhorrent; I can't imagine wanting to feel the slightest bit sorry for a bunch of upper-class twits on their way down.
I couldn't make it all the way through an episode of Upstairs, Downstairs because of how much I loath the underlying attitude of the lifestyle.
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Post subject: Downton Abbey (No spoilers from the Brits until the episodes air for the Yanks please!)
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 5:50 pm
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Steven Clubb wrote:
RobertSwanderson wrote:
It has the intrigue of the upper class trying to cling to their lifestyle as the world forces them towards middle class.
Considering how much I loathe Gone With The Wind, in which we're supposed to mourn the loss of a lifestyle that I find more than a bit abhorrent; I can't imagine wanting to feel the slightest bit sorry for a bunch of upper-class twits on their way down.
I couldn't make it all the way through an episode of Upstairs, Downstairs because of how much I loath the underlying attitude of the lifestyle.
There's little pity for the noble class. There's a little when you realize that their policy of "male heir keeps the wealth" ends up screwing them. A lot of the fun comes from watching them scramble to save their way of life, when the war and technology throws them upside down.
And the servants aren't all for change either. Some are happy with their way of life, and dread change as well.
Some of the best scenes in the first season have to do with the middle-class heir moving up in life and finding how ridiculous the noble class life really is.
Post subject: Downton Abbey (No spoilers from the Brits until the episodes air for the Yanks please!)
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:10 pm
#NeverThor
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It still makes me glad I didn't grow up in England. I was watching a documentary on King George V and was shocked to learn that he was almost completely uneducated, as education was considered vulgar for his social standing. How the hell do you build up a society around people who aren't supposed to get educated or work?
Even if we're not supposed to feel pity for them, there is a sense of mourning for the way of life. Gone With The Wind wasn't about feeling pity for a spoiled white girl who has her slaves taken away from her, it was about the loss of Southern Glamor. And whenever I wander into these kinds of stories, they can't tear it down fast enough.
The lone exception (so far) has been the work of P.G. Wodehouse, who just turned that whole lifestyle into a wacky screwball comedy. The rich people are bullies or putzes, while the working class are pulling the strings.
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Post subject: Downton Abbey (No spoilers from the Brits until the episodes air for the Yanks please!)
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:18 pm
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Steven Clubb wrote:
It still makes me glad I didn't grow up in England. I was watching a documentary on King George V and was shocked to learn that he was almost completely uneducated, as education was considered vulgar for his social standing. How the hell do you build up a society around people who aren't supposed to get educated or work?
Even if we're not supposed to feel pity for them, there is a sense of mourning for the way of life. Gone With The Wind wasn't about feeling pity for a spoiled white girl who has her slaves taken away from her, it was about the loss of Southern Glamor. And whenever I wander into these kinds of stories, they can't tear it down fast enough.
The lone exception (so far) has been the work of P.G. Wodehouse, who just turned that whole lifestyle into a wacky screwball comedy. The rich people are bullies or putzes, while the working class are pulling the strings.
There's a great documentary called Moving Midway, that is about the moving of the documentarian's ancestral plantation home. He goes into Hollywood's romantic vision of the old South, which was oddly constructed by non-southerners. There's also a discussion of the differences between the Gone With the Wind South, and the real history. The plantation homes, for example, were nothing like Tara.
Post subject: Downton Abbey (No spoilers from the Brits until the episodes air for the Yanks please!)
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:34 pm
#NeverThor
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RobertSwanderson wrote:
There's a great documentary called Moving Midway, that is about the moving of the documentarian's ancestral plantation home. He goes into Hollywood's romantic vision of the old South, which was oddly constructed by non-southerners. There's also a discussion of the differences between the Gone With the Wind South, and the real history. The plantation homes, for example, were nothing like Tara.
One thing I encounter a lot in English programs are the uncouth landed gentry in the farming areas. Usually the lady of the house is obsessed with the trappings of wealth, while her husband is a source of embarrassment as he spends most of his time hunting or working. I'd imagine plantation homes were along those lines. The wealth and privilege was there, but these are working farms, so it wasn't going to be a life of leisure.
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Post subject: Downton Abbey (No spoilers from the Brits until the episodes air for the Yanks please!)
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:14 pm
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Steven Clubb wrote:
RobertSwanderson wrote:
There's a great documentary called Moving Midway, that is about the moving of the documentarian's ancestral plantation home. He goes into Hollywood's romantic vision of the old South, which was oddly constructed by non-southerners. There's also a discussion of the differences between the Gone With the Wind South, and the real history. The plantation homes, for example, were nothing like Tara.
One thing I encounter a lot in English programs are the uncouth landed gentry in the farming areas. Usually the lady of the house is obsessed with the trappings of wealth, while her husband is a source of embarrassment as he spends most of his time hunting or working. I'd imagine plantation homes were along those lines. The wealth and privilege was there, but these are working farms, so it wasn't going to be a life of leisure.
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