I can't believe that I neglected my blog and just about everything else so I could sit in front of the TV eating potato chips and watching discs of "Downton Abbey." Man, that show's dangerous! It's the most addictive miniseries I've seen since "Fargo" which, come to think of it, is the most addictive miniseries I've seen since "Sherlock."
Good Lord! What's happened to me? I used to be better at resisting things like this.
The really frustrating thing is that I can't figure out why the show works so well. The premise doesn't sound impressive at all. It's about an English manor house and its struggle to stay relevant in the modern world. I mean, it's not like it hasn't been done before.
There must be a lot about writing stories that I don't understand. How does a writer keep our interest in characters when the story outline is something we've already seen? Why do I still end up in tears over this stuff?
Maybe it's because the ostensible premise isn't really what the series is about. All that about the collision with the modern world is just an excuse to have a show. The real story is more subtle and more difficult to summarize in a few words.
For me this story exists to celebrate the English character. The master of the house struggles to keep the house "alive" because it's a cultural symbol, something that unites the present with the mythic past, that defines what it is to be English.
It's horrible to think that one day we could all wake up and decide that our country is just a random spot on the map, that our neighbors are just unrelated individuals, and that we have no common aspiration or ideal to bind us together. My gut tells me that a country so constituted would lapse into stagnation and decay.
Most of us know what England contributed to the world in the fields of law and liberty, literature and education, and of knightly behavior even if it's observed more in the breach. Maybe it's less well known how the national character made those advances possible. For me that's at least part of what Downton Abbey is all about.
6 comments:
I got somehow drawn into this as well, which I never expected to. Downton inspired me to watch "Upstairs, Downstairs" as well, which I prefer. It's a bit more interesting as the characters are more theatrical and a bit more over-the-top. This theme of maintaining the anachronism of this type of household in a fast changing world is even more evident in Upstairs/Downstairs. Apparently I'm a sucker for British tele - currently I'm nuts about "All Creatures Great and Small". Thank you netflix.
I still really want to see this show along with Fargo too but I always find myself busy with other things so I don't really have as much time to watch TV at all. :/
On an unrelated note, I finally got the hang of using both Illustrator and Photoshop. It just took lots of trial and error, experimenting with the right brush that I could get comfortable using, and looking up some articles on Google until I got used to that and using the Wacom tablet. I've also colored several of my drawings so far and inked them and most of the ones I have done, I've done roughs in Illustrator first and inked them right there on the spot so it's a paperless system.
So?
I haven't seen Downton Abbey but I've heard a lot about it. I think it's the whole 'folks next door' element. I think that's why Coronation Street is so big. Watching it is like eavesdropping on your neighbors.
Roberto: Holy Cow! I'm envious! It took me longer to learn this stuff. I still don't know anything about illustrator.
Doug: I have a library copy of the 2011 version of Upstairs Downstairs. The cover's not very impressive but I'll give it a shot. Maybe I'll get the earlier version from Netflix, and All Creatures as well. Thanks for the tip.
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