Downton Abbey: a drama of very English distinction
6th November 2010
Is this a purely English obsession? Looking at much American television, the interest in class and status seems alive and well, despite a widespread belief that Americans don’t “do” class. There are the fascinated homages to opulent wealth and the people struggling to get into that world – 30 years ago, Dallas and Dynasty, these days the awesomely snobbish Gossip Girl and the milder Brothers and Sisters.
I think that the popularity of stories about social class stem from the fact that ‘celebrities’ we will have always with us, and there seems to be a natural homeopathic impulse in people to believe that acting the way rich & famous people act will somehow replicate the effects of being rich & famous, as if being rich & famous were some guarantee of quality. Needless to say, most ‘celebrities’ today fall down on the job (assuming that this is their job to do). As a result, people are attracted to stories set in environments where the equation of wealth and fame with Quality was not only embraced but positively cultivated–and that means looking into the past. (Or into fantasy–it’s no accident that most successful fantasies, like The Lord of the Rings, are set in societies that have nobles and peasants, with the nobles being central to the story.) The constant blathering in the press about sports figures being ‘role models’ merely underscores the accuracy of this analysis.
Exempli gratia: Lance Armstrong. Does he use drugs to win his races? Damn the man for being a negative role model. Does he win his ‘fight’ with cancer? Praise the man for being a positive role model. And all of this is completely divorced from the consideration of whether or not it makes any sense for someone in a normal life to take inspiration from a guy who rides a bicycle for a living. Think about that one for a minute.
Of course, I plan to buy the Downton Abbey series on DVD when it comes out, as it inevitably will. But at least I’ll understand what’s going on.
And, really, is The Sopranos all that different? Most of the trouble into which Mafia guys get is caused by their congenitally poor impulse control … and impulse control is the essence of ‘upper class’.
Which class people belong to, and to which they want to rise; these questions have been the raw stuff of drama for centuries, and are not going to disappear.
It’s as if we only notice the questions, however, when the presence of a butler and a duke alert us to them.