Downton Abbey
Sep. 24th, 2014 08:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chocolatepotDA is starting to really grate. :/
I'm tired of the "destroy an entire way of life" drum-banging. And I'm pretty sympathetic! I care about the historic homes, and one of the best ways at that time to preserve them was for people to continue to live in them ... but that way of life was not unchanging. The 18th century aristocrat was not 100% the same as the 19th century aristocrat. You want to talk about changing ways of life, let's bring up ENCLOSURE.
I've been tired of Mary's love life since last season, but I'm kind of really tired of Mary by this point. The icy exterior worked when it was being constantly contrasted to her interior, but now it's just the icy exterior. The line about loving Tony in her way ought to make me think about her self-image issues, but by now she ought to be past that IMO and they have no more power for me.
Thank god they've finished up the Molesley/Thomas/Baxter thing, the tension hasn't worked for me for some time and in the first half of the episode I could not be bothered. Fellowes is kind of a one-trick pony when it comes to relationship drama, isn't he? At least Bates was not heavily involved in this episode.
I'm tired of the way Fellowes has always written class differences - people who care are vocal and point out problems to aristocrats' faces and make everything all about THEM. Sarah wanting to go down to the kitchen was a good touch, but it felt like she was bringing it up in the drawing room to score a point. And a lot of what Isobel's said over the years, and Tom, have come out like point-scoring, probably because of Fellowes's own issues. There's a single voice he uses for middle/working-class characters in class conflicts, imo, and it just comes off as JF creating easy targets to show that while the upper class may be wasteful and self-centered and pampered, at least they're not brazen and don't bring things up at weird times.
No, Robert, you need to shut up because your grandson is going to end up fighting in a very similar war. She wasn't goddamn rude to you. (I'm SURE he hates himself for it afterwards. I'm SO SURE.) But do I hate him or Tony more? It's hard to say.
Robert's reaction to Lady Anstruthers (that was her name, right? I am so crap with names) sleeping with Jimmy seems out of place given Edwardian morals. Even if he personally would never have slept with a maid, surely the idea of a guest seducing a male servant would have come up before to him?
The thing I am mainly hoping for out of the show is for Rose to become a Bright Young Thing eventually, but I absolutely don't trust Fellowes to handle it because it's become such a stereotype in pop culture. But if it can be done well? Dumb theme parties and private slang and romans à clef? That would be lovely.
Oh, also Edith and MArigold. The main reasons I am still watching TBH.
I'm tired of the "destroy an entire way of life" drum-banging. And I'm pretty sympathetic! I care about the historic homes, and one of the best ways at that time to preserve them was for people to continue to live in them ... but that way of life was not unchanging. The 18th century aristocrat was not 100% the same as the 19th century aristocrat. You want to talk about changing ways of life, let's bring up ENCLOSURE.
I've been tired of Mary's love life since last season, but I'm kind of really tired of Mary by this point. The icy exterior worked when it was being constantly contrasted to her interior, but now it's just the icy exterior. The line about loving Tony in her way ought to make me think about her self-image issues, but by now she ought to be past that IMO and they have no more power for me.
Thank god they've finished up the Molesley/Thomas/Baxter thing, the tension hasn't worked for me for some time and in the first half of the episode I could not be bothered. Fellowes is kind of a one-trick pony when it comes to relationship drama, isn't he? At least Bates was not heavily involved in this episode.
I'm tired of the way Fellowes has always written class differences - people who care are vocal and point out problems to aristocrats' faces and make everything all about THEM. Sarah wanting to go down to the kitchen was a good touch, but it felt like she was bringing it up in the drawing room to score a point. And a lot of what Isobel's said over the years, and Tom, have come out like point-scoring, probably because of Fellowes's own issues. There's a single voice he uses for middle/working-class characters in class conflicts, imo, and it just comes off as JF creating easy targets to show that while the upper class may be wasteful and self-centered and pampered, at least they're not brazen and don't bring things up at weird times.
No, Robert, you need to shut up because your grandson is going to end up fighting in a very similar war. She wasn't goddamn rude to you. (I'm SURE he hates himself for it afterwards. I'm SO SURE.) But do I hate him or Tony more? It's hard to say.
Robert's reaction to Lady Anstruthers (that was her name, right? I am so crap with names) sleeping with Jimmy seems out of place given Edwardian morals. Even if he personally would never have slept with a maid, surely the idea of a guest seducing a male servant would have come up before to him?
The thing I am mainly hoping for out of the show is for Rose to become a Bright Young Thing eventually, but I absolutely don't trust Fellowes to handle it because it's become such a stereotype in pop culture. But if it can be done well? Dumb theme parties and private slang and romans à clef? That would be lovely.
Oh, also Edith and MArigold. The main reasons I am still watching TBH.
