For an hour before bedtime every night for a week, I've watched an episode of "Downton Abbey." Last night the Earl of Grantham interrupted a garden party to announce the beginning of World War I, and I pulled up short. I was watching the first season via Netflix Instant, and inattentively failed to notice there were only seven episodes. I naturally expected ten.
I'm not one of those people who follows every series on Masterpiece Theater, HBO or whatever. There's always a movie to be seen. The last series I watched completely was "Brideshead Revisited," and before that all the way back to "Upstairs, Downstairs." As you know, I'm an Anglophile. I seem particularly drawn to the era of English Country Houses before the First War, and to a degree between the two wars.
Someone wrote that country house life in peacetime was the apogee of human civilization. Could have been Orwell. Or probably couldn't have. The point as I recall is that the Upstairs and Downstairs people were equally happy in their own ways. There was a stable hierarchy and everyone knew their place. "Knowing your place" is a term often used in connection with someone who tries to rise above it, but there's also such a thing as possessing and valuing your place. There is pride in doing one's job well, in being the epitome of a footman, a ladies' maid, a butler, a valet, or an Earl. In Downton Abbey, I think it possible that the happiest people may be Carson the butler and Patmore the cook--and upstairs, the Earl and his wife Countess Cora. They are happy because they do their jobs well and are loyal and helpful to those who depend on them.The most admirable man, up or down, is Bates, the Earl's valet, but he is far from being the happiest. He has too active a conscience. In early life he went to prison to protect his worthless wife. Now he would rather be fired than cost another man his job--even if that man is the vile Thomas Barrow, who has lied about him and tried to frame him. Bates adds considerably to the entertainment value of "Downton Abbey" by enlisting our deep sympathy, but there comes a time when defending your own honor ranks above protecting the job of a villain. Remember, too, that Bates has had to undergo alcoholism and being a "cripple," as everyone cheerfully describes him. Indeed, he almost got fired the first time because the loathsome Mrs. O'Brien tripped him at an embarrassing moment.
There is nothing Politically Correct about "Downton Abbey." Thomas is not only a liar and a thief, but a deceiver of young women, an aggressive homosexual, and a chain smoker. He teams up with her ladyship's maid, Mrs. O'Brien, to share smokes and plot against Bates. Meanwhile, Daisy the little scullery maid, even lies for Thomas because, poor thing, she thinks she may have a chance with him. The Cook knows better about her hopes for romance: "He ain't a ladies' man." The view of homosexuality in the series is decidedly dated, but as a character Thomas functions admirably. There is sly humor in the way the only two characters who smoke very much are the villains.
I gather there is more humor to come in Season Two, and that I will regret, because although my politics are liberal my tastes in fiction respond to the conservative stability of the Downton world. The more seriously I can take it, the better I will like it. To be sure, there is monstrous unfairness in the British class system, and one of the series themes is income inequality. What must be observed, however, is that all the players agree to play by the same rules. In modern America the rich jump through every loophole in the tax code. But look what happened in the first episode of "Downton Abbey." The Earl's presumptive heir went down with the Titanic and the title passed to a distant cousin, Mr. Matthew Crawley of Manchester, who now stood to inherit the title, the house, the land and the money--including the personal fortune of Cora, the Earl's wife. So deeply are the principles of inheritance embedded in the Crawley family that the earl seems staunchly prepared to give up his earthly possessions and be courteous in the process.Of course the injustices of the class system work better in fiction than in life, because in fiction we all identify with the rich and powerful. Even in reports of reincarnation, people tend toward having been Henry V in an earlier life, and not a scabby footpad. In "Downton Abbey," I identify with Carson. It is the liberal Mr. Crawley whose ideas are closest to my own, but the judicious and wise Carson who I envy.
There is nothing in my own early life that explains why I'm such an Anglophile. Maybe it can be traced back to the day Mr. Willis, my mother's boss at the Allied Finance Company, went to England and brought me back the Coronation Number of Punch, with its photos of the new Queen and Buckingham Palace and Prince Charles, who was about my age. I could have been Prince Charles, if my mother had been the Queen. Think about it. Then my Classics Illustrated comic books led to novels, until I was deep into Dickens and then Trollope and all the others. In London during the Blitz there was a sudden surge of popularity for Trollope's novels. There's nothing like Nazi buzz-bombs whistling overhead to focus your attention on the intrigues of Barsetshire.
Even my love of Indian fiction may be connected; at the Calcutta Film Festival, an Indian critic explained to me why P. G. Wodehouse is the most popular English-language novelist in India: "Both nations are class-conscious, love wearing the proper uniform at every moment, are obsessed with family, are devoted to ceremony, cultivate mustaches, and prize eccentricity." He may have had a point. Of all of Wodehouse's novels, my favorites are those about Blandings Castle, its Lord Emsworth, and the Lord's trusted Pig Man, George Cyril Wellbeloved, to whom is entrusted the care of the Lord's prized pig , the Empress of Blandings. In Blandings an enchanted world exists in which everyone is innocent, even a pig thief.
But I stray. Watching "Downton Abbey" gave me a sense of deep comfort. With the Earl and his household I valued the great Yorkshire structure and its traditions. For an hour a night, it was mine. Yes, in the embrace of these ancient yellow stones and rich woods, the footsteps of countless ancestors had fallen. It mattered not if I swept the entrance or stood in it to welcome the Queen, I was there through the generations.
I could understand why the Earl he had devoted his life to its maintenance. I could even understand why he was so determined to give up the title and his fortune on the sake of principle; if you live under laws by which can lose everything when a ship goes down, then perhaps it's not quite so unfair that you have it in the first place. You didn't rob or steal to gain your possessions (although your ancestors may have). You were born into them. And with a blow from a lucky iceberg, a poor man in Manchester might find that he, too, was rich by the accident of birth.
In the meantime, life goes on at Downton. Marriages are arranged and rearranged. Kitchen maids get crushes. Ladies' maids dream of mastering the typewriter and entering the prewar dot.com world. Grandmothers sternly defend ancient values and are willing to abandon them for benefit of family. A great machine like this country house can sail on through the centuries, its course not thrown off by the occasional discovery of a dead Turkish diplomat in the wrong bedroom. I am certain the snuff box will turn up eventually, and as confident as Carson is that Bates had nothing to do with it.
Season One is streaming free on Amazon Instant for Prime Members, or $1.99 per episode for others. It is also on Netflix Instant. Season Two is now playing on Sunday nights on PBS Masterpiece Theater.
The delightful art below is by Colleen Coover, who has the uncanny ability to look into my mind and draw exactly how I imagine everyone at Blandings, including the Empress.
The sketch of Chatsworth House is by moi, drawn on a sun-dappled afternoon.
I'm not too up on peerage issues nowadays, although I once knew the Earl of Old Town. On more than one occasion, I nearly drown in his abbey moat.
I too was dismayed to only get seven episodes! Luckily the PBS app on my iPad streams the new ones the day after they air. If you have an Apple TV you can "mirror" your iPad to the television and enjoy all that the Great War has to offer.
Semi-related to your being an anglofile: I feel like you would appreciate Peter Ho Davies' short story "Relief."
Interesting comments, as always. But I must quibble with "There is sly humor in the way the only two characters who smoke very much, or at all, are the villains." It's not humor, it's bigotry, and reflects the increasing intolerance in modern society. It's also quite unrealistic, since it is more than likely that at that time many more of them would have smoked. Smoking may be unhealthy and something to be avoided, but to suggest that people who smoke are immoral or evil is ridiculous.
When I was younger I used to be a great anglophile myself. Not any longer. The more I learn about the English the less I like them. The bigotry, the bullying, the racism, the anti-semitism, the anti-islamism, the anti-European attitudes, the incessant warmongering and violence are all rather vile. If you look closely you might notice that nearly every single place in the world where there is now an armed conflict is someplace where the British ruled at some point. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, eastern Africa, Israel and Palestine, and on and on. The history of the British Empire is a history of endless war, slavery and the death of many, many millions. Their hypocrisy is astonishing. They repeatedly boast about their democracy and attempt to justify their constant interference in other countries as being about spreading democracy, but they continue to have a monarchy and especially an unelected house of lords, which is absurd in this day and age. They have less than 1% of the world's population, yet claim they are entitled to a veto at the UN, which is revolting and arrogant, not to mention profoundly undemocratic. I doubt very, very much whether the downstairs people were ever happy or content as you claim. But that's just me.
Ebert: I agree. Anglophilia is based on a fantasy. This may help explain the case of it I contracted:
http://bit.ly/cNDIZy
Agreed, wonderful show. We must be on the same wavelength because we finished season 1 last night too.
"....Degree being vizarded,
The unworthiest shows as fairly in the mask.
The heavens themselves, the planets and this centre
Observe degree, priority and place,
Insisture, course, proportion, season, form,
Office and custom, in all line of order;
And therefore is the glorious planet Sol
In noble eminence enthroned and sphered
Amidst the other; whose medicinable eye
Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil,
And posts, like the commandment of a king,
Sans cheque to good and bad: but when the planets
In evil mixture to disorder wander,
What plagues and what portents! what mutiny!
What raging of the sea! shaking of earth!
Commotion in the winds! frights, changes, horrors,
Divert and crack, rend and deracinate
The unity and married calm of states
Quite from their fixure! O, when degree is shaked,
Which is the ladder to all high designs,
Then enterprise is sick! How could communities,
Degrees in schools and brotherhoods in cities,
Peaceful commerce from dividable shores,
The primogenitive and due of birth,
Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels,
But by degree, stand in authentic place?
Take but degree away, untune that string,
And, hark, what discord follows! each thing meets
In mere oppugnancy: the bounded waters
Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores
And make a sop of all this solid globe:
Strength should be lord of imbecility,
And the rude son should strike his father dead:
Force should be right; or rather, right and wrong,
Between whose endless jar justice resides,
Should lose their names, and so should justice too.
Then every thing includes itself in power,
Power into will, will into appetite;
And appetite, an universal wolf,
So doubly seconded with will and power,
Must make perforce an universal prey,
And last eat up himself. Great Agamemnon,
This chaos, when degree is suffocate,
Follows the choking.
And this neglection of degree it is
That by a pace goes backward, with a purpose
It hath to climb. The general's disdain'd
By him one step below, he by the next,
That next by him beneath; so every step,
Exampled by the first pace that is sick
Of his superior, grows to an envious fever
Of pale and bloodless emulation:..."
It delights me to read about your affinity for Wodehouse--I recall that you've said that the best writers are those who make it look like the easiest thing in the world, and Wodehouse was your capital example. I feel that another such soloist is Stanley Elkin, whose name I would never have known if it weren't for your blog. Your writings are a regular source of joy, inspiration and discovery--even when you are in the throes of that bewildering Malick worship into which you are so wont to lapse.
Speaking of that British provincialism of which you seem so fond, is it safe to extrapolate that you are also a fan of George Eliot's writings? I'm thinking Middlemarch more than anything here.
Ebert: It would be quite safe.
I'm glad you've found this treasure of a show as I did about a year ago. A recommendation if you have the time, another British show I found around the same time as Downton, the BBC modern telling of Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. Witty, sly, and wonderful.
Over the past year, I've found several television series - with "Downton Abbey" chief among them - to be more satisfying than any films I've watched. It takes quite a bit of time to commit to a series, and I likely have more time to spare than does Mr. Ebert. But shows like "Homeland" on Showtime and "Breaking Bad" on AMC have demonstrated excellent writing and acting, plus the time to really develop the characters and plots in a way movies just can't achieve.
Roger, old chap, you have confused dear Mrs. Hughes with the scheming Miss O'Brien, who is the one who smokes and plots with Thomas and who caused the death of Cora's unborn child. Bad show old boy! :-) (I confess myself I often have trouble keeping the names straight.)
All you write is true, as ever. But one of the things I appreciate about DA is that no villain is beyond redemption, no hero without flaws. There are signs of hope this season that O'Brien and Thomas may be growing hearts, and as for Bates... Well, I think he has a habit of running away from challenges and rationalizing a noble purpose for it. He's a serial martyr, and I think Anna is beginning to see that. This season he refused to accept Anna as his mistress; I suspected it was because, to consummate the relationship, he would have had to remove his hairshirt.
Ebert: My word. You are quite right, and I made haste to correct my blunder.
Perhaps the most perfect name for a newspaper is The Observer. It suits you as well.
I've been enjoying the show (I've already seen all the episodes shown in England), but it really is a Tory fantasy where everything usually turns out OK because the old boy at the top is really a decent chap, don't you know. How this plays out when the guy at the top is a right old bastard was the subject of Julian Fellowes' more interesting work for Altman on Gosford Park. But then Altman wasn't a Tory. The best TV I've seen lately is a series called "Borgen" about Danish politics currently running on the Beeb and in the States, online and on cable, on Link TV. Smart, addicting, and with a remarkable leading woman as the prime minister. Beats hell out of most of the films I've seen lately. I hear NBC is trying to make an American version. Sigh.
I enjoyed D-Abbey last season and am enjoying the new one. But I highly recommend the series Sherlock, which plays on Masterpiece as well. It's only a few episodes but I guarantee you'll find it more fascinating than the Guy Richie version!
You can always judge a show by the quality of it's theme. Downton Abbey has a beautiful, 10 minute orchestral piece as its theme.
I'm afraid to say that after series 1, this drama slides into a poor period soap opera.
Although Downton is still stunning, Lord Fellowes (the writer) makes a rush job in series 2 and it falls flat on it's face.
I'll be interested to see what you think of series 2 when you see it.
Amanda Brett
nt5sg8
I can't watch those shows... they are an affront to me as an American and a free human being. Class warfare is what it is!
I must say I'm somewhat offended. Whilst all of the issues you mentioned are certainly present in English society, I wouldn't say they were prominent. I certainly wouldn't say they defined the English! Surely such a crude generalisation itself constitutes bigotry?!
While England has all of these problems and more in some capacity, doesn't everywhere? And to suggest that the actions of our leaders, and our past, historic leaders are somehow or fault is ridiculous!
Having lived in England 16 years, I can say the majority of the English are liberal-minded, fair and good people. We have sins in our past, but then so does America with its treatment of the Native Americans, and Germany with Hitler... so does everyone.
While England is far from perfect, with its deep-seated social issues (not with a class system anymore, though) etc., it is nontheless a varied and modern nation. At least we don't have bigoted fundamentalist christian churches making headlines, or religion featuring in political discourse!
I'm sure you weren't intending to offend, but I thought I'd argue my case anyway. Be a little wiser with your words next time...
Roger, you, I and untold thousands more are in thrall to Downton. The orderliness of its world, perhaps, and the tensions that pull at it? It is a world on the brink of irreversible change and reminds me of the era we share, the '60's. Nice bedtime fare, too. Only good dreams, what?
Ah! My faithful footpad! I wondered where you'd got to! Silly me, I might have taken the hint, for your name was "Roger" then, too!
I can now admit life was more boring for me than for you, footpad.
Despite the frills, dallyings with the chambermaids and the god damned chilled shrimp, the highlight of my miserable life was when one day I visited a wing of the house I hadn't noticed before then, and to my surprise, espied through an open door Gibbon, the historian, busy at work!
I quipped: "At it again, eh Gibbon? Scribble scribble, eh Gibbon?"
Do you recall running a copy of my witticism to the printer's for general dispersal, footpad? That was it. My whole life.
I just told all my friends I just interacted with Roger Ebert, and that this is the greatest day of my life. Thanks :-)
Maggie Smith delivered what was -- by far -- my favorite line of the first season: "What is a week-end?"
I, too, am an anglophile and even lived in England for a year, in 1982-83. I'll never forget it. Have you watched "Doc Martin?" You should. One of the best things about English programs is that the actors are mostly unknown here. When I saw "The Descendants," I could never forget that I was watching George Clooney so didn't really enjoy it.
I was enjoying your review of Downton Abbey, and then was appalled that you chose to use his sexuality as a character flaw in describing Thomas.
He lies, he smoke, he plots...he does a thousand things that are more important to understanding his character than calling him an "aggressive homosexual" among his flaws.
Shame on you, Mr. Ebert.
Ebert: Homosexuality is not a flaw. His behavior is. When a footman in a household boldly kisses another man on the lips after a few seconds' conversation, that is unseemly and ill-mannered.
First off, I love DA. I don't want to watch it, I want to crawl inside and live it -- whether it be upstairs or down. But if you really look at it closely and strip away all the beauty and wonderful acting, the story is no more than a simple soap opera. I would wager that if you saw the same story and heard the same dialogue in a modern day television show set in America, you would write it off as on the nose and cliched.
You have far more willpower than me only watching one episode a night. I was introduced to this show a few days ago and have finished both seasons and the Christmas special (lost a great deal of sleep by watching well into the night). I just couldn't stop once I'd started. Such a wonderful show.
The writers have so masterfully weaved sly humour into dark situations without ever taking it too far. A perfect balance. Every line that comes out of Maggie Smith's mouth makes me smile.
One more slight correction- the kitchen maid is Daisy not Elsie. Mrs. Hughes' given name is Elsie. Glad you liked it! I'm
Also an Anglophile (read: sucker for British life) particularly Gosford Park & Upstairs Downstairs!
Mr. Ebert! You're mistaken. They found the snuff box! We learn this during a very quiet exchange between Cora and Lord Grantham at the end of that episode. He says something about how it turned up on the wrong shelf, it must have been misplaced during the cleaning, etc. Cora says, "You must be more careful before making such accusations. The poor staff must have been scared stiff." (I'm poorly paraphrasing.)
Cheers!
Roger, I agree with Mike above... Anglophilia is based upon a quaint fantasy, and is harmful for its willful ignorance of the ugly underbelly of Empire.
If you are interested in English country homes, I highly recommend Bill Bryson's "At Home." He also provides a detailed and engrossing description of the not usually pleasant life of English servants.
I hope you've also seen the most recent Masterpiece series productions of Bleak House (with Gillian Anderson) and Little Dorrit (with Claire Foy). Wonderful stuff.
I'm an Anglophile too, and cannot get enough Downton Abbey! I think you may have confused Elsie (Mrs. Hughes, the housekeeper) with Daisy (the kitchen maid). I probably would not have noticed, if not for the fact that I've watched the first season 4 times this past year! It's delightful entertainment.
Mike: I think you are too picky, picky, picky. But that's just me.
I fear you'll be a bit disappointed by Season 2. It's had some great moments so far, but it seems more obvious. Still, I won't spoil anything by saying Carson remains at the heart of everything, and there's more to Bates' story.
As a fan of the show I thought I should chime in that it's Daisy, not Elsie, who is the cook's assistant with an eye for Thomas, and it's Miss O'Brien, not Mrs. O'Brien. With such a large cast, those are easy mistakes to make.
My wife turned me on to Downton Abbey, and I absolutely loved it. My favorite parts:
1. When Matthew refuses his valet's (Molesley) services, because he is used to handling himself. You can truly feel Molesley's pain, the pain of being considered unnecessary and worthless. No matter what skills or talent we have, there is no worse feeling than that of being valueless.
2. Like Matthew at the beginning of the series, the viewer thinks the Earl's lifestyle and purpose are comical. But the viewer comes to understand, along with Matthew, the Earl's sense of purpose.
3. Mrs. O'Brien is a great villain. Just the look on her face makes my skin crawl.
I used to get my anglo-fix from the early Nevil Shutdown novels. Wonderful tales, almost like romancers for guys. True love plus airplanes! And chuck full of strange phrases such as "doing a Gretna green". What do you suppose that meant?
Well crikey. Didn't know we were that bad. I'll let you get away with most of this sophomoric nonsense, but the slavery thing is just a step too far. The British were never great slavers, it was always illegal on the British mainland, unlike the Americans who fought a war of independence in order to preserve it. We were also the first to devote resources and lives to stamp it out, again heartily opposed by the Americans. And during the war of Independence many American slaves were protected and then spirited away, either to Canada or elsewhere, by the British.
I could have a go about your delusion that you live in a democracy, but it's late and I have gin to drink.
Glad you're enjoying the show. I also quickly devoured Series 1 (on Netflix), and it's become one of my favorites. I don't think it's really accurate to call Matthew a "poor man in Manchester". He was a lawyer, and there is definitely some comedy in how the rich people look down on this, but I get the impression he was middle-class at worst.
I too have recently been swept up by the grand "Downton Abbey" in the last 2 weeks or so. I've powered through every episode, including the entire season 2 already broadcast in the UK. The most fascinating and frankly, deeply annoying thing about it to me is the sheer amount of restraint shown by everyone. That's why I love novelists like Jane Austen. I am the most modern, impatient woman in the world, and the societal tendency of people of all classes during that bygone era to restrain their feelings, wants, and needs in favor of social propriety and politeness is something that never ceases to intrigue me and draw me in. We see it even more in the way that Mary's one act of surrender to her natural feelings and curiosities in lieu of restraint ended up haunting her life for years to come. I couldn't have watched season 2 week by week, because it just drove me crazy trying. There was so much selflessness in that society, which is really interesting when you think about it, because the rich seem to be totally self-centered, on paper.
I think you mean Daisy when you said Elsie thinks she has a chance with Thomas. (I forget the names all the time, too, except that for this character I can hear the cook yelling her name all the time!)
As for manor-Wodehouse and BBC, I content myself with their adaptations of "Jeeves & Wooster", with Stephen Fry and a pre-House Hugh Laurie (back when he still had a sense of humor and no obnoxious "American" accent) dream-team cast in their respective roles as unflappable butler and cheery dimbulb.
An examination of what happened to the English class system after the wars would also bring up a viewing of "Manor House", back during the pan-Atlantic network craze for historical "reality shows"--
In which modern Londoners had to spend three months role-playing Edwardian Upstairs, Downstairs: The role of manor life and entertaining as White House center of business and political operation for the upper class was a little too socially rooted for the new Upstairs folk to grasp, while the new Downstairs folk, used to downtown jobs, were starting to crack under the strain of "working in a five-star hotel where the guests never leave".
I cancelled my cable and internet about two years ago and have spent alot of time at my local libraries (luckily there are about 5 within a 15 mile radius of my home) Like you, I'm a bit of an anglophile and have discovered wonderful shows, like DOWNTON ABBEY, purely by chance. I would never have known these shows existed had I still had my Comcast connection. I'd probably would have spent my time watching JERSEY SHORE or CSI. Though these are probably decent shows, BBC period pieces, as you've described, put me in a place that makes me extremely happy and comfortable.
Brendan Coyle, who plays Bates, is also in a wonderful, wonderful series entitled LARK RISE TO CANDLEFORD, adapted from a novel by Flora Thompson, which follows the daily lives of folks living in a small hamlet, Lark Rise, and the differences to the daily lives of the more sophisticated living in a flourishing nearby town, Candleford. It is a wonderful series that will make you smile.
Hugh Bonneville, who plays the Earl of Grantham, was in a wonderful 3-part series called TIPPING THE VELVET, which deals with lesbianism in Victorian England. Its a wonderful series with great writing, great music, and even some explicit sex scenes, all done with high BBC production values and taste.
Just a couple of video recommendations if you ever find yourself wanting for more good English TV, while waiting for the next installment of DA.
Another Downton Abbey devotee here; glad to have you on board!
I suspect part of the Earl's equanimity about Downton et al. being inherited by a middle-class solicitor is the knowledge that none of that fortune will pass away from him until he, well, passes away. As long as he's upright, all is right with his world.
When you look at at Europe you notice that the countries that have been the most stable throughout the last few centuries tend to still have monarchies and systems of nobility, while the ones that have had the worst time tend to be republics. I wouldn't say this is so much because monarchy is better than democracy as because they've simply been the most successful, they best been able to defend themselves and meet the needs of their people, unlike the others which have been violently forced to change by horrible events.
In this sense I'd say that the continued existence of a traditional class system might be a point of national pride, inequality aside. Their cities haven't been sacked in a really long time.
You need not worry about the program losing its seriousness in the second season.
How fun to find that you are a Wodehouse lover! My parents got me started on Wodehouse in high school many years ago, and I've never looked back. And I confess to disliking Orwell, who you also mention, simply because he hated Wodehouse. I'm enjoying Downton Abbey, but am slightly disappointed in it because I think that it could be so much better. The main plot line--the love affair between Cora and Matthew--fails to grab me. The two simply have no chemistry. And neither character is particularly likable. And Bates drives me mad. Why the martyr? (He's certainly no Jeeves.)
The kitchen maid who has a crush on Thomas is Daisy, not Elsie. And Lord Grantham smokes after dinner with the Duke of Crowborough in Episode 1. Other than that, your observations are spot-on!
Roger, Have you heard of or read 'The Remains of the Day' by Kazuo Ishiguro? It is a fantastic book that deals with the same subject matter as Downton Abbey.
Downton Abbey is my guilty pleasure. Many of the plot points are pure soap opera, but I love the characters and the scenery. It is indeed comforting to me...perhaps it's in my DNA from ancestors who had no choice but to go along with the class structure. :)
However, wasn't it Daisy that at one time had her eyes set on Thomas (not Elsie as the article says)?
Always, always love reading your work, Mr. Ebert! Thank you!
"There is sly humor in the way the only two characters who smoke very much, or at all, are the villains."
Sly humor? This is an obnoxious trend. If you watch most recent Hollywood films, the villains invariably smoke. Problem is, the filmmakers want to have it both ways: Smoking is villainous, they imply, but Humphrey Bogart was cool in "Casablanca," and so was Lauren Bacall in (I think) "To Have and Have Not." And Gable was cool when he smoked in "Gone With the Wind," and so on and so on.
But now, as Hollywood and the rest of society continue to scapegoat and discriminate against smokers, it's not a bad thing, it's "humorous."
Has the Earl taken down all the smutty pictures?
Wonderful piece, and a wonderful show.
Off the topic of Downton Abbey though, might I inquire as to what other television shows you watch (if any)? I'm quite fascinated by what TV shows certain film critics enjoy, assuming they have the time. (I'll take this opportunity to recommend another BBC drama, Sherlock. As modern reinterpretations of the Holmes mythos go, it leaves both of Robert Downey Jr's efforts in the dust.)
I only wish Pet Clark would re-do her breakthrough hit (a la Elton and "Candle in the Wind" for Diana) and we could have that for a theme. Good for a grin, right ho! Oh, stop being silly!
Don't know about Carlton, but Jeeves certainly made the best of his situation, steering Burtie towards world cruises and away from marriage. He knew a good situation when he saw one, having a good-natured fool for a master. (Like my dog.)
Does every modern rendering of Edwardian England use Wodehouse and a starting point? Did such people ever exist? Critics of Wodehouse refer to his world as a fantasy version of reality. And Alistair Cooke noted the Great War pretty much wiped out what would have been Bertie Wooster's generation.
When we say we're Anglophiles, as I do, aren't we really talking about The Royal Shakespeare Company, Monty Python, James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Oxbridge, Prime Minister's Question Time, BBC World News and ruling class fantasies? Orwell estimated that to be about 5 percent of the British culture. The comedies that follow "Masterpiece" every Sunday night, giving us a peek at what must be more typical British lives, don't exactly move me to pack my bags and brew a lovely cup of Earl Grey.
Maybe life would be OK as an everyday Scandanavian, but if they'd want me to be British, they'd have to make me an earl.
As an actual Englishperson living in England, with similarly liberal leanings to Mr. Ebert, I can't help but feel slightly uncomfortable about Downton Abbey: it romanticises a deeply unjust system where one's position and potential in life is based on an accident of birth, and you were expected to 'know your place' and be happy with it. In real life, many of the serving classes weren't happy about it, but put up with it because they had no other choice; and many of the lords in charge were less kind and goodhearted than Earl Grantham.
That said, it's very well-made, enthralling television; I haven't sat down and watched the whole thing, but I've seen a few episodes, and it's impossible to dislike. For all its conservative politics and rosy-tinted view of history, you can't help but get sucked in and enjoy it.
But I wonder if Roger and its other fans would have appreciated it as much if, instead of a British series set in a Yorkshire country house, it had been an American series set in the plantations of the old Confederacy. Probably not...
Ebert: Now there's a good point.
Thank you so much for your wonderful comments on Downton Abbey. I also am an Anglophile since first watching Keith Mitchell in The Six Wives of Henry VIII. I have s matched set of Trollope's Barchester Towers on my bookshelf and next to my chair is a copy of The Quincunx, which I added to my Christmas list after reading your recommendation in the Barnes and Noble newsletter. I look forward to seeing what you recommend next! Thanks for taking the time to share.
I agree with everything you say Roger about Downton Abbey. Love every second of it. Hope you are well! I'm a close friend of Richard Germack, who sadly passed away 3 yrs ago. Roger, I am your fan and have always been so..
I love Downton Abbey. I've seen seasons 1 and 2. I wanted to eat every frame of it, it's just that well done; ie: cinematography, acting, costumes, etc.
To me, it's a glorious respite from Hollywood blockbusters and CGI and fan boys and mediocre screenplays; a good English period drama no less welcome to my senses, than the latest Wes Anderson trailer.
True; the mothership is home to more than itself as idealized on Masterpiece Theatre. In reality, there's a reason London had riots earlier this past summer 2011. That said, it doesn't negate the good stuff.
William Morris fabrics at Liberty of London. A jar of orange Marmalade from Fortnum & Masons. Shakespeare. Jane Austen. Tea cups. Train Stations. The sight of mortar, brick and stone. The Tate Gallery and the Victorian & Albert. A red telephone booth. An old fashioned mail box. The Gothic Revival glory of St Pancras Station (hotel.) Capability Brown. Harry Potter. Beatrice Potter. Winnie-the-pooh, Doctor Who and jelly babies, the Old Vic Tunnels, Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes, Edward Gorey, the Sex Pistols, a game of croquet and other instances of death by misadventure.... it's a long list. :-)
I think of England as the mother-ship of great writers, artists, gardeners and craftsmen. In addition to everything else one could rightly lay at their feet and hang them for. I like the best there is to like about England. While wholeheartedly agreeing that whatever sucks about the British Empire, does.
Ie: Downton Abbey is a really nice cup of tea, as drunk while reading a good story. It's loaded with subtext and stuff needing to be inferred.
Good times.
I am so glad you have discovered Downton Abbey--I thought you eschewed TV watching.DA is the type of thing that only the Brits do so very, very well. The attention to detail in the costumes, sets, language etc--exquisite. The casting is phenomenal and I can't get enough of Maggie Smith as the Dowager. She has all the best lines and deserves every one. I am enjoying season 2 on WTTW as much as I did season 1 last year. The chemistry between Mary and Matthew is amazing this season. It is a bit of a soap opera, sure, but you so quickly come to care about all the characters, you don't mind the occasional tipping into melodrama. Heck, even The New Yorker critic likes it and they usually hate everything. :)
Having read and loved Wodehouse, Austen, Heyer, Trollope et al, the world of DA seems very natural to me, which is not to say I want that world back again, if that were even possible. At one point in season 2 someone (I believe it's his Lordship) says something about England (or the upper classes) were asleep in a dream and now they've awakened. There is no going back to that more orderly time--it would be wrong to attempt it or even want it. But to visit and explore the humanity of that world is fascinating and somehow very satisfying for me. I'm glad it is for you as well.
PS: my heritage on both sides is all British: English, Scottish, Protestant Irish and one Welshman. When I visit there, I really do feel at home. UK isn't perfect or idyllic, but what country is?
Reply to: I wonder if, instead of a British series set in a Yorkshire country house, it had been an American series set in the plantations of the old Confederacy.
Actually, I think such a series would be quite successful. If you run it on cable and ignore the protests.
Americans love the idea of going back a hundred years, to more simple times. When we could be safely isolationist.
Harry Potter summed up the American's position. A castle in Scotland, remote, surrounded by forests. If Harry Potter had met a criminal named Robin Hood living in the forest, he could have lived the greatest Brit adventure ever. Playing soccer while riding a broom isn't in the ballpark.
Most of the current problem in Britain come from people who moved there, expecting to be welcomed... and found London traffic so congested, the government levies a huge tax on every car that enters "greater London" during the peak rush hours. Instead of complaining, why don't they just go back? Well, because they place they left is ten times worse.
England is a wonderful example of democracy in action. How often is the winner of an election accused of miscounting ballots?
England is an island. The economy only works when goods and services are brought in from Europe and farther away. When that system was taken away, their standard of living dropped. No way around that. The solution is to embrace the English system, support England as the place where democracy started... and, yes, support the owners of great country houses, because they employ as many as a small factory, in much better working conditions.
So, explain to me, why you think a soap opera set on a pre-Civil War plantation wouldn't work? I think it's more fun to imagine "what if America never fought a Civil War" and the civil rights movement happened 50 years later, because I've never understood why the South thought forming a separate Confederate States of America would work. But what if they had been successful?
Pegeen: I second your recommendation for "Doc Martin" and would add one for Stephen Fry's "Kingdom." You said that "One of the best things about English programs is that the actors are mostly unknown here [in the US]. Another, I would say, is allowing leading roles to be played by actors who are decidedly not ... how to put this ... perfect specimens.
Side note: both of the above, as I recall, only filmed a half-dozen or so episodes per season (or per "series" as they say).
Mike, my man...
The bigotry, the bullying, the racism, the anti-semitism, the anti-islamism, the anti-European attitudes, the warmongering, the violence, and the current or past presence at every single place in the world where there is now an armed conflict. The endless war, the slavery, the death of millions, the astonishing hypocrisy, the repeated boasting about one's own democracy and the attempt to justify one's constant interference in other countries as being about spreading democracy. And, last but not least, the self-entitlement to a veto at the UN.
I might be wrong and you might not even be an American, but if you are - do I need to mention stones and glass houses?
I say this as an enthusiast but conscious Americanophile.
my favorite line was "one swallow does not a summer make".
my daughters and I have watched the British miniseries "Pride and Prejudice" many times. i was pleasantly surprised to love D A almost as must. it became an instant classic in our house!
Did you know Robert Bathurst (Lady Edith's sometime squeeze) lives in Maggie Smith's old crib from GOSFORD PARK?
Miike:
"The more I learn about the English the less I like them. "
Yes, and I'm sure English folks who form their opinion of Americans from shows like Breaking Bad, Two and A Half Men, Justified, Sons of Anarchy & Boardwalk Empire would be saying "right back at ya, you pack of misogynistic, psychotically violent, drug-addled neurotically promiscuous lunatics!"
Alasdair wrote:
"As an actual Englishperson living in England, with similarly liberal leanings to Mr. Ebert, I can't help but feel slightly uncomfortable about Downton Abbey: it romanticises a deeply unjust system where one's position and potential in life is based on an accident of birth, and you were expected to 'know your place' and be happy with it. In real life, many of the serving classes weren't happy about it, but put up with it because they had no other choice; and many of the lords in charge were less kind and goodhearted than Earl Grantham."
Well, that's true - and I'd suggest you track down a copy of 'Gosford Park' (which DA writer Julian Fellowes wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for) where Michael Gambon plays a rich and pretentious industrialist with quite a history of - to put it bluntly - exploiting his (female) employees, and discarding them (and their illegitimate children) like used condoms. So I don't really Fellows has a particularly rose-tinted view of what life "in service" was like.
But, as he's rather tartly noted on more than one occasion would people who attack his for being gaga for the aristocracy be happier if he had Lord Grantham prowling the halls of Downton raping the maids, beating the footmen with a riding crop and using the under-gardeners for target practice? That's a caricature too.
One other thing Alasdair. I found this a pretty offensive and condescending false equation:
But I wonder if Roger and its other fans would have appreciated it as much if, instead of a British series set in a Yorkshire country house, it had been an American series set in the plantations of the old Confederacy. Probably not...
Yeah, because the job that put me through university (a cleaner in a hotel rather than a stately home, earning not much more than minimum wage) was EXACTLY like being considered little more than an animal, to be brought and sold like cattle. And just for the record, my grandmother was "in service" between the Wars. It was a damn hard life, and she left to get married without a backward glance or any sentimentality. But at the time, she was damn grateful to have a decently paid job when other options were very thing on the ground.
I know the choices people make may offend our ever so enlightened middle-class liberal modern sensibilities, but we owe them the respect of trying to understand their lives rather than patronising for living as we see fit.
I am shocked and disappointed on your views on manor life. I have been reading your reviews and watching you on tv all of my life. As an African American woman, I was always impressed at your insights on the plight of minority films and the inequities shown to minority actors. The fact that you're married to an African American woman, made me confident that I wouldn't hear you utter the kind of cluelessly offensive statements typically made by well meaning white liberals and racists alike. I was wrong.
Anglophile or not, your glorification of the lives of the "to the manor born" and their servants is just as repugnant as racists' nostalgia for the the old south. I assume your wife told you, at some point, that "knowing in your place" is code for racists who want to go back to a time when African Americans were systematically oppressed and based on the way you describe English manor life, resigned to it.
In an era of a Black President, shows like Downtown Abbey and Mad Men are visual salves for "disenfranchised" white men who harken back to a time when everyone was systematically in service to white men, including white women like your mom. I assumed you were part of the 99% who work "Downstairs" for the 1% and find nothing charming about institutionalized subjugation. Guess I'm wrong there too, huh?
Now that I know what you really think, I will keep that in mind next time I read one of your reviews. That's assuming I ever read your reviews again.
Ebert: Now, now. I agree with you, but I am responding to a fantasy, not endorsing a reality. I think I make that clear. After 44 years and 10,000 reviews are you really prepared to pull the plug on me?
Please take a look at my new reviews of "Red Tails" and "The Flowers of War."
"But I wonder if Roger and its other fans would have appreciated it as much if, instead of a British series set in a Yorkshire country house, it had been an American series set in the plantations of the old Confederacy. Probably not...
Ebert: Now there's a good point."
Well, how about "Gone with the Wind"? The parallels between DA and GWTW are pretty strong.
The 1939 classic perfectly encapsulates the nostalgia for the old days, a more genteel antebellum world swept away by the war.*
GWTW, of course, is the biggest box office hit in the history of American cinema. I think its appeal is similar to Downton Abbey, which is a very, very big hit on British television (the latest episode had almost 12 million viewers---extrapolate that to the US population, and the equivalent is approximately 60 million).
-
*For me, DA made me more wistful, as my dear great-grandfather fought in that terrible and unnecessary war, and it seems clearer now that WWI inflicted a fatal blow to European civilization. A horrific and unmitigated tragedy--at least with the Civil War, you had the demise of slavery.
Welcome to the Downton fan club! Don't visit the imdb boards--our friends across the pond are a season ahead and spoilers abound!
I once made Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip smile--as their carriage drove by during a celebration of Jamestown Settlement's 400th anniversary, Prince Philip smiled broadly and nudged her to turn and look at it--it said "Take back America! We miss our royalty!"
His grim was huge and hers just a tiny smirk, but I treasure the moment!
Then Sandra Day O'Connor in a later carriage about busted a gut when she saw it, so THAT was cool!
For all the arguments re: the British Empire wasn't that bad or just look at America, etc., I don't think the point is to compare. Looking at any nation's history will yield ugly truths. The point is that Anglophilia is fantasy based - or at least very, very myopic in perspective. So is the belief in some sweet-as-pie good-ol-days America.
I love Downton Abbey but I acknowledge it as fantasy and an indulgence in make-believe.
Good news for those Americans nostalgic for class-based inequalities, unearned inherited wealth and deference to the rich - The Tories are currently doing their very best to bring such days back!
This is wonderful, Roger. I remember falling in love with English country house life when, as a teenager, I read Paul Gallico's "Too Many Ghosts." I haven't read it since, but the atmosphere of the eccentric characters in this multi-roomed and perhaps haunted mansion got me hooked and I've stayed hooked.
I've just picked up on Season Two of Downton Abby, and I thank you for letting me know about the availability of Season One via Amazon Prime.
And Wodehouse! Reading about Jeeves and Wooster is like savoring a favorite dessert. Just wonderful.
Oh - I forgot to add to my previous comment, the Gallico and Downton Abby versions of the British pre-WWII class system are, of course, romanticized. My favorite antidote to this rosy vision is the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser - hilarious and not at all uplifting.
The sins and shortcomings of generations past should not negate today's great storytelling - or great filmmaking.
Human history is inevitably built on models and concepts that are continually being reassessed and judged anew by updated standards, but we do not erase millennia of philosophy just because the Greeks who started it were a ruling class supported by slave work. It is because they were a ruling class with sh*t-else to do that they started thinking all those big thoughts that led us to all the tolerance and inclusion and political correctness we so proudly wave as "modern" thinking.
Our past is chock-full of horrible periods that birthed unbelievable advances - both World Wars come to mind.
Similarly, it cannot be denied that Victorian to pre-war England not only produced some of the best literature known to man, but the era and the place themselves seem to be an endless source of insanely enjoyable stories.
Again, there is little doubt that it was the appalling class system itself that allowed an unprecedented number of people to just sit around sipping Earl Grey, being wittily condescending and Oscar Wilding their way into history and literature - and our hearts.
Anglophilia, as any other cultural "philia", builds heavily on positive aspects but does not imply ignorance or revisionism. Being an anglophile is not incompatible with social consciousness. I mean, really — if there's one thing Roger can’t be accused of is being a Tory, fer chrissakes...
I believe that "doing a Gretna green" refers to getting married.
Actually, DA versus GWTW isn't an appropriate analogy. We could perhaps compare DA to the world described by Edith Wharton or Henry James - the American equivalent of the source of Lady Grantham and her fortune. DA servants and farmers are not slaves or sharecroppers.
If you need an English equivalent to southern plantations, you need to look to Africa and India, among other places.
What is interesting about DA is how modernism and technology are shaking things up for upstairs and downstairs, much as free trade and computers shook up the industrial base and the workplace. The issue of change is even more central in Season 2 but the story is still about the ability of the characters accept to reject change - or remain in denial.
What was the Humphry Bogart movie I watched, set in France I believe, that sounds very similar to Wages of Fear?
As I age and understand that the world, against by fondest dreams, is going to continue on it coarse and violent path I find comfort in shows like Downton Abbey.
Of course, Alasdair's comment about how less enjoyable the show would be for Americans if it were produced as "...an American series set in the plantations of the old Confederacy," is spot on.
But Downton Abbey offers two distinct differences, it is set in a time that is unknown to me in its particulars, and the class structure was, at the time, not based on enslaving a different race.
So I enjoy its distance in time and place feeling all is contained and well-ordered despite a full-scale riot taking place in the kitchen.
Glad to see you love the show!
I think of my favorite aspects of it is how the show, in its own way, sheds modern anachronisms to really get into the logic of the class system. It shows the functionality of this country house as a microcosm of a society, and through the war and the progressive era, why this eventually had to fall apart. It's a really compelling look at how the class system affected everyone in every rank, how all people gave their lives to the abstract and arbitrary idea of a "higher duty" in their roles, and how eventually the war would expose some of the more nonsensical aspects of this. It's really a joy to watch because we know the outcome of history, so to watch these people fight against their historical contexts is fascinating. At heart, it's about stasis vs progress and the potential goods that change can bring, though change is often tiresome and hard.
Truly wonderful, from one anglophile to another.
A must read for Anglophiles ( and everyone else..) is the Flashman Series by George MacDonald Fraser.
Have you read them???
Follows the lovable rake/rogue and anti-hero Harry Flashman.
Hugley popular in the UK...
Along with "Lilyhammer", "Downtown Abbey" will be one of the series I watch over my spring break in march on Netflix. I am pleased to hear that you occasionally do get around to watching some of the quality television programs I also so often hear about but do not find enough time to watch because I usually like to see the episodes in bulk like reading several chapters of a book I wanted to read for a long time back to back.
I couldn't help myself from throwing my own recommendation out there for an 11 episode, 22 minutes each, series streaming on the website crunchyroll.com called "Usagi Drop" or "Bunny Drop." It's an anime series about a 30-something bachelor who raises the 6 year old, illegitimate daughter of his grandfather. What could easily turn into one of those family romp style movies about an irresponsible single person taking on responsibility and becoming a better person is actually the most down to earth and understated slice of life story about parenting that I have ever seen. Speaking as a single 24 year old, it is by far the most believable portrayal of child rearing I have ever seen put to film.
I find it incredibly disappointing that such stories rarely find an audience. I doubt any American or even European network would fund such a short, understated series let alone an animated one. Even by anime conventions it is really exceptional. My only real disappointment is that no American studio, including one of the regular anime licensors, are likely to pick up this series for a physical release with English audio since the typical anime audience does not purchase shows like this either. At least it has a legitimate way to come stateside with a website like crunchyroll.com which has become as vital to my continued viewing habits as hulu and Netflix.
I was interested to see your note on how Downtown is not PC: in a way, Baron Fellowes credits this with much of its success. He says (rightly, I think) that, had he made the programme in the 1950s or '60s, he would have had to show those upstairs as terribly brave, dashing and intelligent, and those downstairs as dull-witted, flawed and unambitious.
Had he made the show in the 1990s, social attitudes would have dictated that those upstairs would have had to be dimwitted inbred aristocrats and those downstairs put-upon, attractive and intelligent salt-of-the-earth heroes.
But, he says, making the show now means that he can have characters that are good and bad, stupid and intelligent, offensive and inoffensive, both upstairs and down, allowing for a far more realistic and involving drama.
"I enjoyed D-Abbey last season and am enjoying the new one. But I highly recommend the series Sherlock, which plays on Masterpiece as well. It's only a few episodes but I guarantee you'll find it more fascinating than the Guy Richie version!"
I've see BBC Sherlock: season 1 and 2.
And while I'm a huge fan of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, and it's definitely better than Guy Richie's over-hyped piece of CGI mixed with camp, I can't believe you didn't groan while watching BBC Sherlock: "The Blind Banker" (insert clueless Chinese stereotype, hello Fu Manchu.)
Oh and hey - don't tip over the chair you've been tied to, Sarah (Watson's date) as then you might move yourself out of harm's way (there's a poison arrow aimed at her) and Sherlock needs you to be stupid and stay right where you are, so he can look clever and awesome while saving you! Chuckle!
That said, the scene in the first episode - "A Study in Pink" - with the nicotine patches; priceless. And the third episode - "The Great Game" - the happy face on the wall and Sherlock with a gun? I laughed, and more than once.
Smile.
Then Moffat jumps the shark and writes "A Scandal in Belgravia."
As for Roger and Downton Abbey - harmless guilty pleasure; it's not like he's living in a bubble where reality never visits, and everyone gets to drink tea from a fancy Spode cup.
@James Bowman: Gretna Green is a village in Scotland, famous as a spot for runaway marriages as the age of consent to marry was--and still is--lower in Scotland than in England.
Hey there, doing a "Gretna Green" means running off to elope! Gretna Green is just over the border in Scotland, where at the time there was no waiting period for a quickie marriage.
Bastet469:
Anglophile or not, your glorification of the lives of the "to the manor born" and their servants is just as repugnant as racists' nostalgia for the the old south.
As a person of mixed race - and working class - descent (and a fan of Downton Abbey), I find it pretty damn offensive being called little better than a racist - especially by Americans who seem to think having BBC America, PBS and the History Channel on their cable makes them experts on British culture and history.
As I said up thread, while some folks are busy projecting their modern middle class liberal sensibilities back on their unenlightened ancestors they might want to stop and think about their own privilege. And condescension.
Ebert: Thank you. I also admire George Eliot, Dickens, Trollope and Henry James, and they also depict a world founded on racism and greed. Dickens at least was a reformer.
If you stop to consider, the world of cruel and unfair and those facts undermine all fiction. I think I said in the blog itself, or upthread, that I was fully aware my Anglophilia is based on fantasy. By the same token, in my mind I have lived in Middle Earth.
I am an Anglophile too-I enjoy good flatware and crystal, and was raised to believe proper table manners are very definitive of character.
I love and appreciate the classics-great books, nice leather boots made by hand, and a really good tailor. And, I understand the importance of never mentioning that any of these things are really important to anyone out in the open.
Ah yes, to make this profile complete one also must be equipped with at least one parent who is very successful and high-profle in the community, just so you have something continuously hanging over your own mark on the World.
I know I mock, but with time I have come to believe that these types of uptight environments produce the most interesting individuals, yes, and as you mention- the most highly eccentric. They bring the World some of the best people who do some of the best and most interesting things for society. It is an ideal formula for the birth of inspiration and invention, in many areas I believe.
I noticed how gently your readers corrected your mix-ups with the names. DA viewers are in a special class.
Ebert: I do not have a copy editor. I could obviously use one. My editor at Universal Press Syndicate also caught my mixup. The plain fact is that I have always had trouble with names, all of my life. It's a quirk. I tried to fact-check the names on Wikipedia but was unsuccessful. One of the very few benefits of not being able to speak is that it isn't obvious when I forget people's names.
I find it impressive how most of the blogs I follow are free of errors.
Hello Roger,
If you are poor and stupid, you stay poor.
If you are poor and smart you can become rich.
If you are rich and smart, you stay rich.
If you are stupid and rich, you stay rich, because your family loves you.
That is the basic recipe for class division.
Socialism, liberalism, communism, capitalism, universal education, obligatory civil service, the church and the army have all failed to change this basic fact:
Parents love their kids.
Over generations, this leads to inequality.
Revolutions mix things up enough that parents lose the ability to favor their kids. Then things stabilize and the cycle starts up again.
Does anyone have a solution? Or have I misstated the problem?
Best regards,
Michel Lamontagne
Otterburn Park, Qc
Roger, this has nothing to do with your current post (Downton Abbey is great, by the way), but I simply couldn't contain myself and I have to tell you about this, "this" being a short film by Yuri Norstein called Hedgehog in the Fog. Have you ever heard of this man or this movie? If you haven't, it's 11 minutes on youtube, and one of the best animations I've ever seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW0jvJC2rvM
I know it's not really kosher to slide in movie recommendations on your blog, but like I said, I couldn't contain myself!
Ebert: That is lovely.
Roger, the current Earl gives up nothing w/r/t Downton so long as he's alive so while his reaction may be admirable or at least sanguine, it won't affect him or his privilege. Matthew became his successor, not his replacement.
That is what made Cora's miscarriage so tragic for the Earl as the child would have been a boy and therefore the heir making Matthew the spare.
To be unnecessarily pedantic, Downton Abbey is produced and shown on ITV, not the BBC.
Ebert: For Americans, the distinction is often lost.
Wow. You write one little column about a posh British soap (that's what people are calling it - and it really is, especially in the 2nd season) and suddenly you're being called racist, elitist, and a homophobe. People are sensitive.
Ebert: Heh. Yeah, I wanted to back off a little from controversy.
Roger wrote:
"If you stop to consider, the world of cruel and unfair and those facts undermine all fiction. I think I said in the blog itself, or upthread, that I was fully aware my Anglophilia is based on fantasy. "
I reply:
Yes, and since someone else brought it up, I'm a huge fan of 'Gone With The Wind' and its film adaptation while - in the critical equivalent of walking & chewing gum at the same time - being perfectly well aware that Mitchell's version of the Civil War, Reconstruction and the nature of plantation life were, to put it politely, highly partial. (To double down on the irony points, Mitchell cast a rosy tint over a society where she would have been considered beyond the pale - twice married, and one scandalous divorce, under her belt by the age of 25. And just to add insult to injury she went to work - like po' white trash - for a newspaper, no less. )
And, once more, I'd recommend anyone who thinks Fellows is a gaga aristocrat fetishist should track down 'Gosford Park'. NOW.
I'm an anglophile too, for me Merchant Ivory is just as riveting as Scorsese or Hitchcock
Since there aren't too many episodes of DA, how about the new
"Sherlock"
with of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman?
Benedict was just hired for a villain's role in "Star Trek 2" and I haven't read that he's a Vulcan, or a Romulan...
I don't think there's ANY controversy about enjoying an ITC, or BBC production.
American television has been destroyed by commercials, and the need to amp up the story before each commercial.
Any Brit production sans commercial would be a relief and a pleasure.
It's all too easy to hurl the word "racism" when you're trying to teach history. Just ignore them. In a farming economy, you need to bring in the crops, and you need to plant, and you don't need many workers at other times. Seeing it from the viewpoint of the plantation owner or English country manor helps get rid of the racism label. It's economics, not racism.
To be unnecessarily pedantic, Downton Abbey is produced and shown on ITV, not the BBC.
Ebert: For Americans, the distinction is often lost.
Yes, but that's because PBS Masterpiece Theater now amounts to 3 genres:
Classic = period dramas
Mystery = Inspector Lewis, Sherlock, etc
Contemporary = Page Eight: Bill Nighy
And most of the content originates from across the pond.
We all know who the BBC is.
As for ITV...
It's a Media Network of past mergers, franchises and acquisitions which includes Granada Television; they made Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett, Coronation Street, and the now famous documentaries: "Seven Up!" which followed the lives of 14 British children aged seven and tracked their lives etc.
In 2002, it was re-branded as "ITV1 Granada". Then they shortened it to ITV1.
Downtown Abbey is produced for ITV1 by Carnival Film & Television (a division of NBC Universal), with PBS Masterpiece as co-producer.
Note: Carnival Films is a British television production company. They produced "Jeeves and Wooster" and "Poirot" (for example.) Then in 2008, NBC Universal bought Carnival Films, along with their back catalog.
Whereas BBC Sherlock is made by Hartswood Films (BBS Whales) for the BBC as a co-produced with WGBH Boston aka PBS.
No single company produces anything anymore; too costly. They spread it out. And because it's too complicated keeping track of everyone, why most in N. America prefer to use a catch-all:
BBC
"It's from across the pond." :-)
At least there were seven. They're doling out "Sherlock" three at a time.
fear not: the episodes are 90 minutes (i don't recall which one's) - you will see the whole season. I read that somewhere even though i was lucky enough to have read a great review of downtown and had the dvr ready last year. Alas, I hated the wait until January of 2012 to see season two ! And Rog, yep - as an anglophile myself (and fan of Carson !!) - the richness of the story, the estate, the characters, the sociological and cultural pictorials it's all so delicious....i felt wealthy (in my own liberal manner !) ..susan sitting in that hotel with a blanket and fire :)
At least there were seven. They're doling out "Sherlock" three at a time.
You're right, Stewart and there's a bit of back story to that. I believe the US DVD of series one includes the unaired 60 minute pilot version of 'A Study in Pink'. It's OK, but the storytelling and characterization felt rushed and under-developed. Frankly, I think the BBC was right to suggest co-creators Steven Moffat and MArk Gattiss re-think the format. It was a risk, and the tabloids certainly had a field day with a rumoured £800,000 being "wasted": and yes, the order was 'reduced' from (I think) eight one hour episodes to effectively three 90 minute telefilms. But I think the BBC would say it's a risk that paid off - in the UK series two consistently held a 30 share in an extremely competitive timeslot.
I know my Anglophilia is tied up in my love of English Literature, but that alone can't explain why I am transfixed by images of windblown Yorkshire moors and the sunny rocky coasts of Cornwall, or why I am so familiar with the Plantagenet family tree...or why I also agree that English country life before the wars would be the life I'd choose if I could (upstairs, naturally, but after all, I am the one choosing)! Every culture/society has injustice inherently programmed in...I don't love English history less for certain brutal truths, and I am married to someone from India who reminds me of them when I wax romantic...that being said, I continue to argue with him that British culture has much to admire -- their courage, sense of tradition, their idealism, their sense of decency, even when that spirit of decency is not upheld by action. And, of course, their literature. I think an argument can be made that all along, even when polital or economic realities resulted in great evils, in their literature, the true British spirit rallied against those injustices -- Dickens, Orwell, Mill...just to name a few.
Some 'essential reading' for Anglophiles: Machester's The Last Lion (volume 1 -- I have reread just the prologue dozens of times. His portrayal of Churchill sums up for me what it is I love about British culture).
Downton Abbey is a wonderful show, and I was enthralled by every minute and didn't want it to end. I'm waiting for Season 2 to come out on DVD so I can watch it all at once. I think Elizabeth McGovern is just wonderful in it -- her body language and facial expressions are just perfect. I love the restrained romance between Bates and the head housemaid!
"Someone wrote that country house life in peacetime was the apogee of human civilization."
I think Bertrand Russell said that.
"After 44 years and 10,000 reviews are you really prepared to pull the plug on me? Please take a look at my new reviews of "Red Tails" and "The Flowers of War.""
If white men had an identity based consciousness, they might be a bit miffed at the idea you write your reviews to appease black women, and you might be a bit afraid of offending Them. Fortunately, they haven't spent the last 44 years being discriminated against by the very ones you seem intent on appealing to. Oh wait, they have.
I must have seen the Wages of Fear movie on TV but thought it starred Humphy Bogart or something.
I watched the first episode of Downton Abbey but have not gotten around to watching any more. While I really enjoyed it, I was struck by how very similar it is to Gosford Park. Sure there are definite difference; the Earl and his wife are happy together, it takes place before and during WWI amongst many other small differences, but there are so many similarities....the opportunistic and amoral footman reminded me of a mix of Richard Grant and Ryan Philippe characters from Gosford Park, Dame Maggie Smith is a wonderfully catty old snob, the series (at least the premiere) revolved around issues of money and inheritance and of course all the upstairs downstairs dynamics going on and the vast vast of characters....and on.
Still a great show :)
Bastet469,
I object somewhat to your characterization of Mad Men. While I am sure there are white men who do fantasize about that life, the show is about how hard it was to be who you were expected to be in the 60's. A major component of the show is the limited roles for women and how this changed over the course of the 60s.
In many ways, it is a feminist work.
Joe
Speaking of "rob or steal to gain...possessions," that great illustration at the bottom of the article is by the great cartoonist Colleen Coover. Maybe you could at least credit her? Here's her website:
rob or steal to gain your possessions
Ebert: I have credited her and linked to her site. I feel bad about this. I do the site myself. It was late at night and I didn't see a credit line. If you look over my blog entries I think you will find I take care to give credit.
There should be credit for the artwork used in this article. And a link to the source.
You would do it if it was a photo, or a still from a movie.
Ebert: I have credited Coleen Coover and linked to her site. I regret this, and do not approve of the practice.
So, will you be crediting/linking to the artist of the Blandings Castle illustration? It's bad form (and a violation of copyright) to use images without attribution, and without paying.
Ebert: I have now credited and linked to her site. I regret this. I don't make a practice of it.
Mr. Ebert, are you aware that you are using at least one image in this column without permission? The color "Blandings Castle" illustration is by an artist named Colleen Coover, and your use of it here is unpaid and doesn't even credit the original source. Is the Chicago Sun-Times in the habit of taking material from other people without compensation? Just because something pops up in a Google image search doesn't make it automatically okay to use, just as if I found your column via Google, I couldn't cut and paste the text to my blog. This needs to be fixed. Ms Coover is easy to find, there was likely a link to her site at the same place you yanked this image from.
Ebert: No, the Sun-Times did not approve this. I edit my own site. Having been informed of my error, I have credited her and linked to her on my entry. I feel bad about this.
The first few episodes of season 2 are available through Amazon, right up through the most currently aired episodes currently running on PBS. I shelled out to buy them in order to get caught up and it was totally worth it. :-)
A small nit; the credit misspells the correct "Colleen" as "Coleen".
Now that you're handing out the apologies, how 'bout one to the old Earl for all those red eyed bar drinks you spilt back in the day.
To Ben, Brian, Shaun, Jamie, et al.
What a bunch of anal retentive dorks.
Hello Roger,
Sometimes I wonder what happened to the tattle-tales and finger-waggers from grade school. Thanks to these recent entries, I believe I have my answer.
An hour documentary Secrets of the Manor House was on PBS last night. The whole program (bless 'em) is available here:
http://www.pbs.org/programs/secrets-manor-house/
Excellent overview of the social and cultural factors that led to the rise and eventual decline of the manor system. I haven't been keeping up with Downton Abbey, but it reminded me of movies I haven't seen in a while, such as Angels and Insects and The Remains of the Day.
It's funny, but 10-15 years after seeing Angels and Insects and all its "scandalous" content, it's a subplot that I most remember -- the story of Amy and how the social system of the time enabled her to be exploited and violated. Similar to the way the system enabled the exploitation of African American women during slavery times, now that I think about it.
I certainly hope all those who have commented here about the depiction of the class system in Downton Abbey did watch the entire second season, since the second season focuses exactly on the fact that World War I changes everything. The barriers between the classes are falling fast in a way that wasn't possible before the great war and the world of Downton Abbey changes - forever. There was a point for depicting the harsher class devision prior to the war in season one...
Dear Roger, I am so happy to read that you are watching this wonderful series. I think the production values are superb and it is the best series out of Britain since "Pride and Prejudice".
I don't believe that endorsing a show that depicts the class system of Britain in that era
means that you endorse the system itself as some of your readers mistakenly think.
I expect as long as there is Royalty in Britain some of the old class system will remain but the land lords have dwindled due to high taxes and overheads and most of the great houses have been put to other use or opened to tourism.
Off Topic, with apologies.
Today's Oscar nominees include ten nominations for “The Artist,” a silent and colorless return from the past. This is not a black and white film like George Clooney's “Good Night and Good Luck” that attempted to evoke a time and place. The Artist has no reason for being silent and colorless. It just is.
Now, I feel somewhat like a Red Guard youth in 1966 China under instructions from Mao to destroy the culture. But it is true that I am here to tear into what seems to have become an American icon, “The Artist.” The uncritical devotion to this movie is mindless.
We idealize this type of early film making for its universal appeal, cultural and language barriers are supposedly voided. Oh, the captions didn't have to be rewritten from country to country? And was the culture displayed in D.W. Griffith's racist piece of junk well received in India or Indonesia?
“The Artist” does not represent an era in film making such as the impressionist or cubist periods in paintings. Rather, it displays and reminds us of an early era in the cinema during which there was a lack of knowledge and technology. Our real world was never silent and colorless.
Any film that was at one time silent and in black and white can be accomplished today with much more vigor and import using modern tools. We can admire and appreciate art that was created in a limited world, but let's not out pretend that the old was always the best. Many times, it was just plain old.
P. G. Wodehouse Meets Tolstoy:
"Freddie experienced the sort of abysmal soul-sadness which afflicts one of Tolstoy's Russian peasants when, after putting in a heavy day's work strangling his father, beating his wife, and dropping the baby into the city's reservoir, he turns to the cupboards, only to find the vodka bottle empty."
Yes, I also love the ebb and flow of a well-ordered literary country manor as a backdrop to the inevitable chaos of life whether lived well or ne'er-do-well. One can always rely on a strong, cup of tea and biscuits served on polished silver to sort things out, say what? It is not at all like the brutish ravings of American authors such as John Kennedy Toole in A Confederacy of Dunces whose character Ignatius Reilly found solace from the slings and arrows of outrageous Fortuna in cheese dip and order in his mind:
"Then there were the noises that he [Ignatius] had grown accustomed to over the years whenever his mother was preparing to leave the house: the plop of a hairbrush falling into the toilet bowl, the sound of a box of powder hitting the floor, the sudden exclamations of confusion and chaos."
PS: Roger, perhaps you might one day consider hosting a book club—strictly country manor fare of the anglo-persuasion prior to 1914 or between 1917 and 1939—as I am beginning to suspect that you are no mere mortal subject to the laws of time and space.
Hello Roger,
Just to say my little drawing is free of rights, free to be copied, published, traded, posted or changed forever and for all times. Just in case
you feel you need a release for a little addition to the page.....
Regards,
Michel Lamontagne
Otterburn Park, Qc
Ebert: I've had a most kind email exchange with Colleen Coover, and now we're friends.
Hey, monsieur, you seem like a good guy. Are you related to Gilles Lamontagne, the old Lieutenant Governor of Quebec? He had been an RAF pilot, shot down and imprisoned by the Hun in WW2.
Just watched a neat old Michel Powell war movie set in your neighborhood, "49th Parallel"(1941).* Check it out sometime. Cheers.
*The only movie the great Canadian actor, Raymond Massey, ever played a Canadian.
Hello Roger,
I think my first message was eaten by the spam filter. I see no traffic from Illinois... So, clicking on my name should link to an illustration of Roger the butler!
Best Regards,
Michel Lamontagne
Mr. Ebert
I am a huge DA fan, and that led to my reading of your column.
Funny to me for some to make this a political issue. DA is a story, well told, and that is why I think people watch it. You simply care about the characters. Or I do.
Though as an American woman living in a modern world I can inherit, drive, work, and make my own life choices I am aware that even now that is not true across the world for many women. It makes me grateful for my own circumstances. I know that my rights were hard-earned. Read about Susan B. Anthony and women's suffrage, and you see how hard-earned and with what resistance. But to idealize America as the good guys, the way some way people talk about the 'one true church' ignores that fact that there is no ideally humane country.
I think DA is beautifully written. I also enjoyed your column, Mr. Ebert.
@Alasdair
Your last comment was a good point, but North & South is still one of the highest rated TV shows in North America. And it, too, portrayed one of the gentler patriarchs.
I love Downton Abbey, though I do feel conflicted about British period pieces. They often gloss over the uglier side of British history. Downton Abbey provides an interesting perspective on the British class system, but it doesn't cover everything. How can it? How could any one show or book? I felt similarly conflicted about Mad Men, which is a great show that really glosses over the injustices of the time.
I'm going to add to the chorus suggesting you to take a look at the BBC's modern Sherlock adaptation. Each season (there are two so far, and one on Netflix) consists of three 90-minute episodes, so in essence little mini-movies, most based on one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories. All of them are at least good and some are great, and it's made it difficult for me to go back to the Guy Ritchie movies.
Hist, John in Denver, hist! There's nothing "anal retentive" about insisting on credit where credit is due.
I take it you've never had any of your artwork stolen and used uncredited. Anybody who'd call me "anal retentive" for having my work stolen... well, here's where I may make an exception about opposing the death penalty, particularly a slow, loud violent one.
You work your damn butt off in obscurity on a labor of love all your life, you never make a goddam cent, some asshole who fancies it steals it from you, and people are "anal retentive" for trying to help right it for you?
I've met destitute people who wouldn't be had their work not been stolen. Real common in rock'n'roll business. God forbid anybody speak up for 'em, lest they be considered "anal retentive"?
Ebert: "... in my mind I have lived in Middle Earth."
I'm teaching some excerpts from the Tao, and there's a passage (verse/chapter 80) that's particularly appropriate to your comment:
If a country is governed wisely,
its inhabitants will be content.
They enjoy the labor of their hands
and don't waste time inventing
labor-saving machines.
Since they dearly love their homes,
they aren't interested in travel.
There may be a few wagons and boats,
but these don't go anywhere.
There may be an arsenal of weapons,
but nobody ever uses them.
People enjoy their food,
take pleasure in being with their families,
spend weekends working in their gardens,
delight in the doings of the neighborhood.
And even though the next country is so close
that people can hear its roosters crowing and its dogs barking,
they are content to die of old age
without ever having gone to see it.
I always ask my students if this reminds them of any people they've read about; fortunately, out of every 20 students there is sometimes one blessed nerd who offers the correct answer: "Hobbits." Roger, we should all be so lucky to live in Middle-Earth--or at least the Shire.
"Innate in nearly every artistic nature is a wanton, treacherous penchant for accepting injustice when it creates beauty and showing sympathy for and paying homage to aristocratic privilege." --Thomas Mann, DEATH IN VENICE
Mike wrote: "The more I learn about the English the less I like them. The bigotry, the bullying, the racism, the anti-semitism, the anti-islamism, the anti-European attitudes, the incessant warmongering and violence are all rather vile."
Aren't these groups also guilty of the same things you object to in the British? Doesn't that make you the hypocrite?
Also, the phrasing in your comment reads like that of an American trying to sound British.
I’m another Anglophile who has been taking comfort in the fantasy world of Downton Abbey. It also made me long to see Upstairs Downstairs again, which is so much better in every way (in my opinion). I've been able to rent it from Netflix. I’m also loving the new Sherlock Holmes series where the villain is always found out by the end of the show.
kshukla - I am in total agreement with you and with Roger. I love Downton Abbey and I love Manchester's 2 "Last Lion" volumes.
I think I want to be the Dowager Countess of Grantham, if only to make those snarky, sarcastic asides...
And yes, I love entering that world for a while each week. Thanks, Roger for this really enjoyable posting for the rest of us Anglophiles, especially - like you - the devotees of the English Country House before and between the Wars.
I find myself growing more and more an anglophile as the years pass along. Something about English culture is just so appealing, comfortable and familiar. During my first visit I often said to myself 'I could live here' and that was no lie. Foreign cultures are intriguing but not easily accessible when there is a language barrier. This isn't a problem in merry ol' England (ok ok, I stretch the truth - having come across my share of cockneys and scousers).
To be sure I'm not much interested in the upper crust of society, it's history or depiction in art and literature. I loved Remains of the Day because it told the story of the butler and not the lord. I enjoyed Gosford Park most when the camera was in the servants quarters. When I visit and am drawn to things historical I venture out to shipyards and smithies and not the gilded halls of royalty or the now lonely country houses in all their faded glory.
"Tom Dark, Champion of the Artistic Downtrodden and Death Penalty Advocate for Wayward Bloggers"
Gotta admit old T.D. ain't anal retentive; the bullshit veritably streams from that asshole.
Hi Roger:
I am an anglophile, like yourself, because I used to live in England when I was little and I much prefered it to America. I found the Edwardian era Manor House particularly romantic . . . UNTIL . . . I watched Manor House. This is one of those shows from around 2001, where they'd plunk a bunch of 21st century people into an old house and have them live like people of the time. There was Frontier House, 1940's House, 1910 House, etc. etc.
Manor House took a family and made them lords of the manor in 1906, and a bunch of strangers and made them the butler and servants. Only the Lord himself, who was at the top of the food chain really enjoyed it. His wife and sister-in-law and kids found the whole thing to be a guilded cage, and very frustrating. The servants also felt very constrained and put upon. It gave me a whole new appreciation for how wrong the whole thing was. And it also showed me why we'll never see houses like this again.
The British empire was so large it is not surprising that so many conflicts are in former colonies. One could also say that many of the most successful and peaceful democracies were once part of that empire, yes? The USA is a child of Britain, and Europe, don't be so harsh. Will history judge the American empire more kindly?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5dMlXentLw
Did you see this parody the cast made on set for "Comic Relief"? Hilarious!
Ebert: Hilarious plus! I made a web page and am tweeting it:
http://bit.ly/wXfJti
Hi Roger
I just sent you the cast-made parody of Downton Abbey. See both parts!
I am a fellow Illini (class of 1987). Those J-school types intimidated me, so I stuck with English. I remember seeing your "Perfect London Walk" collaboration with Professor Curley in the Illini Union Bookstore. I was too poor to buy it but I flipped through it. Thought you might like this and related videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YKWINi2fys&feature=related
I wrote you a note when I was a junior in college--you wrote back! That was awesome.
Ebert: I'm so there!
Old T.D. often whines when his bloviations are bumped. Personally I commend Mr. Ebert's faithful cybernate companion, SpamBlocker, for filtering as much of Dark Tom's drivel as is electronically possible.
M'Lord Ebert,
'Ave a butcher's at this Downton BBC charity spoof! Made me larf.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5dMlXentLw
Faithfully downstairs,
S
Congrats yet again Roger, this is the best thing I've read about Downton Abbey. A comparison with the super-snob account in the New Yorker is all one needs to see the advantage of admitting that there is something deeply personal about getting addicted to any series (or, of course, to fall in love with any film). Your ability to hone in on that so quickly is what makes you a unique critic.
But, of course, I have two questions:
I'm deeply interested in the difference-- which you mention, but don't spend too much time on-- between the experience of viewing an excellent television show and that of a great film. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, but haven't been able to fully parse the two. I find that with television series, I will often plow through several episodes at once, obsessed with finding out "what happens"-- there is a kind of hunger to know. And there is also a sort of joy in duration that it is impossible, technically, for a film to duplicate (without the aid of sequels, etc.). An apt comparison here would be with Gosford Park, for which I believe the mastermind behind DA was also responsible. I wouldn't mind hearing more from you about the pros and cons of film v. TV (is it even right to call it that, now that we watch so many of these shows on the Internet?).
And second, I'm wondering what you thought of the subtle incorporation of technological change-- harbinger of the war, in the form of appalling "conveniences" that frighten people who have never seen or used them before-- into the traditional fabric of life at Downton. This for me is the key shift from the 19th-century novel-- a sign that this world, ordered and glorious, is about to end.
"Comic Relief is a major charity based in the UK which strives to create a just world free from poverty – and we work 365 days a year to help that vision become a reality."
Hi Roger
Quick correction.Comic Relief targets poverty and social injustice, not breast cancer.
(I am not associated with Comic Relief.) I do have metastatic breast cancer (I volunteer with MBCN.org. Metastatic breast cancer is the bad kind that kills you. Tho I can't believe there is any good cancer whatsoever.)
From www.comicrelief.org:
Our mission is to drive positive change through the power of entertainment.
Since we first set up shop 25 years ago, we’ve been doing three main things…
We raise millions of pounds through two big fundraising campaigns – Red Nose Day and Sport Relief.
We spend that money in the best possible way to tackle the root causes of poverty and social injustice.
We use the power of our brand to raise awareness of the issues that we care most about.
Over the years we’ve inspired a lot of people who don’t normally ‘do’ charity to, well, do charity. The support we’ve had from so many friends has always blown us away – and still does today"
"But if you really look at it closely and strip away all the beauty and wonderful acting, the story is no more than a simple soap opera. I would wager that if you saw the same story and heard the same dialogue in a modern day television show set in America, you would write it off as on the nose and cliched."
I disagree. After all, even Tolstoy is soap opera, as our fellow commentator, Linda, pointed out. That is because human beings can't grasp the great issues unless they're portrayed on a human scale. And I think DA does that brilliantly.
Looks to me like John in Denver's afraid to reply as himself. Is that the case? Is that you, John?
You want to stay a hostile straggle-chinned old hippie who doesn't mind people getting robbed so long as they don't find your stash, then make sure you never have an original thought, even when stoned. Clearly, you haven't. So you felch heartily what I wrote you. Got it, "Beans o' Malice"?
Or who all's full of anonymous venom here? Speaking of puerile drivel.
Wasn't there a popular article recently about pathological "internet bullies" who'll pop in under different names to gratuitiously smear somebody in anonymity whom they're afraid of?
Yes there was. Looks like we've got a smelly little infestation of that here. It keeps women away. Muslims too.
Ebert: Tom, I'm serving notice that this will be your last comment hat tI post until you lay off personal insults in particular and specific religions. Against Sun-Times policy.
Roger, noticed today's Royko Facebook piece. Found this awhile back. Has a lot of neat stuff. Started out as Miss Helpall, an Advice to the Lovelorn columnist for the old O'Hare News(1955).
Here is a personal favorite --
Dear Miss Helpall: I am 100 years old and am in love with a man of seventeen. We do love each other, and though I am confined to an iron lung, we want to get married. Yet he is a Republican and I am a Democrat. Do you think we can be happy despite our political differences? Sincerely, Disturbed
Dear Disturbed: Elope immediately. Love conquers all.
Royko in Love Plus 4 - The Earliest Mike Royko - David Royko, Psy.D
davidroyko.com/roykoinloveplus4earliestmikeroyko.htm
Roger, I am saddened by any unease caused you from the unpleasant exchange with Dark.
Ebert: I'm gonna try to tone down some of the snark.
Say Roger, remember this brilliant little British TV drama?
Day don't make em' like day uzed too....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FrkHK0QMew
the second series is quite good, but the christmas special, wow.
For my money, the definitive Lord Emsworth was played by Ralph Richardson in the 1967 BBC production. I rember watching this as a young boy with my late father. And Ian Carmichael and Dennis Price made a wonderful Wooster and Jeeves in the same era, even if it was all in black and white with cardboard sets (Much as I love Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry's versions)
But Downton Abbey sticks in my throat, I'm afraid
After much dithering and delay, I finally got around to watching this show. I'm only two episodes in and already I'm hooked. There is much to admire about the world presented in Downton Abbey. That I'm a socialist at heart lends something of a bit irony to that view, true, but it's there nevertheless. I look forward to the rest of series 1 and seeing series 2 once I'm done.
Roger,
I saw you mention Upstairs, Downstairs, Wodehouse, Eliot, Dickens, Trollope and James above.
Do you have any other recommendations a budding Anglophile like myself might enjoy that you relish as much as you do Downton?
Thanks.
Ebert: How about a great novel?
http://bit.ly/AAjxRm
Mr. Ebert,
If you are an Anglophile, I certainly hope you've discovered the Flashman series by George Macdonald Fraser. If not, you are truly missing out.
Maeby a little late but with downton abbey being a hit this somehow feels like a follow up to that.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/comedy/2012/02/blandings-is-coming.shtml
Roger, your link 'http://bit.ly/AAjxRm' isn't working for me. What novel are you referring to?
Ebert: "A Dance to the Music of Time," by Anthony Powell. This works for me:
http://bit.ly/y2pVsp
Thank you Roger, and now the link magically works too. I love those books and have in fact read them all. It was something of a 'thing' amount the well read of my generation to have read Powell with the result that the first book could be found as a much dog-eared used copy near the University, but not the other three.
This is a pathetic article. I'll admit that "DOWNTON ABBEY" is entertaining. But it's not the best thing to come from British television. And it does have an undercurrent of conservative values that I find rather disturbing. I'm surprised that you haven't noticed, Mr. Ebert. Or have you become one of those who prefer to view the past as something wonderful . . . and solid, because we live in difficult times?
Take note, Mr. Ebert. Life is always difficult. Period.
Roger, have you read any of the novels of Angela Thirkell? If you like Trollope I think you would like her books, which take place in her version of Barsetshire between the wars in Britian. Most entertaining.
Ebert: No, but apparently I should.