Posted on 02/15/2013 1:33:55 AM PST by malkee
So Downton Abbey‘s message is an anti-class warfare one. The fact is that the spirit of the critics is hard left, and maybe that’s why Downton Abbey makes them so angry, because the success of the series shows that this group does not speak for America.
It also shows something equally important to the future of our culture: that there is no inherent need for good TV to be left of center. Stories sympathetic to virtue, preservation of property and admiration of nobility and of wealth can be told beautifully and to wide audiences, and I suspect they will be more and more in the future.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
And I wondered my liberal friend didn't watch Downton Abbey, even though it's available on basic cable.
Downton Abbey is a PBS period drama currently in its third season. It takes place WWI/20s era.
It’s one the few TV programs I watch. I never thought of the conservative/liberal divide in regard to this show, but Jerry Bowyer does a good job of describing it.
It takes place in Britain. It’s on Sunday nights at 9pm if you wish to view it, but this Sunday is the last episode of the season, and it’s a continuing story, so you might be lost if you watch it. Kind of a modern day Upstairs/Downstairs, if you remember that program from the 70s.
Downton has had huge ratings here, and especially for PBS. It’s also wildly popular in the U.K.
I never heard of it until I started seeing numerous comments about it.
So, I found it on Netflix. Halfway through Episode 1 of Season 1, I was hooked. I caught most of Season 2 on PBS and am glued to PBS each Sunday night for the current season.
B-side of a Petula Clark 45?
I know I have that 45. Now I’m going to have to look.
And I wondered my liberal friend didn’t watch Downton Abbey”
...and I don’t understand how a conservative can have a “liberal friend”. I had a few and I no longer associate with them. I have liberal in laws coming to town this weekend and I’ll avoid them like the plague.
When I found out my daughters piano teacher of 5 years was a lib, I fired him and told him I won’t knowingly give money to someone who supports the destruction of my country, family and income.
My parents’ assisted-living building had an “Upstairs Downstairs” viewing group a couple of years ago. They would meet every week and watch an episode or two on video. Eventually they got through the whole series and went back to doing puzzles.
It’s a joke, son. Glad you caught it.
There’s a difference in libs. Some are merely uneducated, and sponges for whatever they see on TV. Others, the ones you want to avoid, are active and pushy.
I used to be a lib until I educated myself. My wife was. Many of us were. But if one grows up and is still a lib, and refused to rationalize their liberalism, that’s when they are no longer innocent, and worthy of back-turning.
Back on topic, I’ve been thinking about getting involved with this show, but I haven’t convinced my wife yet. We don’t have any network or cable TV, so it’s all Netflix for us, and it’s right there.
I have a liberal friend, whom I used to work with. He retired in 2004. He is actually a very nice guy, and smart. He’s of German descent and from Chicago, sort of “bad” influences. The German part makes him something of a statist, he is more inclined to favor government intervention than I would ever be. (I grew up in New York City, btw, and by age 15 it was clear to me that most government interventions in the economy are counterproductive, wasteful and unfair. My life experiences have only manifestly confirmed that view.)
Still and all, he is a good enough engineer to recognize things like solar power and electric cars are pipe dreams.
Not with everyone.
You can also watch Full episodes on PBS.COM look for the Masterpiece tab.
And nothing makes me change the channel quicker than seeing two homosexuals kiss, which is what happened in the one and ONLY episode of Downton Abbey I tried to watch. And have never watched again.
A hard liberal that I know (o-bot, overpaid state employee, etc) from my former line of work that I am still facebook “freinds” with her apparently loves it from what little that person puts up.
If you want to start enjoying the Abbey journey, you should do it in order. Netflix streaming is a good way as is buying/borrowing the discs.
We find it to be a very addictive show.
:]
Hi, Downton Abbey in my opinion is a beautifully written, very well acted drama series on PBS. It centers around an aristocratic lord and his family along with the staff, many who love and respect them. The characters are so well done that I even like the Marxist son in law (wink, wink).
How can you convince anyone of the error of their ways if you avoid them? I have a very liberal step-daughter who constantly mouths the usual liberal idiocies. I listen quietly and occasionally make a thoroughly un p.c. rejoinder. She doesn’t agree, but it does make her think. I’m quite content with that for the time being. Just messing with her mind.
Are there any zany, whacky, wise-crackin’ homo characters in DTA who just want to raise a child? Cuz, if a show ain’t got them, then there’s a problem.
Jumping in, It is the first TV my wife has actually watched in years. Mostly, she listens with an occasional nod of the head to glimpse something, then back to the computer monitor. For Downton Abbey, she actually comes to the couch and really watches. We had a marathon and watched all the first two years in about two weeks. We were up to speed by the time the third season began.
Taken in a broad sense, Downton Abby is about change. It concerns individuals and how they are personally affected by the broad sweep of transition from what was to what is and to the unknown what will be.
The twentieth century is about the death of kings and political change resulting from dead monarchies. Downton Abby is about the death of nobility and loosening of the ties on society. Lord Grantham is the tragic figure that must live through the relatively short period where the turmoil and literal war are accelerated. He is fortunate to have a family and loyal staff that helps him weather the transition.
It’s just “Dynasty” with a funny accent.
DA ping list?
Taken in a broad sense, Downton Abby is about change. It concerns individuals and how they are personally affected by the broad sweep of transition from what was to what is and to the unknown what will be.
The twentieth century is about the death of kings and political change resulting from dead monarchies. Downton Abby is about the death of nobility and loosening of the ties on society. Lord Grantham is the tragic figure that must live through the relatively short period where the turmoil and literal war are accelerated. He is fortunate to have a family and loyal staff that helps him weather the transition.
You have written the most astute summary of the theme of Downton Abbey that I have read. Lord Grantham, a truly nice man, is a tragic figure. I hadn’t realized that was the definition of his character until I read your comment.
Taken in a broad sense, Downton Abby is about change. It concerns individuals and how they are personally affected by the broad sweep of transition from what was to what is and to the unknown what will be.
The twentieth century is about the death of kings and political change resulting from dead monarchies. Downton Abby is about the death of nobility and loosening of the ties on society. Lord Grantham is the tragic figure that must live through the relatively short period where the turmoil and literal war are accelerated. He is fortunate to have a family and loyal staff that helps him weather the transition.
You have written the most astute summary of the theme of Downton Abbey that I have read. Lord Grantham, a truly nice man, is a tragic figure. I hadn’t realized that was the definition of his character until I read your comment.
Uh-oh
I did not hit the post button twice.
Another thought about fading cultures. Is the “change” that we are experiencing during the Obama Regime as inevitable as what happened a century ago? Or is it just temporary?
Perhaps you need to re-think that. The kiss, as it were, was a homosexual assaulting a sleeping heterosexual.
There was no gay agenda at play.
It showed an evil, lying, scheming homosexual (ever see THOSE on TV?) imposing himself on an unsuspecting heterosexual male.
The story continued with how the situation was to be handled and how the House would deal with this evil, lying, scheming (ever see THAT on TV) homosexual, and how this assault ruined and destroyed the homosexual.
That scene was far, far from advancing a homosexual agenda. Quite the opposite.
Please watch the series from the start to get a true understanding of the characters involved.
Nicely stated.
Agree.
And the Marxist son-in-law is changing his ways as he begins to understand the positive role of the House in the community and his personal responsibility to the family.
But the real question is, who won the cricket match, the House team or the Village team?
In the UK at least, the B-side was “You’d Better Love Me”.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vinyl-45-record-label-Petula-Downtown/dp/B001UGOX8S
One hopes so.
DA Ping? Thinking the same thing :)
Go here and see for yourself: You tube link "Downton Abbey Gay Kiss"
That guy, on the left, is the one I was referring to. The show advances no homosexual agenda and the homosexual is ruined. . .and rightfully so. . .for his actions being a homosexual and for his scheming, lying and evil ways. . .something you will hardly ever, if ever, see in any other show.
Homosexuals are not a recent invention and this show describes quite well how shocked and repulsed people were when confronted with such activity. . .and does so without trying to say those that were shocked and repulsed were somehow intolerant bigots. Indeed, the show includes the police investigating for arrest on an allegation of someone being homosexual. . .and is done with quiet detachment and no moral posturing. The show is not sympathetic to homosexuals and makes no effort to indoctrinate (like most other shows do).
The show is not advancing a pro-homosexual agenda and cannot be lumped in with other shows that always have the gratuitous well-adjusted, witty and sane homosexual being mature and responsible.
I invite others that view the show to comment.
Also on @ 3 AM Monday on the left coast.
Can’t stay up as late as 9.
Got a remote control?
I watched a PBS special the other night on Highclere Castle which it turns out is used for scenes in Downtun Abbey (which I have never watched). Apparently the guy who does the show is a good friend of the current Earl. They did interviews with the Earl and his wife and it sounds like the show is actually based on their ancestors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highclere_Castle
Yes, and I used it when I saw this crap. Which is why I posted that nothing makes me change channels faster than seeing homosexuals.
It depends on the context for me. I hate the tripe that the networks promote about homosexuals. But the fact exists that throughout history homosexuals have been THERE. To avoid the subject entirely seems like historical revisionism. There is a difference between promoting homosexuality and portraying homosexuality. Plus I am pretty certain that DA is not must see TV for the young set.
A homosexual is portrayed in the Abbey family manor as well as an Irish marxist rebel. They are woven into the narrative in a way that you don't feel they are there for shock value.....nor leftist propaganda value. Indeed, it's just the opposite.
There are other slices of life.....a moneyed brash American relative, and a young family member involved with a married man and involved in the "shocking" new world of jazz and the beginning of the post-WW1 flapper era. Two murder mysteries are woven into the plot, and, horrors....the story line of a prostitute.
I suggest the critics of this show confine themself to Merry Melodies cartoons and Mother Goose stories if the ups and downs, good and bad of real life offend them so terribly.
Rush himself stated on the air that he's watched every episode without fail....that's good enough for me. If he was offended, he would have tuned out.
Leni
Leni/MinuteGal
It came early in the series; I thought "if they keep on with this gay story-line I'm outta here".
But the gay man was rebuffed shortly after when he tried an advance on one of the nobles. And then he turned out to be the most tawdry character in the series.
I'm with you...I can't stand how they try to sneak homosexuality into these TV shows. But at least with Downton they didn't continue with that story-line...at least up to the end of Season 2.
Aside from the homosexual tells
It’s a wonderful show
Setting and acting
Daughter recommended Downton Abbey. Picked first 2 seasons up on Amazon Prime for free. I’m hooked. Can’t wait for season three to hit Prime.
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