I happen to adore Period Dramas.
Before you get confused as did one of my coworkers (he thought it was in a reference to, well, a different kind of period), a period drama is a movie, commonly based on a work of fiction, where people wear old fashioned clothes and use words like 'thee' or 'upon my honor!' and the sight of a woman's ankle was the height of impropriety and the men wore breeches and adorable top hats. Politeness and etiquette were the ruling forces. Most people in the films do nothing but go from one friends house to the next, visiting, gossiping, having card parties, drinking tea, and playing the pianoforte. Sigh. That would be the life...
Anyways, the newest PD I've found is Downton Abbey.
A fascinating look at English life from the time of the Titanic sinking to the start of the first World War. Also a more modern PD then I usually enjoy. I usually like the ones of the powered wig era, when Napoleon was doing his very best to take control of all Europe.
There was another PD released around the same time as Downton, Upstairs Downstairs. Both have similar plots, families struggling to maintain a sense of station and the servants responding to the social changes of the time. Though I preferred Downton to Upstairs, they both made me think about why I prefer books and movies from such a long gone era.
Ultimatley I came up with several reasons.
1) Social standing was a harsh, yet not entirely unyielding force. While modern life likes to pride itself on its dissolving of the class hierarchy, a simple look at the news shows that the lower and upper classes are still at war just as much as they had been during the French Revolution. People are proud that though hard work and ingenuity, you can better your circumstances, a gift not allowed to our ancestors. But looking through a Jane Austen novel, you'd realize that people did cross class lines more then we realize. Rich men married penniless girls, rich women were ruined by cads, poor men were granted a rich benefactor or a job to secure a fortune. Class hierarchy helped to direct peoples lives, but it didn't necessarily rule every aspect of a life. And while there were, of course, young heirs or heiresses who couldn't marry who they chose due to a lack of fortune, there were others who were able to. And how often today do we see the pop princess going out with the honest, yet unemployed college grad? That would probably be never, yeah.
2) The clothes! Ohhhh my! They knew how to dress to entice, look feminine, and be modest! I truly believe womens fashion lost something when we began wearing pants all the time. Don't get me wrong, I love my super comfy jeans, but when I want to look pretty and feel like a lady, I put on a skirt or dress.
3) Manners and gentility weren't something whipped out when you had to impress someone, EVERYONE was that polite ALL THE TIME. It wasn't even that everyone was polite because, well, you were taught to treat others with dignity. No matter if it was a person in your own circle, or not, treating others well was a sign that you were acknowledging the other persons worth and personhood. It wasn't what you could get by being polite as much as it was to honor the other person by giving yourselves some kind of equal footing. But maybe I'm reading a bit too much into the manners, there were after all, impolite jerks in that time as well!
4) Men didn't spend every Sunday watching football, there were no endless COD matches, and they were raised to treat women with respect and tenderness. Women were taught to dress and act like ladies, they were expected to have high standards for the men to aspire to, and there was no stupid 'women liberation' movement to mess everything up for future generations.
Understand that, while I do wish I had been born in a different time, I do appreciate the comforts of modern life. I appreciate what college will do for me. I love my cell phone, car, and laptop. Indoor plumbing is the best thing ever. Electricity is pretty swell too. But sometimes I wish I could have a time machine and pop back and forth....
Ultimatley I came up with several reasons.
1) Social standing was a harsh, yet not entirely unyielding force. While modern life likes to pride itself on its dissolving of the class hierarchy, a simple look at the news shows that the lower and upper classes are still at war just as much as they had been during the French Revolution. People are proud that though hard work and ingenuity, you can better your circumstances, a gift not allowed to our ancestors. But looking through a Jane Austen novel, you'd realize that people did cross class lines more then we realize. Rich men married penniless girls, rich women were ruined by cads, poor men were granted a rich benefactor or a job to secure a fortune. Class hierarchy helped to direct peoples lives, but it didn't necessarily rule every aspect of a life. And while there were, of course, young heirs or heiresses who couldn't marry who they chose due to a lack of fortune, there were others who were able to. And how often today do we see the pop princess going out with the honest, yet unemployed college grad? That would probably be never, yeah.
2) The clothes! Ohhhh my! They knew how to dress to entice, look feminine, and be modest! I truly believe womens fashion lost something when we began wearing pants all the time. Don't get me wrong, I love my super comfy jeans, but when I want to look pretty and feel like a lady, I put on a skirt or dress.
3) Manners and gentility weren't something whipped out when you had to impress someone, EVERYONE was that polite ALL THE TIME. It wasn't even that everyone was polite because, well, you were taught to treat others with dignity. No matter if it was a person in your own circle, or not, treating others well was a sign that you were acknowledging the other persons worth and personhood. It wasn't what you could get by being polite as much as it was to honor the other person by giving yourselves some kind of equal footing. But maybe I'm reading a bit too much into the manners, there were after all, impolite jerks in that time as well!
4) Men didn't spend every Sunday watching football, there were no endless COD matches, and they were raised to treat women with respect and tenderness. Women were taught to dress and act like ladies, they were expected to have high standards for the men to aspire to, and there was no stupid 'women liberation' movement to mess everything up for future generations.
Understand that, while I do wish I had been born in a different time, I do appreciate the comforts of modern life. I appreciate what college will do for me. I love my cell phone, car, and laptop. Indoor plumbing is the best thing ever. Electricity is pretty swell too. But sometimes I wish I could have a time machine and pop back and forth....
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