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Martha Levinson may have been rich, but she was part of American "new money" society. She wouldn't be accepted much even by American "old money" society...even if she weren't somewhat eccentric and flamboyic. But she has a point about British titled society and their being averse to change back then. I've heard that many such families had to adjust to new realities of modern world. For instance, many of those families fell on hard times and had to become more self-supporting somehow or sell their homes or keep them by making them available for tourism and such. I don't blame Matthew for having scruples and not wanting to accept Lavinia's father's money...he's right, he shouldn't have been an heir! I admire his having a conscience about it. It would be interesting to see how the spoiled formerly very wealthy family would make the transition to a more frugal lifestyle.
I think the point above made by Coney about Matthew's inheritance being silly soap opera plot line goes to your point about some wealthy Brits losing their homes or finding other sources of income. I think Matthew's role is being used to that effect, to point out to its American audience that things were not always easy. And that sometimes adapting to the changing times is required.
There's bound to be a much broader world out there that we haven't seen yet, or only briefly. These people must have some societal function in London and elsewhere that is not yet in the plot line.
My dear darlings: (After watching 2 years and one episode I am starting to talk like them)
I adore the part where Maggy Smith says offhandedly:
" I think I need a drink" and then "Oh dear, I thought you were the butler" to Lord Grantham. Such wonderful humor !
Originally Posted by Lee W. Martha Levinson may have been rich, but she was part of American "new money" society. She wouldn't be accepted much even by American "old money" society...even if she weren't somewhat eccentric and flamboyic. But she has a point about British titled society and their being averse to change back then. I've heard that many such families had to adjust to new realities of modern world. For instance, many of those families fell on hard times and had to become more self-supporting somehow or sell their homes or keep them by making them available for tourism and such. I don't blame Matthew for having scruples and not wanting to accept Lavinia's father's money...he's right, he shouldn't have been an heir! I admire his having a conscience about it. It would be interesting to see how the spoiled formerly very wealthy family would make the transition to a more frugal lifestyle.
Even though she's supposed to be new money, I think the stereotype was overdone with Martha. If you've been to those Newport mansions, they are ostentatious, flashy, over the top, and most people would say, in poor taste, BUT the owners were trying to impress people and they wouldn't have bent their heads down and practically licked the plate like Martha did. Blabbing away with food coming out of her mouth...........even new money would know better than that. It's more like hillbilly behavior.
And Matthew, I could understand for a while his sticking to his principles but is he just so "good" and perfect that he will sit by and allow this to happen to his family? It's sounding like he's not going to change so maybe they'll lose everything.
But Mr Bates............you loveable man, please let something good happen to you.
Phx, that was my favorite part in the whole episode as well. I laughed so hard I had tears. She is a gem. Much better than Shirley MacLaine, who received so much hype I knew there was no way her performance could live up to it.
My dear darlings: (After watching 2 years and one episode I am starting to talk like them)
I adore the part where Maggy Smith says offhandedly:
" I think I need a drink" and then "Oh dear, I thought you were the butler" to Lord Grantham. Such wonderful humor !
I loved the "I say, have you done something jolly with your hair?" from Sir Anthony to Edith. I'm going to start using that in daily life.
I wish PBS would stop showing this vomit
and return to some decent Masterpiece Theatre !
gimme a break !
enough !!!
Haters gonna hate.
Ain't nobody hogtying you and making you watch Downton Abbey. If you don't like it, don't watch it.
Personally I love it!
Now - I hate Honey BooBoo and anything Kardashian but so what - I reckon that the people in those shows (as well as the producers) are crying all the way to the bank. Just like the Downton Abbey cast, crew, and producers are when you say you hate the show! Downton Abbey is the highest selling boxed set (for TV) ever. Hate all you like - there's more of us than there are of you!
I, too, am getting fed up with Matthew not helping the family. To me, he just seems to be interested in himself, how he feels, his honor. It's all about HIM, not about his own family whom he could save from destruction. So he would rather see his wife's grandmother and her father lose their home, at their age, which will be a million times worse with their hidebound respect for tradition and respect. He needs to grow up and realize that we can't always be perfect, that sometimes we have to sacrifice our own perfection and think of the greater good.
I also don't understand how the American grandmother (Shirley Maclaine) is allowed to be portrayed as such a low class slob. I know they're trying to show the difference between the aristocratic British and the pull yourself up by your bootstraps Americans but I just can't believe that someone with her (lack of) manners would have married into a rich American family and have homes in NYC and Newport.
They have her gobbling her food at the table, talking with her mouth full, and saying unbelievably rude and stupid things. Someone like that would not have been accepted into society here in the US, I don't think. I know they're trying to make her obnoxious but I think it could have been done differently. I think of the movie, The Great Gatsby with the rich American society people and she wouldn't have fit in.
I love Bates. I just LOVE him. I know he must get out of jail somehow.
I want to see more of Daisy going back to the farm to visit her dear father in law. He is just so sweet and he wants her to be his daughter. That's a beautiful friendship. I also want to see more of the woman who had the baby and is not welcome anymore. Also, the heir who was badly wounded and no one would believe that he was related--I want him to come back with some kind of proof of who is is.
My favorite part was when Sybill's husband wouldn't get dressed up for the wedding and the grandmother MADE him. hahahahha. His bravado sort of evaporated right in front of her. She's the best character in the show. Can't wait for next week.
Maybe the goal is to make us slowly dislike Matthew and then this heir shows back up with proof of who he is, and Edith, who has been short changed the entire time, blooms with love and they get married!
Originally Posted by Lee W.
[/i]Even though she's supposed to be new money, I think the stereotype was overdone with Martha. If you've been to those Newport mansions, they are ostentatious, flashy, over the top, and most people would say, in poor taste, BUT the owners were trying to impress people and they wouldn't have bent their heads down and practically licked the plate like Martha did. Blabbing away with food coming out of her mouth...........even new money would know better than that. It's more like hillbilly behavior.
And Matthew, I could understand for a while his sticking to his principles but is he just so "good" and perfect that he will sit by and allow this to happen to his family? It's sounding like he's not going to change so maybe they'll lose everything.
But Mr Bates............you loveable man, please let something good happen to you.
There are some people who start out poor and get rich in a hurry and their manners never catch up. So they may have been drawing a distinction between "old money" and "new money," along with the irony that old money was asking new money for help. Also, Martha, who've they made pains to show isn't stupid, may have been capitalizing on the stereotype to shock her hosts.
Didn't Mr. Bates basically admit to murder when he had his cellmate in a chokehold? Or are we left to wonder if he was just blustering so he'd be left alone in prison?
And Matthew will come around--or he'll agree to come around and the other heir will be found. They just need to create some tension between him and the family.
In any case, I loved last night's episode and Maggie Smith is without equal. She makes the whole show.
Well, outside the rarified air, some of us - at least in the U.S. - discover that wealth and society are not necessarily inclusive. Molly Brown showed us that.
And she is first generation. Like all people who make it big, its the second generation who takes on airs. Cora must have been raised with it. Her mother was the first wave of the new rich. Most of the jetsetters who lived off the money and play are the offspring of new rich, along with the visible ostentation of stuff and gaudy homes. The old rich held them at an arm's length, and their children were held to family responisbility. They had no need to show everyone how much money they had.
I can see Cora's mom being just like she is quite easily, especially since she smells old fish when they start being every so nice to her. She might not know why, but knows they want something.
You see the difference in Mary's first near marriage. The publisher had plenty of money and when he 'bought' her and the mansion, he planned it to be as showy as possible since to him that meant you'd made it. Downton Abbey is beautiful and impressive, but in the classic sense, accumulated through time. He wanted instant class and believed you could buy it. Cora's mom isn't interested in that.
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