a forest of trees made of money and planted in privilege

[cris]

A couple of months ago, ayun and TheHippie had invited me over to their place to watch the PBS premiere of Downton Abbey Season 3. I had heard of the series before, but didn't pay much attention to it. Historically, I have been an erstwhile TV watcher, flitting between one series or another as they have caught my interest; from Six Feet Under to

Comments

[dancer]

"We could also do with more snarky British countesses, because who doesn't love snarky British countesses? "

Oh could we ever!

[belecrivain]

READ MRS WOOLF AND THE SERVANTS
READ MRS WOOLF AND THE SERVANTS
READ MRS WOOLF AND THE SERVANTS

seriously, it's a fantastic book in its own right, but it also gets at this whole question of what were the privileges and what were the obligations.

[atalanta]

yeah, it's really good. great cast. we were watching it at our house with a bunch of work colleague. the clothes and interiors are fun but the writing and the actors' skill at bringing it alive are the real draw.

[mishak]

That reminds me of a comment or something on NPR I heard months ago about the American aristocracy of the mid-1900s, how the young men were always told they were the best and brightest and most privileged (which of course is the environment to make a complete douchebag) but they were _also_ told that they had a responsibility to use their talents and privilege to make a better society. Nowadays it’s not really allowable to say (publicly) that a group of people is better than everyone else, but there also seems to be so little perceived responsibility to do anything but accumulate more money and toys and celebrity.