dismay and a question

[kindkit]

I have not actually watched Downton Abbey and have no intention to, but yesterday I learned, through other sources, that (sort of spoilery I guess):(skip) the only queer character is a selfish, amoral villain.

Has anyone perchance critiqued this approach? I feel like what I've mostly seen all over the internets is either "OMG Downton Abbey is so great, yay!" or "Downton Abbey is a silly soap opera," but no "Let's talk about problematic and stereotypical representation." Admittedly, though, I haven't been looking for it.

Comments

Re: The following may be spoilery.

[lemposoi]

Yep, yep, yep. Branson's one of the good guys, and Thomas is a villain. No matter how much I or anyone else likes him won't change that framing, although there are scenes in the show that show sympathy towards Thomas. I think it's likely he is being written as a tragic or semi-sympathetic villain, like Shylock in the Al Pacino version of The Merchant of Venice. Snape was kind of this as well, though he ended up being on the protagonist's side, however reluctantly.

The show could use more queer characters, though. I hope next season brings us a scandalous, trouser-wearing lesbian poet who Edith starts having feelings for. That would be in perfect keeping with the show's tropeyness. It's a sad fact that I can't think of a single 1920s trope for a neutral or positive portrayal of a non-straight man - they tended to be framed as debauched or weak-natured. The best thing would be if the show stepped outside of the tropes-only rule and gave us a non-tragic queer male genius of some stripe, and made Cora/O'Brien canon, but I'm not holding my breath.

Re: The following may be spoilery.

[likeadeuce]

My friend and I made up this whole story about Branson's younger brother who is a street hustler in Dublin and comes to live in England to get his act together. But that has very little to do with 1920's tropes :)

Re: The following may be spoilery.

[lemposoi]

XD You should write for the show!

Re: The following may be spoilery.

[likeadeuce]

It would be a totally different show but I would love it. Check out my Downton Abbey tag for my thoughts (though they are mostly about Branson + various Crawley girls and Lavinia, not as focused on Thomas or Sarah.)

Re: The following may be spoilery.

[lemposoi]

In some ways it could do improved by being a different show.

Will do!