Yes. Really…
You can watch the show in Persian, Russian and Korean, and it has an estimated global audience of 160 million. On a cycling trip to Angkor Wat, in Cambodia, the actor Jim Carter, who plays the butler, was greeted by a throng of tourists screaming “Mr Carson!”.
The series did well abroad immediately and, as series five starts in the UK on Sunday, the upward curve of viewers shows no sign of flattening. The US in particular has taken the series to heart: Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hanks and Katy Perry are all fans, while Michelle Obama requested early previews of the last series. Should you wish, you can buy Downton Abbey wine, soap and jewellery.Hurrah, a British success! Join me in a toast, Viv?
… Downton is just the latest in a long line of conservative cultural phenomena that get lapped up internationally and end up representing Brand Britain, whether we like it or not. From Merchant Ivory and Jeeves and Wooster to Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill via royal baby fever, our best-known cultural exports are painfully reinforcing “olde worlde” class stereotypes.So..? It seems to be what the viewers like. Well, when they aren’t liking superhero stuff.
What we’re actually exporting is nostalgia, an unhealthy obsession with class, and a peculiarly dusty form of conservatism. It turns out that people can’t get enough of these things.I trust the irony of a CiFer scorning someone else’s ‘unhealthy obsession with class’ isn’t lost on anyone…
"...a peculiarly dusty form of conservatism. It turns out that people can’t get enough of these things..."
ReplyDeleteAnd wouldn't it be nice if we had a political party which offered "a peculiarly dusty form of Conservatism"...
...or indeed, any form or real Conservatism
Surely Jeeves and Wooster is a documentary and social comment? An unemployable young man, living in a small flat with a carer, who has gambling and drinks issues funded by family help is guided through the problems of life, notably those involving the opposite sex. A message for our times
ReplyDeleteShame they havn't taken to that good old British favourite: 'Benefit Street'. Perhaps we could export the 'characters' as well- maybe in exchange for the odd netron bomb?
ReplyDelete"And wouldn't it be nice if we had a political party which offered "a peculiarly dusty form of Conservatism"..."
ReplyDeleteWatching the car-crash which is Dave's mob...yes!
"Surely Jeeves and Wooster is a documentary and social comment? "
:D
"Shame they havn't taken to that good old British favourite: 'Benefit Street'."
I am surprised no US channel has snapped that one up. Do they still import 'Eastenders'?