- I’m just putting this on my blog for the fun of it. It has next to ZERO historical value. Well, it has ZERO.
- But as an historian, I’m inclined to make observations and draw conclusions.
- Here are observations I’ve made about (let’s face it, everyone who knows me well knows that this is one of my favorite shows) Downton Abbey. Here are the observations I’ve made about the fans…they seem to have multiple things in common. Why? They blog about all the things they love and hate. Oh, the irony in all of this!
This one is probably pretty obvious, but Downton Abbey fans all seem to love period pieces. If you go on YouTube you can see the people who upload DA clips are the same people uploading North and South clips, Larkrise to Candleford clips, Persuasion clips, and Pride and Prejudice clips (but only the 1996 BBC version with Jennifer Ehle and pssssst…the real Mr. Darcy).
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| NO ONE can do what I do |
Another unifying theme amongst Downton fans is their love of Meyers-Briggs typology. One conversation on a message board went something like this: “Do you think Mary is INTJ? Another poster: “Well, she’s certainly a dominant extrovert, introverted thinking…so I believe she may be an ENTJ, given her goals for achievement and her ruthlessness”. My personal theory…Mary is an extroverted feeler, with a melancholy-sanguine temperament. But that’s just my opinion.
Downton Abbey fans love dogs. Especially Labrador Retrievers. I know this because when you go on IMDB’s Downton Abbey website, look under the question heading (and there are questions similar to this) “which of the characters should have an expanded story line?”…many people answer“Isis!” Yes, Isis, the adorable yellow lab on Downton. People even joke that Isis should have a similar story to Branson and Sybil. Isis gets impregnated by a campy dog and they have mutts, Irish-English mule children.
Let’s face it, dog lovers usually either hate cats (they are rather bizarre animals), or just don’t like cats all that much. There are no cats on Downton Abbey. Well ok-there was one cat in series 1 and the maid, Gwen, told it to “get back to the stables!” Okay, I retract my previous statement. There’s a possibility that there are indeed two cats on DA: the one that Gwen told off, and the mummified cat in Lord and Lady Carnarvon’s King Tut exhibit. I’m sorry. The dark humor that I attribute to my Irish heritage is showing through.
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| As Lady Hester Random in Tea with Musulinni |
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| As Mrs. Madlock in The Secret Garden |
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| As Granny Wendy in Hook |
It’s also a unifying belief for Downton Abbey fans, who are also inadvertently fans of Greek drama*, that you should have a Twitter account. (Because we ALL know the Dowager Countess referenced Mary/Matthew’s relationship being like a Greek drama for a reason…because Julian Fellows WRITES Downton Abbey itself like a Greek drama). It’s important to have a Twitter account just so the actors can reassure you that the characters are going in a certain direction. Fact: so many Twitter accounts were made during the second series.
*for those of you who need a refresher have been living under a rock, a Greek Drama is a drama where half of the story takes place off-stage (or in this case off screen) and the audience is left to connect the dots.
Downton Abbey fans also love Sci Fi. We’re talking Dr. Who, Torchwood, Firefly, Star Wars, Starloser Trek and of course, Tron Legacy. In case you had any doubts about DA fans being HUGE dorks, your suspicions have now been confirmed. But as I said as a dorky little 19 year old, I will say again as a dorky little 24 year old…people love dorkiness because it’s real.
Downton Abbey fans also love Sci Fi. We’re talking Dr. Who, Torchwood, Firefly, Star Wars, Star
Most Downton Abbey fans wax sentimental that more people should watch Downton Abbey, because they don’t have enough people to talk about it with. Hahaha! I think these people coincidently, are American viewers. *Goes in a corner and sobs. *
We’re all fabulous. And I should live in the UK now, bye!
