#but like…why would he? Carson doesn’t know about barrows attempt to change. only we know that!

[mrburnsnuclearpussy]

The YouTube commenter who said that Carson was responsible for Barrow’s suicide attempt owes me £1000000 in cash!!!!!!! :’(

[annabellblood2002]

Thank you @bumblebarrow and @amandaanubis for the tag!

 Downton Abbey fans!

Let’s get to know each other in these trying times.

 Tag others to fill this in or fill it in yourself - enjoy!

 1. When did you start watching Downton Abbey?

I watched most of season 3 when it first came out on TV (where I live that is) but didn’t get into it enough to be a full on fan. I continued to watch the occasional ep and watched all the Christmas specials when they came out but it wasn’t until the movie came out that i got really into it. 

Basically I won tickets to the first screening of the movie (in my town) and knew I couldn’t go watch it without watching/re-watching the series. After the seeing the movie I decided I needed to re-watch the series again now that I had a new mindset and.....got addicted.

2. Favourite series?

 The movie is my favourite part of the franchise. I found all the plots to actually make sense and while not all of them were well done (looking at you Andy in the boiler room) I thought that they still mostly worked with the characters and overall plot. (Also Thomas and Richard gives me life)

Of the actual seasons number 2 is probably my favourite. I like how it explored both the front of the war and what was happening at Downton. The way they also how people were affected post war was great too. Unfortunately I can’t watch the season too often as I have PTSD over war movies, even so I still very much like the season.

3. Team Upstairs or Team Downstairs?

 Downstairs. (Team Thomas)

4. Favourite Downstairs character and why?

 Thomas -> Honestly the most interesting stuff goes on with his character and its blasphemy that he never reached full potential. Also he’s character is the most complex in the entire show and I won’t lie the lack of interesting and evolving characters is what turned me off the series when I first started to watch it.

Phyllis Baxter -> She’s so sweet and was a great type of character to introduce when they did.

Daisy -> One of the 2 (Thomas being the other) people from downstairs that actually has a realistic show of development. Love her to bits. Wish she had more screentime with her and Thomas being BFFs.

Mrs Hughes -> Won’t lie there are 2 scenes that make me love her. The first when she comforts Thomas in the rain (you all know the scene) and I still feel cheated that we didn’t get a larger version of the scene and that it never gets brought up again. The other is when Lady Mary and Carson are trying to take over her wedding and she’s like ..... “NO! MY WEDDING, MY RULES, GO AWAY!” (probably the best scene she’s in)

5. Least favourite Downstairs character and why?

Carson. I feel like his character growth went backwards and more often then not he was an ass who according to the writers, all of upstairs and most (not all thanks to Thomas and Mrs Hughes) of downstairs people  can do not wrong. The thing that gets me the most is that even after a suicide attempt (even in the movie!!) all Carson can see of Thomas is someone lesser then him and that’s not okay.

6. Favourite Upstairs character and why?

Lady Sybil -> A very interesting character to have hidden away amongst the upper class. Her want for woman's rights was a refreshing appearance as every other period show/movie I’ve watched showed the woman to be very happy and settled. Sybil was a boss as a nurse and they type of character that can fit into any fan headcanon. My biggest regret of her character is that we didn’t get to see her being more mischievous and outgoing, nor did we see any Thomas & Sybil BFF scenes. I would have loved a scene where he tells her he’s gay and she just accepts him and is all “Woman Rights! Gay Rights! HUMAN RIGHTS!”.

Lady Rose -> She was fun, flirty and the much needed relaxed character in the show. Her story line is a bit complicated however while watching it it feels the most simple out of the entire show. Her romance was wistful and perfect for her character and I really appreciated having her make an appearance in the season 5 Christmas special.

Lady Edith -> Her growth as a character and a person was marvellous! She went from quiet and unconfident, to scheming, to caring and needing to feel appreciated, to resigned to her lonely fate, to having the confidence in herself to tell Mary she was a bitch to her face! (Yeah Go Edith!). Sometimes I feel like she was the only one upstairs to accomplished something within the series (and stayed alive).

7. Least favourite Upstairs character and why?

Lady Violet Crawley -> Honestly this one changes so often one minute I don’t like her the next I’m cackling at her lines. I have no real reason to put her here just that sometimes she rubs me the wrong way.

Lady Cora Crawley -> Won’t lie I find her a manipulative person who doesn’t care about anyone outside her immediate family (Robert, Mary, Edith and Sybil). I feel she hides behind the facade of ‘loving wife and mother’ and doesn’t own up to things that she has done wrong. (also she’s really oblivious).

8. Do you ship anyone?

Thomas/Richard for life!!!

Also thomas/edward, sybil/tom, daisy/andy, edith/bertie, rose/atticus etc,etc,etc

9. Favourite quote?

“War has a way of distinguishing between

the things that matter and the things that don’t.”

“I’m not foul, Mr Carson. I’m not the same as you, nut I’m not foul.”

“You are not a victim, don’t let them make you into one”

“We have to sick together man like us”

“Feels good to be two ordinary blokes”

“50 years ago who would of thought man can fly”

“Is that what you found Mr Barrow, a friend?”

(that entire scene)

(every thomas/richard scene)

10. Scene that made you cry?

 Sybil’s death. Edward’s suicide. Thomas’s attempt suicide.

The ‘no mans an island’ scene. Really I just hate how indifferent to the situation everyone is. And Carson! Screw you! Of course Thomas has a heart!!!

Thank you @panicsheerbloodypanic for making this! I’m not going to tag anyone specific but all my pals at #thomas barrow defence squad if you haven’t done this yet have a go!!

[machihunnicutt]

What the Downton Movie Owes Me (but will probably not give me): Some Thoughts on Thomas Barrow

yes...I wrote 1k+ words on this. I’m so sorry.

I’m watching Downton Abbey for the 3rd (4th?) time with my sister who hasn’t seen it. I love this glorified soap opera to death, y’all, with the full acknowledgment that this show does a horrible job with a lot of its plot lines designed to tackle complicated issues: disability (the ableism against Bates via the house that he never gets apologies for, Matthew and his spinal injury/wheelchair that is always framed as life-ending and making him nothing but a “burden”), class (the Branson/Sybil marriage is alright, but there are countless missed opportunities to interrogate the relationship between upstairs and downstairs, particularly Carson’s attachment to a family that monopolizes his life and the lives of all its employees), (I’m going to leave race and gender alone because I think it does a pretty decent job when these issues come into play but feel free to lmk if there’s something I missed!), and sexuality, which is what I want to get into.

So granted, I understand that I’m not the target audience for this show. I understand that Downton’s gay characters were not written primarily to be relatable, multifaceted representations of gay people in a period drama. I get that Downton’s target audience is older, straight people for which representation isn’t super important. But, I have watched this show at least 3 times now and I’m still angry about its treatment of Thomas Barrow, so I’m going to break down why:

1) Things We Know About Thomas Barrow

I really like early seasons of Downton because, for all its drawn out drama and plot twists, it cares a lot about character development and consistency. Many characters (dare I say the majority) do mean and bad things and yet, we are still empathetic because we’ve spent time with them, understand why they make the choices they do, and see them learn from their mistakes (early seasons Mary is an excellent example.)

Thomas Barrow is my favorite Downton character because of the great narrative work they do in this regard. In the first episode we learn several character traits of his that continue to be important throughout his arcs:

- He doesn’t trust easily and has few friends in the house. (AKA, boy’s got a bad attitude. It’s better to act like you hate everyone than give them the chance to reject you.) I found this immediately endearing (because of who I am I guess lol), and though I understand why people don’t like his character because of this, I think it’s a good move for a character you intend to have grow over a long period of time. Opening up, accepting help from others, and showing kindness are all parts of Thomas’ future storylines, actions that show his slow growth from this facet of his character. I also think it’s important to note that when Thomas does make friends he is loyal to them (I’m excepting O’Brien from this category given there’s so much backstabbing between them that it’s a stretch to call them friends) and will take risks to protect them (Examples: befriending Lt. Courtenay and later fighting Dr. Clarkson to keep him at the hospital; befriending Lady Sybil and speaking kindly about her when he doesn’t have nice things to say about anyone else upstairs, later earnestly mourning her death in a show of vulnerability he generally masks; befriending Jimmy and looking out for him when he gets drunk at the fair, going as far to get beaten up to save Jimmy; befriending Andy and helping him learn to read; befriending the kids of the house and saving them from that one nasty nanny who was mistreating them.)

- He’s a romantic. The man wants to be loved and jfc I wish the show gave him a good love interest.

- He’s easily manipulated. (More on this later, but for now...) The Duke plays him, and it’s cruel, but it shows how easily Thomas can be tricked when he’s offered affection and the chance to leave Downton for something better. (Also note: from day one, he’s wanted to leave Downton!)

- He’s the evil gay trope. The gay villain trope has a long and complicated history and sure, you can say Thomas’s sexuality and role as an antagonist aren’t connected, but the show doesn’t exist in a vacuum and it feeds into a long history of villainizing LGBT and LGBT coded characters. The thing I hate most is that they get really close to subverting it in Thomas’ best moments (his work in the hospital during the war, his relationship with the kids, his gradual opening up to people in the house) but alas...

2) Why I Hate The Jimmy Kent Arc More Than Anything

Okay, so it makes sense for Thomas to be manipulated by O’Brien. That’s consistent with his character and I don’t fault the show for melodrama because that’s what it does. What I hate, is that the show depicts Thomas’ attraction to Jimmy as predatory and when he is punished for trying to kiss Jimmy while he’s asleep (which is assault) the house (and I’d argue, the show) frames this as bad only because Thomas is gay and Jimmy is not. In the show’s narrative Jimmy is mad because he’s homophobic, not because he’s been violated. And his and Jimmy’s ensuing friendship would be genuinely sweet if it really was just an issue of homophobia and not one of ASSAULT!

I’d argue, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t portray Thomas as predatory and then brush it aside to make a statement about tolerance, because assaulting people is bad regardless of the sexuality of the perpetrator. You either need to punish his actions for what they are or get better at story telling and not rely on the predatory gay stereotype.

But, secondarily, I’m bothered by this arc because it doesn’t seem in character, to me. I know Thomas does a lot of bad, stupid things, but I don’t think it makes sense for him to be predatory. In his best moments he is protective, romantic, and loyal. Yes, we see him as rash and naive, but his actions never felt right for the character, to me. I just think it’s lazy writing to handle his attraction to Jimmy this way, especially given the development of their friendship afterward. It would’ve been so much more satisfying and narratively interesting for Thomas to express his feelings for Jimmy in a respectful way. Jimmy is the only character we see Thomas have genuine feelings for (not motivated by upward mobility as in the case of the Duke or I guess(?) racial stereotyping in the case of Kemal Pamuk...but lbr his pass at him was mostly a plot device) and I think the arc would’ve been so much more fulfilling if we saw it as Thomas’ attempt to love someone fully and honestly, even if it ultimately doesn’t work out the way he wants it to. And I don’t get why they didn’t do this! Because the Jimmy/Thomas friendship ends up being sweet, and useful for each character’s development. They just had to make it gross by beginning with an assault. Just a huge, lazy, waste of a potentially good idea.

3) The Last Season Was Bad For A Lot Of Characters But They Did Thomas Extremely Dirty

I don’t know where to start with the last season because I think they ran into so many problems because they forgot how to use great characters effectively (Mary is a prime example!!) and started just throwing them into dramatic situations for the sake of plot and not keeping actions consistent with established character.

For example, life at Downton is the roughest it has ever been for Thomas in season 6, to the point where he is alienated by most in the house (I’m not going to talk about how badly Carson treats him and how much of a tyrant Carson is in the last season because again, I think it comes down to the writers forgetting how to use their characters effectively) and attempts suicide. All in all, I just don’t like this because it’s predictable and overdone. Gay people in period pieces almost always have overwhelmingly tragic stories and it’s not fun for me to watch anymore. What most disappoints me though, is that when everyone else is getting paired off in the fan-servicey ending, Thomas’ consolation prize is being the butler??? To a house full of people who’ve hated him??? He’s wanted from the beginning to leave Downton and in the end he doesn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, if the show had shown me his change in attitude and relationship to the house, given me this character development in meaningful ways, and not used a suicide attempt as a half-assed catalyst for change, I would be all for Thomas as Downton’s butler. I think that if they’d done the work of making it a believable and constructive next step for his character, that I’d really like it. I think Thomas’ relationship with the kids (particularly George! I’d watch a whole movie about that!) is well done and I think it echos Carson’s relationship with Mary, but better. But you! have! to! do! the! work! to! get! the! audience! there! You can’t give me a whole season of Downton nastiness and Thomas suffering and then expect me to buy that this is his happy ending.

4) What I Want From This Movie

I don’t think I’ll get it (though a love interest for Thomas via the trailer is encouraging), but here’s what I want:

- Show me why Thomas Barrow as Downton butler makes sense. And if you can’t, let him leave and be happy somewhere else because he deserves it.

- Show me how he’s grown. Show me his relationship with the kids and how he’s better than Carson because I need it!!

- Let Thomas be in a relationship that is healthy and not manipulative or coercive or a plot device for drama.

- Let him be in love and don’t make it a sad story. Please.

I find Thomas Barrow such a compelling character because he isn’t perfect. He makes mistakes. He does bad things. He grows. He changes over the course of six seasons. He’s a gay character in a period drama whose story isn’t about being ashamed of who he is. It isn’t about denial or apologies or pretending he’s someone he isn’t. And I think that’s significant. I just wish they’d done a slightly better job. :)

(Thanks for reading. I’m gonna keep being a Thomas Barrow stan even when no one watching with me thinks I’m valid lol.)

[vermontparnasse]

Downton Abbey (good luck narrowing down the list lol), a little life, and Survivor!

downton GODDAMNIT CHELSEA THIS IS GOING TO TAKE ME LIKE 10 HOURS

1. the most ridiculous, outlandish things happen in this show (a woman literally poisons herself with a pie to posthumously frame her husband; a burn victim turns up out of nowhere and claims to be the heir to the estate; an aristocrat has a baby out of wedlock, gives up said baby for adoption in switzerland, changes her mind, takes the baby back, makes the baby live with local farmers, takes the baby back from local farmers and forces them to move away; need i go on?) but god. fucking. forbid. that thomas barrow have a fucking boyfriend, because suddenly we are ALL ABOUT that historical accuracy!2. anna’s rape.  everything about this plotline was terrible but basically, rape as a plot device sucks, but if you’re going to do it then fucking do it; commit and make it ABOUT ANNA, make it about what she’s going through and how she finds healing, not about how her trauma is affecting poor st. bates.  also, this whole thing was so tonally out of place with the show which up until this point had never had any kind of graphic content; there were absolutely no warnings for viewers other than a vague note about the episode being graphic and that was not okay.  as someone who watches corrie pretty religiously i know that itv occasionally puts up hotline numbers after triggering episodes, with a notice like ‘if you’ve been affected by tonight’s episode, you can call this number’ - they should have done something like that, because the amount of viewers who were seriously triggered after just wanting to enjoy their harmless period drama was seriously unacceptable. 3. this show’s lack of awareness of who the ‘good’ characters actually are.  and i don’t mean ‘good’ like complex, well written, etc.; i mean good as in, if these characters were real they would be Good People.  carson and bates, two insufferably sanctimonious characters who treat their coworkers with practiced indifference at best and malice at worst are constantly lauded by the narrative for being Good People because….. ??  lady mary who is written as more and more selfish and petty and uncaring with each successive season is still the character whose happiness we’re meant to root for, because….. ??  meanwhile, thomas and edith, who both did some bad things in the first season but who have shown a lot of growth since then are constantly treated by the narrative like their characters haven’t matured a single day, as though doing one Bad Thing makes you a Bad Person for Life.  that lack of compassion shown to thomas and edith’s humanity - seeing as they’re two characters that viewers are most drawn to, for how flawed they are - really shows that julian fellowes doesn’t know what the fuck he was doing while attempting to depict how these characters related to each other over a ten year period.  while we did see individual character growth, the way the characters related to one another never seemed to change, which was ridiculous. 4. sybil and matthew’s deaths.  i’m grouping them together.  sybil, because killing the show’s most outspoken feminist character in childbirth was fucking terrible, and matthew, because that was one of the stupidest and corniest death scenes ever and the way the show’s quality plummeted in the aftermath was almost painful.  damn you dan stevens for wanting out of your contract, though i can’t say i blame you.5. fellowes dropped the fucking ball with jimmy kent.  in thomas we have a gay character who’s always known exactly who he is and been comfortable with that, which is great, but here we also had a great opportunity to show a different side of being lgbt+ in that period.  why did thomas’s advances scare jimmy so much???  perhaps this is rooted in deep-seeded confusion and doubt and self-loathing and he’s lashing out violently against thomas because he’s afraid of confronting his own sexuality???  perhaps season 4 can be an in-depth exploration of this????  no, he’s just a sort of homophobic dick?  ok.  well, that sucks.

a little life

1. malcolm’s character was tragically under-used.  though it wasn’t a story about the four of them as much as it was just about jude, willem and jb were still distinct and vibrant and memorable and malcolm sadly faded to the background.  add to that the fact that he was one of the two main black characters; i just consistently wished hanya would do a bit more with him.2. caleb.  i’ve said before about this book that it requires a certain level of suspension of disbelief, because as much as it’s ~realistic fiction~ the point is that it isn’t Entirely Realistic.  a hell of a lot of fucked up shit happens in this book.  but i was okay with that because it was all part of the journey that hanya was taking us on?  it wasn’t all believable but she made me believe it.  etc.  anyway, i found caleb to be the one exception.  i didn’t find it even remotely likely that jude would make an exception to his lifelong aversion to opening up to people, only to finally try out a relationship….. with an actual psychopath.  this is the only point in the book where i felt like ‘okay, this is too much.’  i would just edit out caleb’s entire character. 3. i wish there were more female characters.  i’m actually more okay with the lack of female characters here than i usually am (because the whole exploration of how jude relates to the men around him is Entirely The Point), but still.  still.4. spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler i hated the offhand mention of andy dying in the final chapter.  the fact that ALL THESE CHARACTERS DIED YOUNG (minus jb) just seems so unlikely and i hate when major character deaths are mentioned in an offhand way like that.5. in what universe would willem have played odysseus in an iliad/odyssey film adaptation i am sorry but as certified Classics Trash i am here to tell you that willem was born to play achilles wtf.