Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
The Gospel of Grantham

The Gospel of Grantham

Last updated on: January 8, 2013 at 10:33 pm by Erin Wathen

136 Comments

The Gospel of Grantham 2013-01-08T22:33:39+00:00 Erin Wathen

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE/PBS

If you want to know what a nerd I am, I’m going to tell you. About 80% of the status updates in my newsfeed on Sunday were from friends engaged in a “Downt-down.” (I crack myself up). That is, a countdown to the season 3 premier of ‘Downton Abbey.’

The other 20% were something to the effect of, where is Downton Abbey, and why do I want to go there? I’m never quite sure what to tell people about it, except that once you go, you’ll know.

Come to think of it, why DO so many of us love this show? It comes on PBS, for heaven’s sake. When’s the last time you planned your day around what time something came on PBS, and it did not involve Muppets??? It is what many would call historical drama. When you say out loud what it’s about–the family and servants who occupy a large English estate in the 1920′s–it sounds like a total snooze.

And before you say it is a total chick show, let me stop you there. It has hunting; it has booze; it has torrid romance scenes, often involving housemaids. In uniform. What’s not to love, fellas? Lord Grantham is the original man’s man. My husband, like many husbands I know, reluctantly watched the pilot with me, and has not missed an episode since.

So back the original question–you might say what’s NOT to love about Downton, but i’m more interested in why we find it so appealing. I’ve got some theories. I’m going to share a few, then expound on the last one cause i think it is most important.

**1-**anything with Maggie Smith in it is a win, and worth at least an hour of your time.

**2-**the costumes. They are breathtaking. Makes you almost wish that folks would still ‘dress for dinner’ from time to time. Or at least not arrive in jammies, with hair still wet from the shower, like i am prone to do. Carson would not find it fitting.

3. In our uber-complicated world, there is something wholesome and reassuring about watching a program on PBS. Even if it does not involved Elmo, neither does it involve Honey Boo-Boo, or a Kardashian, or any sort of person who wants to scare us into voting for them–right after they’ve cleared up their sex scandal.

4- The characters are stunningly real. We feel their sorrow as our own, their joy as a personal triumph, and we want to see them evolve into their best possible selves. Well, except for Thomas. That ^^o*^-%#$@ is going down.

5- And here is the real reason, I think, that Sunday evening finds 8 million of us glued to a time and place that we will never know in real life: These characters (most of whom we love) are living through a time of dramatically shifting values and culture–and we want to see them come out well on the other side of it. Because if they can make it through the 1920′s with grace and, well, their lives, then perhaps we can make it through a hundred years later and still emerge a civilized people.

As Season 3 begins, we see the reality unfold that we know has been coming all along–the Granthams might lose the farm. Literally. Now, before you holler ‘spoiler’ at me, hold up. I mean, we had to see this coming, right? After all, the show is about the last vestiges of the caste system. It was only a matter of time before war, economy, and social evolution conspired to lead to the inevitable conclusion: that, perhaps, this level of oppulence and entitlement is not sustainable, even for the wealthiest (and most loveable) of people. And that there might, after all, be life out there for those who live ‘downstairs;’ life that does not involve dinner gongs and dressing bells and elaborately-laid tables to which they are never invited.

I’m trying hard not to watch ahead (cause you can see all sorts of things on the British internets that haven’t aired here yet) or read any commentary or speculation about what’s to come this season. I want to wait and see what happens, in good time, with the rest of you. And with the Granthams themselves. That’s half the fun, after all. We may not know what is coming for them; but we certainly know what is coming for the time in which they live. We know that their world is changing by means of industry, art, public policy, and even global warfare, in ways they can’t possibly imagine.

Maybe this is why we love them so… they make us feel visionary, prophetic, and in-the-know for a change. We can see what’s coming for their lives far better than we might speculate what’s coming for us. Makes for a nice change, doesn’t it?

I love how some members of the Downton household are ready to talk about embracing change and ‘living more simply–’ which is funny, cause even if they do lose the estate, they will still be filthy stinkin rich; like 10 servants instead of 50 rich–while others are firmly planted to the grounds in a ‘this is my home and this is who we are’ sort of way.

I don’t know about you, but it makes me want to take a more critical look at my own time and place, and my reactions to the new realities unfolding around me. Cause who knows, my great grandchildren might be watching some really epic teledrama in 100 years–probably on plasma screens that are surgically imbedded into the palms of their hands–and wondering how we lived through this of great transformation. Were we fearful, or hopeful? Did we strive to live simply and justly, or did we hang like death onto the way things ‘should’ be?

Did we go down on the Titanic, or did we live to be a part of history?

I know that true fans are concerned about only one thing: if the Granthams lose Downton, what will we watch?? However, I think that a ‘letting go’ of certain elements of their lifestyle will open up all sorts of potential plot lines for our favorite lords and ladies, maids and footmen.

In fact – how about a family trip to America, Granthams? We can show you a whole new world of unsustainability. Perhaps we could take you to a really big, or really old church; or tell you about Wall Street; then take a tour of industrial farming sites; and then we’ll do a quick fly-by of the House of Representatives, cause those folks are always affecting real and relevant change in a timely fashion. After that, I think we’ll all be ready to veg in front of some public television for awhile.

Times are changing – then, and now. And while it’s easier to escape into their unfolding drama than to be present for our own, perhaps the right critical eye can find, within the folds of fiction, a timely, faithful, and eloquent response for a period of epic transition. If we are people of faith; if we are people of means; if we are people of simple good conscience, who would like to see things change for the better, then never doubt it–the world is watching us.

Now…if only we had a fabulous wardrobe, in which to play the part.

This post originally appeared at Erin Wathen’s blog The New West and is reprinted with permission.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 8, 2013

Emergence Christianity: Honoring and Bending Tradition

Next Post

January 9, 2013 Emergence Christianity 2013: A Q&A with Tony Jones

Recent Comments

136 Comments | Leave a Comment

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Author Interviews Battle Over the Body and Blood of Christ Bearing Beauty Book Reviews Christian Education christian spirituallity christianity Christmas Church Church Leadership Contemplation Creation Care Death and Dying Death Penalty Disruptive Change Disruptors Series Easter Education Evolution and Faith Future of Progressive Christianity Gun Violence Health & Wellness Holy Week Interfaith Israel-Palestine Leading Differently Lent LGBTQ Living with Cancer Meditations on the Cross Mental Illness millennials Mimetic Mondays Monday Meditations Movie Reviews New Monasticism Pando Populus Parenting Patheos 10+1 Q&A Series PC(USA) Politics Pop Culture Practical Theology Series Prayer progressive christian Race Relations Reformation religion Religion and Politics Religion in America Rethink Church Social Justice Spirituality Spirituality of the Body Stump a Scholar Technology and Faith Thanksgiving Theodicy Trust Me Church Uncategorized Why I'm Still Christian Youth Ministry

Select a Month December 2025 April 2025 January 2025 September 2023 September 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 November 2021 October 2021 May 2021 February 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 June 2019 March 2019 January 2019 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who did God give the Ten Commandments to?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Noah Moses Joshua Abraham