In The US Cult of Downton Abbey, Brian Wheeler, a BBC News reporter in Washington, tries to find the fascination of the series on American audience, especially among the young ones. He suggests several possibilities, such as Maggie Smith's killer one-liners, yearning for a simpler time, fascination with the class system, political incorrectness about genders, slicker drama on a free-to-air KQED.
I started to stream the first series on Netflix, after seriously challenged by Eric S. and Gary G. every time we met. To be honest, I was a little burned out by big manor houses or castles full of downstairs servants, footmen and butlers to serve their upstairs masters. To the same degree, I was wary of period costumes after consuming too many historic drams. After viewing the first episode, both Paul and I decided that we were going to like it. The reason is simple: superior acting especially by the 77-year-old Maggie Smith, who plays the imperious Countess of Grantham, and the integrity of Robert Crawley who can be influenced by his surroundings but does not hesitate to change his mind.
Needless to say, there has been an American fascination with the British, since the beginning of time, particularly her culture, legal system and class divisions. There has also been a fascination with an American abroad since Henry James. I suspect certain voyeurism is evolved in watching Robert's American wife Cora Crawley who might have money, but lacks class and history, a humiliating situation not unlike when people were fascinated with the ridiculed dropouts in Simon Cowell's American Idol.
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