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Simon Schama Calls Downton Abbey 'Cultural Necrophilia'

Downton Abbey

The Huffington Post UK   First Posted: 18/01/12 15:27 GMT Updated: 18/01/12 15:30 GMT

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Historian Simon Schama has attacked Downton Abbey, saying it "serves up a steaming, silvered tureen of snobbery".

Writing in Newsweek, Schama, an expert on US history, lambasted Downton's improbable storylines and historical inaccuracies.

The attack comes just days after Downton Abbey, currently airing its second series in the US, was awarded a Golden Globe for Best TV Drama, Mini-Series or Motion Picture.

And while Schama has been busy criticising Downton, claiming "history's meant to be a bummer, not a stroll down memory lane", according to The Sun, US film execs are said to have been clambering to speak to the show's writer Julian Fellowes about a Downton Abbey film at the Golden Globes after-party.


Historian Simon Schama

Mr Schama might be fighting a losing battle. Downton Abbey remains the most popular British drama on US TV, regularly attracting more than four million viewers - significantly more than homegrown shows, including Mad Men or Game Of Thrones.

Schama isn't the first historian to make battle with the ITV period drama. In December, historian Jennifer Newby criticised Oscar-winner Julian Fellowes for his portrayal of servants in the country house drama, for looking too clean and acting far too familiarly with their employers. Plus, in the first season, sharp-eyed viewers spotted TV aerials and double yellow lines.

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Historian Simon Schama has attacked Downton Abbey, saying it "serves up a steaming, silvered tureen of snobbery". Writing in Newsweek, Schama, an expert on US history, lambasted Downton's improbabl...
Historian Simon Schama has attacked Downton Abbey, saying it "serves up a steaming, silvered tureen of snobbery". Writing in Newsweek, Schama, an expert on US history, lambasted Downton's improbabl...
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Hattie Crisell: Downton Abbey: The Movie? No Thanks

The Sun reports Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes was "virtually mobbed" by film executives after the show picked up a major award at the Golden Globes on Sunday. From the tone of the article, it sounds like a movie version of the ITV drama is pretty much a certainty... Well, you can count me out.
Red Room

Red Room: A Bit of a Spat About Downton Abbey

Oh dear, haven't these experts ever been to a party? Are they so tied up in critical knots that they can't just sit back and let people be entertained? Because that's what Downton Abbey is -- it's entertainment.

 
 
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maryefx1
5 Fans
04:28 PM on 01/24/2012
I am a fan of Downton Abbey..I can hardy wait untill the next time..also have season 1..already in my home..Love the Show..its very interesting and Decent..l dont give a rats about Mr..Schama opinion...l never miss it..Great talented actors..Keep up the good work..
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dar224
45 Fans
04:11 PM on 01/23/2012
Gosh, and here I was so swept away by a television entertainment that was written down before it was filmed, with great characterizations fully realized by people with actual talent - I parked my
parked my pre-WWI/WWI facts at the door when I turned on the TV and just enjoyed the show.
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CRanapia
17 Fans
08:52 PM on 01/20/2012
Professor Schama seems a bit unclear on the difference between a historical documentary and historical drama - which a little disturbing from a man whose day job at Columbia is a University Professor of History and Art History. I hope Scharma expects better reasoned arguments from his students than the editors of Newsweek.
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DavidEm
Politizane Wealth Inequality on YouTube
1719 Fans
07:27 PM on 01/19/2012
I love DA! It has incredibly high production values (It's gorgeous to look at), fascinating characters, excellent performances, enjoyable plot twists, and even touching examples of that scarce quantity on television, human nobility. Sure, some of the plot devices creak here and there, but not really enough to spoil the fun.
How anyone who considers himself an historian can label a series that has so many people interested in another era "necrophilia" is a real mystery.
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zadigvoltaire
1 Fans
11:18 AM on 01/19/2012
Schama's documentaries are certainly accurate and interesting, however I always find myself falling asleep half an hour into them.
Downton Abbey is great entertainment without any sex, violence or foul language. It is refreshing and gives a good example of gentile manners.
I am guessing that ITV did not pay Schama any consulting fees on this program.
"Cultural Necrophilia" is a ray of light among the degenerate, rude and violent programs that fill our TV screens day in day out and which I sometimes enjoy, (especially Blue Mountain State).
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dvncmdy
I'm being followed by a moon shadow
3640 Fans
05:23 PM on 01/19/2012
I personally enjoy it.....and I agree with your assessment.
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sillyfrog
Pastafarian and UU student
2729 Fans
02:31 AM on 01/19/2012
I paid little attention to this program until I started reading Fall of Giants by Ken Follet. It looks like Downton Abbey could be not Cultural Necrophilia.
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philhellene
Far Left and Proud of It!
734 Fans
12:59 AM on 01/19/2012
"Julian Fellowes for his portrayal of servants in the country house drama, for looking too clean and acting far too familiarly with their employers."

My, such sweeping generalities. Jennifer Newby, being a "historian", should know better. There are always exceptions, perhaps a great many. And, I am quite sure that every household differed in its rules as regards the servants.
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CRanapia
17 Fans
08:58 PM on 01/20/2012
As Fellows has rather tartly noted more than once, would critics be any more pleased if Lord Grantham spent the whole series raping the maids and beating the footmen with a riding crop? (Or, I suppose in this day and age, the other way round.)
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Reader2222
39 Fans
07:12 PM on 01/18/2012
It is fiction, for heaven's sake, not a documentary. My husband and I enjoy Downton Abbey immensely, and we are perfectly aware that it isn't historically accurate in all respects. We still can't wait for the next episode.
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eric14
1215 Fans
 
12:52 AM on 01/19/2012
Simon Schama cannot be accurate in all respects because he races through periods of which he is no specialist.
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WestCoastCanada
29 Fans
05:38 PM on 01/18/2012
"History is meant to be a bummer . . ." Well, that puts the present in perspective as bummer-in-training. So, if anyone is having fun out there, stop it immediately.
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queenoferne
83 Fans
04:28 PM on 01/18/2012
No need to make a fuss. It's just soap opera with historical costumes.
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