Jan 28-That's Why The Present Is A Gift

"Live in the present tense while you still can." ~Lord Grantham (Downton Abbey)

          I adore British television and the BBC does an amazing job of birthing television series that keep me entertained (ie: Doctor Who is one of many examples).  But other than the man in the blue box, I enjoy the turmoil of "old english" families.  It started in 2007 when I watched the Keira Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice.  From then on I was hooked.  PBS was my savior when I found their Masterpiece Theatre program which aired BBC productions.  There is just something about a British costume drama.  Its all in the air of the english.  Their struggle to remain "english" and proper, and untouched by emotion and its "weakness" fascinates me to no end. 

               Tonight, my mom and my second oldest sister Roswena, we are watching Downton Abbey Season 2.  Its World War I and a wealthy British family struggles with running house in their mansion of a home.  They suffer from losses in the family, losses of staff.  There are many love stories going on: between the rich daughter and a chaffeur to a maid and the valet.  Through it all, Downton Abbey brings people of different class and situations together in this big stew of "Britishness."

           There is alot of, what my English teacher would have me call, "pathetic appeal" in this film series.  Every 5 minutes, there is either an extreme high or an extreme low.  With tear pulling music complete with spot on actors there is no end to feeling for them.  By the time the credits play, you are forced to feel something for the characters.  I try to forget that I'm being played to "believe a lie" and just live in the moment and believe it just because. I think many of us need to do this a bit more often.

           We need to forget its pretend and feel.  Feel. 

            There was a particular scene in one of the episodes I watched tonight that really stuck to me.  The Lord of the manor is speaking with a soldier and he speaking about his cousin who is away at war and has just been deemed "missing in action."  When reffering to his cousin instead of using the past tense he uses the present tense when he says, "I love him."  He is asked why he does that.  "Because we should live in the present while we can."  And this is what I love about period dramas: no matter how distant they are away in culture or time, there is always something that relates back to my time and to myself. Always.