Reading: Certeau and a guilty pleasure transformed
05 01, 15 10:59 Filed in: Reading
Like millions of Americans, I am hooked on Downton Abbey. It is a guilty pleasure, a time wasting diversion from work, one among many vehicles for procrastinating that I have found difficult to explain -- until now. I have found a rationalization that has transformed this costume-based soap opera into “must see TV” for anyone who seeks to understand human behavior.
The basis for this transformation is found in The Practice of Everyday Life, a book by Michel de Certeau that I have been reading over the past two weeks (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984; I am reading the Kindle edition). Certeau’s major objective is to establish the foundations for understanding everyday practices that are, by their very nature, impossible to truly comprehend (understand, describe, explain) on their own terms without actually engaging in (that is, doing) them. It is a position similar to the Heisenberg effect, wherein the very effort to observe a phenomenon alters what one is attempting to observe. Attempts to describe or explain everyday practices of individuals who operate within -- in the sense of contending with, adapting to -- structured, institutionalized systems are inevitably doomed to fail because the attempt itself cannot capture what is taking place. For Certeau, although we are driven by the urge to be “scientific” and to develop some theoretical (and ultimately explanatory) frame within which to “understand” these practices, the best we can do is to comprehend them within narratives and stories.
In part, what makes Downton Abbey so attractive is that it provides us with an interesting visual narrative within which to understand the everyday practices of what many regard as a fascinating historical era. It isn’t so much the “story” or storylines that makes the show interesting (although they certainly provide grist for the mill each week) as it is the meticulous way the setting and daily practices of the Downton Abbey era lifestyle are portrayed.
My basis for this observation does not come entirely from the coincidence that I happen to be reading Certeau as the new season begins, but rather from the “Special” on Downton Abbey “Manners” that followed the US season premier last evening (the season was shown earlier in the UK). The hour-long background piece on the process of producing the show featured Alastair Bruce, a descendant of Robert Bruce described as the “historical oracle and master of all things etiquette” for the series. Whatever the story line in a particular episode, it is his job to make certain the setting and cast’s behavior were reflecting the “everyday practices” of life at Downton, both upstairs and downstairs as well as in interactions outside the Abbey itself.
My point is that when you step back and consider what really makes the show so popular, it isn’t the constantly unfolding soap opera plots; there are plenty of less successful series having similar plots. Rather, it is the setting and the outstanding visual narrative that Bruce and others produce. While the background documentary tells the story of the production process, its real value is in demonstrating the very process that Certeau describes as he addresses our need to “understand” those aspects of our daily lives that social scientists cannot -- and can never -- really capture.
And there you have it -- a guilty pleasure transformed!
In part, what makes Downton Abbey so attractive is that it provides us with an interesting visual narrative within which to understand the everyday practices of what many regard as a fascinating historical era. It isn’t so much the “story” or storylines that makes the show interesting (although they certainly provide grist for the mill each week) as it is the meticulous way the setting and daily practices of the Downton Abbey era lifestyle are portrayed.
My basis for this observation does not come entirely from the coincidence that I happen to be reading Certeau as the new season begins, but rather from the “Special” on Downton Abbey “Manners” that followed the US season premier last evening (the season was shown earlier in the UK). The hour-long background piece on the process of producing the show featured Alastair Bruce, a descendant of Robert Bruce described as the “historical oracle and master of all things etiquette” for the series. Whatever the story line in a particular episode, it is his job to make certain the setting and cast’s behavior were reflecting the “everyday practices” of life at Downton, both upstairs and downstairs as well as in interactions outside the Abbey itself.
My point is that when you step back and consider what really makes the show so popular, it isn’t the constantly unfolding soap opera plots; there are plenty of less successful series having similar plots. Rather, it is the setting and the outstanding visual narrative that Bruce and others produce. While the background documentary tells the story of the production process, its real value is in demonstrating the very process that Certeau describes as he addresses our need to “understand” those aspects of our daily lives that social scientists cannot -- and can never -- really capture.
And there you have it -- a guilty pleasure transformed!
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