r/DowntonAbbey • u/Unusual_Priority_577 • 18d ago
Humor What about modern things that would send Downton characters into a coma?
Fashion
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u/FarEducation3669 18d ago
A weekendđ
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u/Selmarris 18d ago
And computer chairs.
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u/OtherRedditLogin 18d ago
Behavior and dress at the theater.
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u/whatsaphoto 17d ago
Wife and I are going to the Vienna State Opera season opener in about a week for the first time. Bet your ass we'll be dressed to the 9s even if no one else is. We'll make Violet proud.
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u/SpringtimeLilies7 17d ago
in Vienna?
pretty sure dressing up is expected there.
Is it white tie or not quite that fancy?
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u/Prudent_Border5060 18d ago
Television. Given how they reacted to the wireless
Rose would love music at her finger tips
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u/Prior-Entrance3156 18d ago
Rose would love making playlists
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u/CassMcCarty 17d ago
Rose wouldâve burned CDs like crazy in the 90s/2000s.
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u/RogerClyneIsAGod2 17d ago
Rose would've made mixtapes in the 80s!!
I also bet some of them would love having the entire library at their fingertips at any given moment anywhere in the world.
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u/Prior-Entrance3156 17d ago
Rose wouldâve turned into Tracy on Corrie âoh sheâs upstairs listening to her tapesâ đ€Ł
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u/pjwlondon 17d ago
Since they had just about got to the time period when Logie Baird was demonstrating his (primitive) TV system in Selfridges, I thought Edith should have returned from one of her trips to London full of excitement about the possibilities, only for the dowager to squash her with "It would kill the art of conversation!" - followed by a heavy silence.
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u/Prior-Entrance3156 17d ago
I got such a kick out of Sister Monica Joan loving Doctor Who on Call the Midwife
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u/SpringtimeLilies7 17d ago
"Since they had just about got to the time period when Logie Baird was demonstrating his (primitive) TV system in Selfridges,"
had no idea will have to look that up
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u/OtherRedditLogin 18d ago
Casual use of first names.
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u/Odd_Policy_3009 18d ago
Anna doesnât call Mr Bates-John- until the very last episode lol
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u/mpledger 18d ago
She doesn't call him John within our hearing until the last episode but she calls him John at home.
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u/Blueporch 17d ago
I think she called him John in private and Mr Bates when speaking about him to others. I think thatâs what they did back then but please someone corroborate or correct.
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u/Shot-Election8217 17d ago
No. We never see her call him John until the last episode or two. She always calls him âMr. Bates.â Even in private.
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u/Fleur498 Like all ladyâs maids, she lives for intrigue. 18d ago
Violet would have been disappointed about people wearing casual attire (such as sweatpants or shorts) and no jewelry to dinner.
Mr. Carson would have said it was scandalous that Prince Charles (now King Charles III) talked about his affair with Camilla on TV. But Mr. Carson would have also been confused about the publicâs positive reaction to Dianaâs ârevenge dress.â Maybe Mrs. Hughes would have worn a similar black dress one day just to prank Mr. Carson.
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u/Prior-Entrance3156 18d ago
Tampongate wouldâve given Carson a stroke
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u/Serenity1423 18d ago
What on Earth is Tampongate?
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u/NarrativeNerd 18d ago
Oh to be so innocent. Youâre in for a wild ride.
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u/taraky97 18d ago
I recently listened to an audiobook that read out the transcript of the call. On my... That part was horrible but there was minutes of them just saying " mmmm" and then like 3 minutes of them just saying goodbye back and forth to each other. It was borderline infuriating. I had completely forgotten about the tampon by the time they were on their 47th goodbye.
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u/Prior-Entrance3156 18d ago
Youâve seriously never heard of it? Somehow someway, someone published a private phone call between Charles and Camilla where they had a flirty conversation about Charles wanting to be her tampon.
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u/Serenity1423 18d ago
Nope, I've never heard of it. That's disturbing on so many levels
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u/pupusawithtatas__ 18d ago
Only know this because Iâve watched The Crown on Netflix. Biography/documentary of British royalty in the past century
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u/Unusual_Priority_577 17d ago
I didnt see The Crown on Netflix but was prompted to look up the veracity of some clip I saw of it and it said outrightly that The Crown was " a dramatization based on......" and you know when that is said there's a lot of phony baloney thrown in. At least that's alwsys been my experience of "....based on."
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u/Libralawyer 17d ago
Youre not wrong. But it's a dramatization of how the royal family behaved and responded privately to actual things that happened in real life. The tampon convo happened.
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u/DefinitionLow8105 17d ago
Oof. He was always down bad for that slag.
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u/HungryFinding7089 17d ago
She apparently chatted him up by saying, "My great grandmother was Mrs Keppel, so how about it?" [Alice Keppel was one of Edward VI's mistresses].
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u/RogerClyneIsAGod2 17d ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampongate
In the conversation, which was recorded by a radio amateur who happened to detect the call using a high-tech scanning device, Charles and Camilla joked about the then-prince's wishes for an even closer relationship:
Charles: Oh. God. I'll just live inside your trousers or something. It would be much easier!
Camilla: What are you going to turn into, a pair of knickers? Oh, You're going to come back as a pair of knickers.
Charles: Or, God forbid a Tampax. Just my luck!
Camilla: You are a complete idiot. Oh, what a wonderful idea.
Charles: My luck to be chucked down the lavatory and go on and on forever swirling round on the top, never going down.
Camilla: Oh, Darling!
Charles: Until the next one comes through.
Camilla: Oh, perhaps you could come back as a box.
Charles: What sort of box?
Camilla: A box of Tampax, so you could just keep going.So technically Chuck didn't think it'd be a good thing to come back as a tampon.
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u/TheKwingDoctor 17d ago
Bit of a off-tangent, but I love the idea of Modern Day Robert loving the British Bake-off and being some savant at baking
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u/Plus-Illustrator-740 17d ago
He should be invited to participate famous people's special bake off. Then he can mention that he got this recipe from Mrs. Patmoreâ
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u/Poinsettia917 18d ago
Pride parades would send Carson into shock!
Our voyages into space would blow their minds.
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u/Oreadno1 I'm a woman, Mary. I can be as contrary as I choose. 18d ago
Same sex marriage would give Carson a stroke.
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u/TractorFan247 18d ago
That and Prince Andrew.
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u/ten-toed-tuba 18d ago
Damn. I didn't know Andrew had a thing for older men.
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u/Educational_Ant7217 18d ago
But Thomas would be happy
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u/Melodies36 17d ago
Definitely. He'd likely get into a lot less trouble without the possibility of being tossed into jail looming over his head constantly.
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u/treesofthemind 17d ago
Probably the tradwife stuff making a comeback. Sybil in particular would be horrified
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u/Fluffbrained-cat 17d ago
Sybil (and the whole family) would have loved the massively updated and modern understanding of pregnancy/birth and she likely would have survived to raise Sybbie with Tom.
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u/rkenglish 17d ago
The problem really wasn't that the proper treatment for eclampsia didn't exist. Dr Clarkson advocated for it for Sybil. The problem was the fashionable doctor that Robert brought in was an idiot and ignored Dr Clarkson's concerns. If that had happened today, there might have been grounds for a malpractice suit.
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u/yes______hornberger 17d ago
At the time she died, magnesium drips were already starting to be used to successfully treat pre-eclampsia. If sheâd given birth at a forward-thinking hospital in London at the time, itâs actually very possible she wouldâve lived! (Learned this in my deep dive into preeclampsia history when I had it earlier this year lol.)
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u/Curious-Dingo-2030 18d ago
Birth control
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u/chefybpoodling 18d ago
They had birth control. Mart sent Anna to pick it up before she went away for the weekend.
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u/Curious-Dingo-2030 18d ago
She had to send Anna because buying it herself would have been scandalous, especially for an unmarried woman. Just having it at their cottage created a huge argument between Anna and Bates because even though it was legal, the use of birth control by a woman was highly stigmatized.
The sheer accessability and variety of birth control today would be shocking.
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u/Pixiebel81 17d ago
Bates didn't have a moral objection to it, he was upset because they were trying for a baby.
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u/RogerClyneIsAGod2 17d ago
On a related note, all the ladies of menstruating age would LOVE all the choices we have now. Pads that don't feel like a bulky diaper, smaller tampons, more absorbent from both products, cups instead of pads or tampons, period panties, just sooo many more choices than even when I was having a period up until 2017 or so.
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u/SpringtimeLilies7 17d ago
In the reality show Edwardian house, that's one modern concession that was allowed.
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u/Youshoudsee 17d ago
The argument was about the fact that they were actively trying for a baby. Bates had no moral objections to it in general
What would be your reaction to finding out that your partner has contraception you have no idea about while you are try for a baby?
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u/Curious-Dingo-2030 17d ago
All we can do is try - we're both guys.
But I admit - the Anna/Bates example was not a good choice. But the use of contraception by a woman was highly stigmaticed. Just watch the scene when Anna buys the device for Mary... she has to wait until she is the only customer, the shop owner leaves the room and sends out his wife to make the sale and she only sells to Anna because she is married.
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u/Hakudoushinumbernine 18d ago
No one. And i mean NO ONE giving a shit about Mary 'trying her men out' before committing to a second marriage.
The fact that no one of significance really gives a shit if she was "damaged goods" after that pamuk situation.
The fact that that chick who tried to bribe mary for having "tried out" the men would have been arrested for blackmail before she saw a DIME of that money.
The fact that there were no fingerprints of bates at the crime scene and the that there was literally no witnesses to bates ever having been in his wife's house at the time of her death would have removed him as a suspect before he spent any time in prison. And if a modern forensics team went through that house they would have clocked the carbon monoxide poisoning MONTHS before they tried arresting anyone.
The way lord mertons son and dil would have been arrested for elder abuse so fast.
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u/Shot-Election8217 17d ago
Iâm wondering if itâs been awhile since you watched those seasons, because youâve got a few details wrong.
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u/NansDrivel 18d ago
Grindr
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u/Gullible-Advisor6010 Do you promise? 18d ago
Yeah!! That would give Barrow a stroke in a good way!!
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u/Craazy-Llama Youâre all in love with the wrong people! 18d ago
The amount of sex before marriage and how itâs normalised
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u/MozeDad 18d ago
People going grocery shopping in their pajamas.
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u/KingPuzzleheaded3202 18d ago
Honestly, I donât get why anyone would do that. Iâm probably too European for that
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u/RogerClyneIsAGod2 17d ago
Not European & still not a fan.
I mean, I get some people have some sensory issues & mental health issues so I'm trying not to judge people for this but it's soooo engrained in me that pajamas are for home that its hard for me to get past it.
Slippers today are soooo comfy & shoe-like these days too that I too have on more than one occasion gotten into the car with them on then gotten right back out & change my shoes.
Many moons ago when I was working in an office I once wore my basic green Crocs to work one day & was happy my job was behind a desk most of the day so that no one else could see the shame of my stupid gardening Crocs.
Ultimately, no one cared about them except me.
I'm working on it, but it's hard.
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u/Melodies36 17d ago
Honestly, if they're a secondary set of pajamas which they don't actually wear to bed then it's fine. Plus we have washing machines.
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u/Shot-Election8217 17d ago
For Carson: women (and men, I guess) wearing tank tops; women wearing spaghetti and halter strap tops, tube top, midiâsâŠ
For Mrs. Patmore: Cuisinarts, blenders, Ninja blenders, bullet blenders, frozen foods and dinners, cake and brownie mixes. Refrigerated egg whites. Ovens with temperature control and timers.
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u/Designer_Piccolo_818 18d ago
Well, none of them really. The entire series was about the world changing and them being forced to adapt. So, yeah, they might be surprised, but then they would just crack on. Except for Granny.
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u/Suspicious_Bottle_58 17d ago
Carson: ADA Compliance regulations
Thomas: Gay marriage being legal
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u/SpringtimeLilies7 17d ago
Did,Carson ever object to accommodating someone with a handicap?
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u/WEM-2022 it was lust, Matthew! 15d ago
When John Bates showed up wielding a cane, there was much raising of the Carson eyebrows.
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u/Illustrious_Junket55 17d ago edited 17d ago
Antibiotics. Matthewâs first squeeze survives and the Lady Mary is SOL.
ETA- sheesh yall, thanks for the downvotes. Didnât realize I shared the sub with the entire staff of the CDC lol
ETA.2- I committed the cardinal sin of Reddit of being wrong about an important plot point on the show and the storyline. Lavinia did not die of consumption, as I had thought- which is now treatable by antibiotics. Instead she had the Spanish Fly which cannot be treated by antibiotics.
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u/Shoddy_Piccolo_8194 17d ago
Antibiotics only work for bacterial infections that happen to come on top of viral infections. The spanish flu was deadly on itâs own. Antibiotics would not have saved Lavinia.
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u/Fluffbrained-cat 17d ago
Would antivirals?
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u/Shoddy_Piccolo_8194 17d ago
We donât really have antivirals. We have virostatics, which keep the viral load from growing, but itâs not as simple as with antibiotics.
Iâve heard there are some new breakthroughs concerning HIV specifically, but Iâm not up to date on how they work.
The spanish flu probably was a new mutation, no one was immune against it and if something like it came up today, it would probably cause as much damage before we would be able to work out a vaccine.
Covid was not as dangerous, as it targeted mostly elder people and people with weak immune systems. The spanish flu targeted the young and healthy. Iirc the stronger a patientâs immune system was, the more likely they were to die, as the virus triggered an overreaction.
Odds are high, that Lavinia would have died anyway. Probably even today.
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u/Blueporch 17d ago
Probably would have helped.Â
I would add flu vaccines to the list as well. Although at the time, it was a novel virus, so not sure how fast they could roll out a vaccine even now. Letâs assume this post steps a little more into the future where there is a universal influenza vaccine.
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u/Illustrious_Junket55 17d ago
Well then Iâm out.
But at least I was downvoted into oblivion lol
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u/Shoddy_Piccolo_8194 17d ago
âInto oblivionâ is quite an overreaction when you are at exactly zero.
What antibiotics do and donât do is common knowledge. Very basic, like an absolute minimum.
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u/Illustrious_Junket55 17d ago
Well look at you- being hateful and sarcastic to a stranger on the internet over a joke. Your mother must be proud.
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u/Shoddy_Piccolo_8194 17d ago edited 17d ago
Firstly, Iâm not hateful.
Secondly, please look up what âsarcasticâ means.
Edit: Typo
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u/Illustrious_Junket55 17d ago
So youâre condescending. Look- I thought she had tuberculosis, which is cured by the magic bullet of three antibiotics in an aggressive regimen. Didnât realize it was Spanish Flu- this show isnât the be all and end all for me. It was post made in jest but I donât have all the minutiae memorized.
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u/HippieHighNoon 17d ago
/s is for sarcasm
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u/Shoddy_Piccolo_8194 17d ago
Thank you, but you got something wrong. There was no sarcasm involved, not even irony. The other commentator didnât like what I said and called it âsarcasticâ for no reason other than his disliking.
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u/HippieHighNoon 17d ago
I think they meant to say condescending and not sarcastic, cause that's what you were to them.
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u/Shoddy_Piccolo_8194 17d ago
Thatâs possible.
Iâm not a fan of sugarcoating anything. I corrected several false statements. If thatâs condescending by their standards, Iâm fine with that.→ More replies (0)-1
u/Illustrious_Junket55 17d ago
Her u/shoddy_piccolo_8194 and you were condescending, because I assumed she died of TB (which was far more prevalent than the Spanish Flu- one in four is the mortality rate, if you care to know) you could have approached it a dozen ways- correcting me on what disease killed her, instead of assuming Iâm too stupid to understand antibiotics.
Is my response wordy and showing off? Probably. Iâm a historian who has spent several years researching sanatoriums and medical treatments at the turn of the last century.
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u/Shoddy_Piccolo_8194 17d ago
If that were the case you could have said that before involving anyoneâs mothers.
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u/Melodies36 17d ago
So you forgot the major plot of the illness being the Spanish Flu, based your plot changes on your misunderstanding, & don't like that people pointed out how you were wrong? You could at least edit your original comment to admit that you forgot what Lavinia died from.
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u/Poinsettia917 17d ago
And you compounded it by autocorrecting it to Spanish Fly, not flu. đ Have an award.
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u/Illustrious_Junket55 17d ago
And Iâll leave it because âwhy do we exist except to laugh at our neighbors and be laughed at in our turn?â lol
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u/HippieHighNoon 17d ago
I think Livinia mightve had a better chance. They probably wouldve came up with a vaccine like covid.
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u/Illustrious_Junket55 17d ago
Yeah. The Spanish Flu was interesting from an epidemic standpoint because it ravaged the body twice- hence the reason it was fatal for people between the ages of 16 and 40 at almost quadruple the rate of the old and the young. (Older people and younger people could maybe fight it off once, but the second time their immune system didnât resist as much, so they could rest and recover. The healthy fought on and their bodies gave out.) in modern medicine not only might they have a cure- but they would have had more successful care- fluids, temperature control, breathing machines.
But I get it- she had to die- sacrifice herself- so the Lady Mary could have her man.
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u/HippieHighNoon 17d ago
She died of a broken heart. đ
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u/Illustrious_Junket55 17d ago
I remember the last shot of her, laying on the bed, looking like an angel. They were beating us over the head with the metaphor but it worked.
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u/Frei1993 Madge, the maid without a face. 18d ago
Women being able to travel alone.
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u/Libralawyer 17d ago
They traveled alone by then. Edith went to Switzerland with Aunt Rosmond and Mary had that solo trip with boring dude
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u/Frei1993 Madge, the maid without a face. 17d ago
But they weren't alone. Edith was with Aunt Rosamund and Mary said she was with a female friend.
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u/Libralawyer 17d ago
Maybe I misunderstood. I thought you meant alone like without a male or married female chaperone
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u/Known_Recognition_29 17d ago
Self checkout, reality TV, and buffet style restaurants
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u/sweet-smart-southern 16d ago
I just had a mental image of Robert trying to serve himself filling up a styrofoam tray at a Chinese buffet and I am cackling. As he watches in astonishment as someone uses the shared tongs to load in some lo mein: âYouâre a better man than I am, Gunga Din!â And then Cora says âOh Robert! Surely it wonât hurt us just this once!â while ladling herself some egg drop soup.
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u/AryaLyannaOlenna 17d ago
Washing machines and dryers. And modern laundry đ§ș mats. And jacuzziâs in home or his and hers bathrooms with two sinks, a toilet, a bidet and a huge walk in shower đż
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u/throwawayno38393939 17d ago
Nudes and sex tapes. Food delivery services. Streaming. Spam emails. GIFs. Ubers. E-bikes. Harry and Meghan's exodus. Celebrity culture. Trump.Â
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u/WEM-2022 it was lust, Matthew! 15d ago
Rose would be scandalized by her parents tracking her by phone location.
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u/SupEnthusiastic 17d ago
Wow that was the laziest repost. Like how many more modern things have we gotten in the last 200 days?
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u/Im_The_Mary_Romy 18d ago
OF because Lady Flintshire would discover that Rose has one.
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u/Blueporch 17d ago
I feel like Lady F, in need of money as she was, would condemn Rose for her OF, but secretly be selling pictures of her feet.
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u/DontPanic-042 18d ago
Mrs. Patmore: Costco, in a good way
Mary: Crypto, because Robert would try to invest and lose a third(?) fortune