Smokers are Evil. At least on TV.
Oct. 3rd, 2011 07:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
haikittehJust another example of one of my favorite film & TV tropes: Smokers are evil.
In Downton Abbey, a British soap opera set during WWI, disgruntled footman Thomas and scheming ladies' maid O'Brien plot to take down their perceived enemies during that time so sacred to TV villians everywhere: the smoking break. While they puff, they vent their vitriol and conspire to manipulate those who would oppose them!
But the end of Season One brings O'Brien's comeuppance: she makes a mistake that moves her stony heart to regret and even sympathy for someone she's wronged. When we revisit her plotting with Thomas in Season Two, it's not enough to show us through dialogue and action that she's had this change of heart. No, there is only one thing that will convey to the audience the depth of her character's development. When she stands in the courtyard to plot her next move with Thomas, he is smoking, and she is not. Yes, gentle viewers, regret has cured her addiction to tobacco!
In Downton Abbey, a British soap opera set during WWI, disgruntled footman Thomas and scheming ladies' maid O'Brien plot to take down their perceived enemies during that time so sacred to TV villians everywhere: the smoking break. While they puff, they vent their vitriol and conspire to manipulate those who would oppose them!
But the end of Season One brings O'Brien's comeuppance: she makes a mistake that moves her stony heart to regret and even sympathy for someone she's wronged. When we revisit her plotting with Thomas in Season Two, it's not enough to show us through dialogue and action that she's had this change of heart. No, there is only one thing that will convey to the audience the depth of her character's development. When she stands in the courtyard to plot her next move with Thomas, he is smoking, and she is not. Yes, gentle viewers, regret has cured her addiction to tobacco!
