Stereotypes In British TV Dramas.

Select one character from a British TV drama and explain how they are a 'stereotypical' representation of your area of study (sexuality).

A stereotypical view of homosexuality is that gay men tend to be more feminine than other males, take an interest in peoples appearance (mainly their own) and sometimes overreact about little things. The British TV drama I chose was Downton Abbey because it shows two types of stereotypes about homosexuality. The programme is set in an Edwardian country house during 1912, and shows the lives of the Crawely family and their servants. Thomas, the Crawely's first footman, played by Rob James Collier, is a 'closet gay'. This phrase is used to describe someone who is a homosexual, but no one knows about it, usually because the person fears rejection from people they know if they told them.


The programme mixes two stereotypes about homosexuals, the more 'modern' look, which I referred to above, and the more 'out dated' view. In 1912 homosexuality would have been something of disgust, and any gay acts were illegal until 1967, meaning it was almost impossible for people to be openly gay. This is shown in Downton Abbey when Thomas goes out on a date with another servant. The girl, who has no idea about Thomas' sexuality, receives a warning about Thomas from the cook, who brands him as 'a boy who has fallen off the tracks'. This is a stereotypical representation of homosexuals because the other characters are trying to tell the girl that Thomas is a bad person, someone who she shouldn't be associated with, without actually mentioning that he is gay, as it wasn't something people talked about in that period. It agrees with the public view of sexuality in 1912, reinforcing the stereotype that homosexuals are 'bad people'.


Thomas, as a character, is also cruel to the other servants and uses his sexuality to push himself higher up in the social ladder. This is also agreeing with the 1912 stereotype of homosexuals, as they were thought to be calculating and sleazy, which is supported by Thomas' manipulation of the Crawely's guest. However, this doesn't support today's stereotype of homosexuals because they are seen as feminine people, therefore quite gentle/dainty and not capable of manipulating someone.


At one point in the programme the other footman, William, comes downstairs with his shirt not tucked in properly, which Thomas picks up on immediately. Thomas then proceeds to berate William and gets the other servants to tease him about his scruffy appearance. This supports today's stereotype of homosexuals because it backs up the idea of gay people taking a interest in peoples appearance, as none of the other servants had noticed until Thomas pointed it out. He also overreacts about the whole thing, making a bigger production out of it than he needed to. This depicts Thomas as a stereotypical homosexual because he shows the personality trait of overreaction, which is something people associate with women and more feminine people, such as homosexuals.


To conclude, in Downton Abbey, Thomas is a stereotypical representation of homosexuality, but it focuses more on the 1912 stereotype, mainly because the programme is a period drama and therefore the characters act how they would have in 1912. Thomas is a stereotypical representation of homosexuality because he acts the way people expect closet gays to act, such as going out with women to cover up his sexuality, and he has the stereotypical personality traits of a gay male. I believe that Downton Abbey reinforces the stereotypical idea of homosexuals because they include all the stereotypical personality traits and relationships people would expect to see. This would avoid creating a cognitive dissonance, because it would agree with most people's views of homosexuals. Downton Abbey would try to avoid creating a cognitive dissonance so that more people would watch their programme, as for a Sunday night people want to relax before they have to go back to work/school, and therefore won't want to watch something that they don't agree with and ultimately, dislike.