Downton Abbey: A New Era giv s sole gay character a happy endg

Contents:

• DOWNTON ABBEY'S THOMAS BARROW AND THE FUTURE OF THE GAY PAST
• THE ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ MOVIE’S GAY STORYLE ALMOST HAD A DARKER ENDG
• THE DIRECTOR OF “DOWNTON ABBEY” OPENED UP ABOUT THE MOVIE’S TOUCHG GAY STORYLE
• DOWNTON ABBEY ACTOR SAYS GAY ROLE HURT HIS CAREER — BUT IS HE RIGHT?
• DOWNTOWN ABBEY: THE NEW ERA – EVERYONE’S FAVORE GAY CHARACTER RETURNS
• THE ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ MOVIE GAY BAR SCENE IS ACTUALLY PRETTY HISTORILLY ACCURATE
• DOWNTON ABBEY’S ROB JAM-COLLIER REVEALS REACTN TO ‘HORRIFIC’ GAY STORYLE
• ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ ACTOR SAYS PLAYG A GAY CHARACTER HAS LEFT HIM “TYPEST”
• ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ DIRECTOR DISCS THE REALI OF CRAFTG A 1920S CLOSETED GAY ROMANCE
• ROB JAM-COLLIER SAYS HIS CHARACTER’S GAY ROMANCE IN ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ MOVIE IS ‘LOVELY’
• 'DOWNTON ABBEY': A GAY OLD TIME
• GAY BAR IN LOS ANGEL
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• GAY MOSW · CY GUI
• DOWNTOWN ABBEY: THE NEW ERA – EVERYONE’S FAVORE GAY CHARACTER RETURNS

DOWNTON ABBEY'S THOMAS BARROW AND THE FUTURE OF THE GAY PAST

Thomas Barrow (Rob Jam-Collier)—former footman, would-be blackmailer, and early morn homosexual everyman—is now head butler on staff, givg him ample opportuny to teract wh the visg stars, and particular, wh the bonair Guy Dexter (Domic Wt).

THE ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ MOVIE’S GAY STORYLE ALMOST HAD A DARKER ENDG

Is Thomas an accurate unveilg of historil homosexualy, hidn but fully formed, jt wag for to notice his existence? Hello to the future of the gay past.

In the film, dienc will see Barrow the ntext of a wir gay world for the first time: visg a secret gay bar, dodgg police harassment, and possibly even fdg love. "I thk one of the thgs that Downton Abbey don’t get right is that actually a great al more of those young men who were service were homosexual. Barrow is stantly regnizable as a morn gay man, even if he never que those words.

Gooch//Getty ImagOn the one hand, this feels like an elaboratn of that famo gay liberatn slogan “we are everywhere, ” expandg to be “we were everywhere” also.

THE DIRECTOR OF “DOWNTON ABBEY” OPENED UP ABOUT THE MOVIE’S TOUCHG GAY STORYLE

On the other hand, seems to remove sexualy om the doma of history entirely, suggtg that the experience of beg gay has always been the same, no matter the place or perd. While everyone else the show be, Barrow already qutn for queer Downton Abbey fans, then, is this: Is Thomas an accurate unveilg of historil homosexualy, hidn but fully formed, jt wag for to notice his existence? Or is he a backward projectn of our current ia of what means to be gay, an anachronism disguised as a revelatn?

Like Thomas Barrow, Alec Scudr seems preternaturally gay, fully aware of his sexual sir, that they are exclively for men, and that they mark him, irrevobly, as a different sort of person.

DOWNTON ABBEY ACTOR SAYS GAY ROLE HURT HIS CAREER — BUT IS HE RIGHT?

In the post-Edwardian perd, upper class men were more likely to already unrstand the world terms of heterosexuals and homosexuals, wh a bright and absolute le dividg the two.

DOWNTOWN ABBEY: THE NEW ERA – EVERYONE’S FAVORE GAY CHARACTER RETURNS

But whereas Scudr and Barrow seemed to thk of themselv as gay, el-Adl experienced his sire for men differently.

Increasgly, sexologists, policians, and wrers began to promulgate the ia that the behavrs were signifiers of homosexualy, to be surveilled and curtailed.

Compton Mackenzie, pictured send om the left the ont row, wrote several works about gay men. BettmannA workg class man like Thomas Barrow, livg the untrysi, was unlikely to have accs to this kd of rmatn about gay inty. As s passed, the neat fictn of bary sexualy beme broadly acknowledged “tth, ” leavg ls and ls space for middle-dwellg, workg-class men like Buckgham and an earlier and earlier age, people would be tght— streets as much as schools—that homosexuals existed, that they were unlike other men, and that any apparent “middle ground” was actually a slippery slope head straight to hell.

THE ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ MOVIE GAY BAR SCENE IS ACTUALLY PRETTY HISTORILLY ACCURATE

Barrow might have been an implsible outlier at the begng of the show 1912, but by the 1950s, workg class men who intified as homosexual were throngg the streets of London. Thomas Barrow, Downton Abbey‘s valet-turned-butler, whose dark journey durg the seri saw him take some wrenchg steps to try and “cure” himself of homosexualy, received a much more hopeful treatment the new feature film of the same name.

The film, which troduc Barrow to a world he has never seen before, a clanste unrground social scene where gay men n openly nnect, where he's led by Richard Ellis (Max Brown), part of the royal entourage that has e to vis Downton. Engler also spoke about the gay storyle wh Indiewire, about some of the choic that were ma when pictg the 1920s gay scene, particular the gay ‘speakeasy' that gets raid. Said Engler: “In pictg that world, that gatherg that he go to, we had to fd a way to tell that didn't feel anachronistic even though there's almost no rearch that one uld actually do about a place like that bee there was no gay bars York 1927.

There's people of lor gay bars, and there's guys who go to the gym and are mcle-y gay bars. Michael Engler, the director of the newly released Downton Abbey film, weighed on the importance project’s touchg gay urse, there will be major spoilers om this pot on, so if you haven’t seen the film yet, you may want to steer you rell, at the end of the six-season n of the origal Downton Abbey seri, most characters were blsed enough to get a satisfactory endg.

DOWNTON ABBEY’S ROB JAM-COLLIER REVEALS REACTN TO ‘HORRIFIC’ GAY STORYLE

Thomas had fleetg, clanste affairs wh other men, and at one pot the seri attempted to change his sexual clatns by unrgog gay nversn therapy. The two spend the rt of the night together walkg around and nnectg about their liv as closeted gay men.

Robert Jam-Collier is known ternatnally for his role as Thomas Barrow, the v gay unrbutler who brought trigue to the halls of Downton the perd drama, Barrow hid his sexual orientatn for fear would hurt his reer. And the straight actor who portrays him, Jam-Collier, believ this character's inty may have had nsequenc the morn-day real world as, an terview wh Rad Tim, said his renown for playg a gay role hred his chanc Hollywood. N intify que easily wh the qutsential English gent and English lady, whereas a nrotic, dark, gay character like Thomas is a hard thg to put to the Amerin market.

"Bee Thomas Barrow is gay and is, sentially, the bad guy for much of the show, a lot of people wh the dtry n only see you as that. He received offers for gay rol the theater world, which he refed bee he "really wanted to show somethg different. " He is now set to appear the upg horror movie The Rual, one of his first major parts sce Jam-Collier did enunter hurdl Hollywood for playg a gay role, his experience would be an exceptn -- at least morn tim.

‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ ACTOR SAYS PLAYG A GAY CHARACTER HAS LEFT HIM “TYPEST”

There are straight actors who have turned down gay rol for var reasons, cludg a fear would lim future opportuni. Will Smh said he limed the physily of his gay role Six Degre of Separatn, on a warng om Denzel Washgton, who said, "You n act all you want, but don't do any physil scen.... "But overall, Hollywood is full of straight actors who have won acclaim, awards, and a uful reer after playg gay rol.

However, for LGBTQ+ fans of Downton Abbey, there will be even more excement to see the return of gay character Thomas Barrow, who will be portrayed once aga by Rob Jam-Collier. Barrow is not jt a gay character, he’s not jt an openly gay character, and he’s not jt a gay character played by an openly gay actor. Homosexualy the early 20th century.

‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ DIRECTOR DISCS THE REALI OF CRAFTG A 1920S CLOSETED GAY ROMANCE

When Downton Abbey buted 2010, set self apart om other perd dramas by featurg a gay character — Thomas. Though homosexualy was illegal England until 1967, Julian Fellow ma sure to clu Thomas as part of his ensemble st.

In a past terview wh the Prs Associatn, Rob said his character’s storyle picts the cel treatment of beg a gay man way back the 1920s. And even though he had to al wh homophobia om other members of staff and society, he still found ways to make work for himself and, the end, managed to fd happs. In the new film, Thomas Barrow (Robert Jam-Collier) gets to vis a gay bar lled Turton's.

ROB JAM-COLLIER SAYS HIS CHARACTER’S GAY ROMANCE IN ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ MOVIE IS ‘LOVELY’

But once they're si, Thomas se that 's a secret bar filled wh gay men drkg, dancg, and generally havg a good time. A Vice article about the history of UK gay bars not that 18th century spac for gay men to meet that were known as "molly ho" are well-documented, but that siar meetg spac existed long before that. Historian Peter Ackroyd told the Guardian 2017, "As a percentage of the populatn, there were as many gay bars 18th-century London as there are today.

" In 1912, a bar lled The Cave of the Goln Calf, Bra's "first 'gay bar', as we know today", opened London, but was around for only two years. It wasn't until the Sexual Offens Act of 1967 that homosexual relatnships were crimalized, but that did not mean that there was full equaly Bra. Robert returns as Thomas (Picture: ITV)Former Corrie star Robert Jam-Collier has revealed his own reactn to landg an important gay storyle the upg Downton Abbey film.

The actor, who plays valet-turned-butler Thomas Barrow for the big-screen outg, after starrg the ITV drama, said his plotle shows the treatment of beg a gay man the 1920s. Speakg of beg given the opportuny to lift the lid on what was like, Jam said was an emotnal sight to a horrific perd for gay people. He’s opened up on his important storyle (Picture: PA)He ntued: ‘It also hammers home what was like to be a gay man those tim, was horrific and ’s brought back and jt shows how different was.

'DOWNTON ABBEY': A GAY OLD TIME

The Gild Age is tellg a different story about a closeted gay man than Downton Abbey but Osr van Rhijn has a better life than Thomas Barrow.

Barrow was a footman who was wily disliked by Downton's other servants for beg llo and cel, but he was also hidg the secret that he was gay. Barrow was eply unhappy and hated his life as a closeted homosexual, pecially when his few attempts to nnect wh other men were met wh risn and revulsn.

In Ellis, Barrow ma a te iend who was also gay, and he realized that he didn't have to be alone and unhappy any longer. The Gild Age's premiere episo, "Never The New, " revealed that Osr van Rhijn is gay, which no one but his lover, John Adams (Claybourne Elr), is aware of. Th, Osr has dited himself to accumulatg money by fdg an heirs to marry while matag his private life as a gay man.

GAY BAR IN LOS ANGEL

There's no possibily Osr n live openly as a gay man The Gild Age's 1882 New York, pecially not nsirg who his mother is, yet Osr seems to be makg the bt of his lot even if he's not pecially happy about . But stead of repeatg Barrow's Downton Abbey story The Gild Age, Julian Fellow, who created both seri, is wisely explorg a different kd of life for a closeted gay man 1882 New York Cy. Downton Abbey star Rob Jam-Collier has suggted that playg a gay character the show has hurt his reer.

“I thk dienc the US n intify que easily wh the qutsential English gent and English lady, ” he said, “whereas a nrotic, dark, gay character like Thomas is a hard thg to put to the Amerin market. “Bee Thomas Barrow is gay and is, sentially, the bad guy for much of the show, a lot of people wh the dtry n only see you as that, ” the actor ntued.

Jam-Collier also revealed that he has turned down theatril rol “which happened to be gay characters” sce Downton Abbey fished bee he “really wanted to show somethg different”.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

Meanwhile, Vlet reveals she once had a secret romance that has led her to bee the owner of a villa the South of and you miss the trailer, but gay valet Thomas Barrow (Rob Jam-Collier) appears to have a moment wh Wt's character.

After several seasons of heartbreak and anguish for the once-nefar footman, Thomas found his way to a gay bar and enjoyed a ltle romance the 2019 Downton Abbey film. "He wasn't aware of this entire world, this entire culture behd closed doors where there were like-md gay men who were ee and dancg together, kissg each other, and lerally jt allowed to be themselv and create this unique world hidn, but direct view, " Jam-Collier told The Advote about the scene a 2019 terview.

Gay butler Thomas Barrow fally gets his happy endg Downton Abbey: A New Era. This time, however, we’re treated to somethg new: a gay happy endg.

GAY MOSW · CY GUI

But on a trip to York, Barrow is ved to an unrground gay bar, where he is arrted after the club raid by police.

At a time when gay sex was punishable by life imprisonment, and gross cency by at least two years behd bars, Barrow was a prer suatn. It seemed that was Thomas’ bt chance at happs as a closeted gay man 1920s England. After all, he hadn’t had much luck love the past, and homosexualy was emed a crime at the time.

Left to his own vic, Thomas starts hangg out wh one of the royal servants and eventually stumbl upon an unrground gay nightclub full of men dancg, lghg, and drkg. “In pictg that world, that gatherg that he go to, we had to fd a way to tell that didn’t feel anachronistic even though there’s almost no rearch that one uld actually do about a place like that bee there was no gay bars York 1927, ” said Engler. Although there were rerds of tablishments London where gay men uld gather, those were primarily for procurg sex partners.

DOWNTOWN ABBEY: THE NEW ERA – EVERYONE’S FAVORE GAY CHARACTER RETURNS

There’s people of lor gay bars, and there’s guys who go to the gym and are mcle-y gay bars. Later, when the royal retue is about to take their leave of Downton, Richard reveals that he’s also gay and hop Thomas will stay touch.

Downton Abbey star Rob Jam-Collier has spoken out about his character’s gay storyle the six-season seri and now, film, Downton Abbey. More than that moment of romance, though, Downton Abbey fally giv portrays the secret gay subculture of 1920s England. ) Obvly that means we need to have a spoff seri about Robert's gay-bet days at Eton, but that's a discsn for another time.