I saw this brilliant article by GreenKneeHighs@tumblr, and I posted it to the Branson and Sybil spot, but I felt I should post it here, too, because I figure most Sybil/Branson fans are also fans of Branson, so would support this article without question, when the people who really NEED to read this are those Downton Abbey fans who don't like Sybil/Branson or Branson. I think this article really puts into perspective some of the comments Branson has made that have proved unpopular with the fandom.
Once again, I DID NOT write this article; all credit goes to GreenKneeHighs@tumblr.
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Concerning Branson and Sybil and *THAT* comment he made…
So since the last episode has aired, the Downton Abbey track tag has been practically EXPLODING with what seems like the entire fandom up-in-arms about Branson telling Sibyl that her job was unimportant. Needless to say I was a little worried, but what I found odd was as mad as people were getting mad about what Branson said, nobody had posted the actual line.
And then I watched the episode.
And I am fairly certain that I have never seen a single sentence so misinterpreted in my life.
So let’s start this off by repeating the EXACT thing Branson said to Sibyl when she told him that she wouldn’t run away with him, because that would mean leaving her family, her friends, her work-
•He responds with “What work?! Bringing hot drinks to a lot of randy officers?!”
•He diesn’t say “Your work is unimportant and mine is.”
•He didn’t say “Your job is stupid.”
•He says “What work?! Bringing hot drinks to a lot of randy officers?!”
•He isn’t denigrating her job.
•He’s denigrating the way she’s being utilized in her work.
•Because let’s think about it: Sibyl became a nurse in order to make a difference and care for seriously injured soldiers.
•Which is what she was doing at the hospital.
•But now her primary duties are at the convalescence home in Downton Abbey.
•A convalescence home is for those who have recovered from their injuries, but are still rehabilitating/learning how to cope now.
•In short, at this point the fear that said soldier is suddenly going to get worse and die is pretty much nonexistant, unless there’s some grave problem everyone’s overlooked.
•Downton also seems to cater especially to the needs of rehabilitating English OFFICERS.
•OFFICERS.
•I know that there are common soldiers there, but it seems like most of the attention is being focused on the OFFICERS.
•Who were more often than not UPPER CLASS.
•So at this stage of the game, what is technically Sibyl’s job?
•Changing sheets, giving sponge bathes to and serving hot beverages to ENGLISH OFFICERS.
•Which, as good as it is, is hardly tending to the seriously wounded COMMON SOLDIERand making the world a better place.
•Which is what Sibyl wanted to do in the first place.
•And what she isn’t doing.
•What Branson’s pointing out is by doing this work, she’s wasting her potential to do some serious good in the world and help the COMMON MAN, like she was doing before.
•Which, when (not IF, because the way the plot is going, it’s only a matter of time) Sibyl follows Branson to Ireland, she’ll be able to do by putting her nursing skills to good use during the Irish War of Independence.
•Which happend from 1919-1922.
•YOU KNOW, DURING THE THIRD SERIES.
•You’re probably also wondering why Branson is so pissed that Sibyl is waiting hand and foot on ENGLISH OFFICERS.
•The answer is very simple.
•Branson is Irish.
•Julian Fellowes made Branson Irish for a reason.
•(and it wasn’t just to fill his hot accent quota)
•At that point, Ireland was a part of the British Empire.
•As it had been for the past seven hundred years.
•SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS.
•Which was basically just England shitting on Ireland.
•FOR SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS.
•Remember what Sibyl said last week?
•“We weren’t at our best in Ireland…”
•GIRL.
•Let’s talk about how your ancestors:
•Drove the native Irish from their ancestral lands and built plantations on it, forcing those whom it once belong to work on it without pay and exploiting the land’s wealth for England.
•Killed off the Ireland’s native language in order to make them more English.
•While the Potato Famine wasn’t England’s fault, have you ever wondered why the native Irish didn’t just eat something else.
•IT WAS BECAUSE ALL OF THEIR OTHER CROPS AND THE OCEANS WERE RESERVED FOR ENGLISH CONSUMPTION.
•I am not even going to get into the religious fuckery.
•(although I will say that one of the main reasons why England didn’t provide more aid to Ireland during the Potato Famine? BECAUSE THE ENGLISH BELIEVED IT WAS DIVINE PUNISHMENT FOR THE MAJORITY OF IRISH PEOPLE BEING CATHOLIC)
•SIBYL DEAR I LOVE YOU, BUT WERE YOU ASLEEP DURING IRISH HISTORY CLASS?
•(not that she’d even have an Irish history class, but whatever)
•What I am trying to say is, since Ireland was under English control, they spent centuries making the Irish as English as possible.
•And even when they had adopted all those English things, they were still treated as inferior, simply because they were Irish, not English.
•(this conqueror imposing its various system on the conquered happens all the time in dominions and colonies)
•(there’s a name for it but I forgot it and I don’t know where I put my Irish history notebook)
•(but I assure you it’s a real thing)
•Branson, therefore, is treated as a second class citizen by the English simply because he was Irish.
•He always has been.
•And he always will be if things continue the way they are, even if he lives the rest of his life in England, since one can’t change their nationality.
•(George Bernard Shaw, who was born in Dublin, once said this: “Eternal is the fact that the human creature born in Ireland and brought up in its air is Irish. I have lived for twenty years in Ireland and for seventy-two in England; but the twenty came first and in Britain I am still a foreigner and shall die one.” Shaw was almost a hundred when he died in England, was lauded as a playwright and yet…he never felt totally accepted)
•Hell, even the servants treat Branson as an inferior.
•(except O’Brien)
•(but that’s probably because she’s Irish too)
•(which is why she’s treated as a second-class citizen as well)
•(which explains why she’s so bitter all the time)
•And you know what’s even worse about being treated as a second-class citizen?
•You get forced into having all the responsabilities of a normal citizen without any of the rights of like.
•Take World War I for example.
•The Irish didn’t want to fight in World War I.
•They believed that fighting for “King and Country” was absolutely ludicrous, especially since said “King and Country” had been treating them so poorly since practically forever.
•Not to mention that the British army periodically went around Ireland to “patrol” it and were systematically awful.
•(remember what Branson said about his cousin the week before and how he was shot to death by a British soldier for being a bystander to the Easter Rising of 1916?)
•(yeah, that stuff happened ALL THE TIME.)
•So Ireland REALLY didn’t want want to fight England’s battles.
•But England was like “WHELP, TOO BAD! GO BE CANNON FODDER.”
•Which a lot of Irish people ended up having to do, because it was the only job available for them.
•And many of them ended up dying for a war they didn’t believe in.
•And at the time of the latest episode (1918), Britain was planning on beginning the conscription process in Ireland.
•So I think we can all understand now why Branson planned on staging a protest had he been drafted into the British army.
•And why he planned on dumping that bucket full of crap onto the English general’s head.
•And why he isn’t particularly enamoured of the English officers that Sibyl has to serve.
•Which brings me to another point.
•Branson is a socialist.
•And being a socialist, he doesn’t give a fuck about the class system.
•And as I said before, most English OFFICERS were part of the higher classes.
•(look at Matthew)
•(as much as I like him, I am pretty sure he is only an officer because he’s the heir of an English house)
•And if you can remember, a lot of the English upper-class made their money exploiting Ireland and the Irish.
•And many of them were just generally assholes and treated anyone who wasn’t English like crap.
•And also a lot of time even those who were.
•Just because they had a title, they believed they were entitled to anything they wanted to.
•Like screwing the maids.
•And probably being a little bit too forward to the daughters of the house.
•(there’s just so much we don’t see)
•(and obviously you had the situation with that officer making the beast with the two backs with Ethel in that spare room)
•(and with all the skipping around this show does, who isn’t to say that Branson didn’t one day see some officer get fresh with Sibyl and pinch her ass or something? And Branson then probably wanted to pummel that guy’s teeth into the back of his throat)
•(women-especially nurses-were just told to laugh it off and deal with it back then)
• So let’s look her again at what Branson said: “What work?! Bringing hot drinks to a lot of randy officers?!”
•What he’s actually saying is: “What work?! You are being under utilized and your potential is being wasted acting like a maid to a bunch of useless English toffs, instead of putting your nursing skills to good use like I know you want to!”
•So see? He’s NOT putting down her work. He’s putting down the fact her potential is being wasted babying these guys.
•Although, I will admit, he could have phrased it in a better way, like “What work?! Your skills are being wasted here on these idiots!”
•But he didn’t because one says stupid things when one’s angry and because Branson, like all good characters, is flawed.
•And if this doesn’t convince you, then perhaps Allen Leech’s tweet about how they CUT OUT Branson’s apology in the final edit of the episode will.
•So we can all stop hating him now.
•Please.
•Because I bet you anything that during the Christmas episode they’re going to run off together and next season will be SIBYL AND BRANSON TOGETHER FIGHTING IN THE IRISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
•NEXT UP: HOW YOU CAN TELL THAT SIBYL REALLY LOVES BRANSON AND HOW HE IS JUST STATING THE FACTS AND NOT “PUSHING” HER INTO ANYTHING, LIKE I KEEP SEEING PEOPLE SAY.
EDIT: It has come to my attention that I spelled Sybil’s name wrong and for that I am sorry; please don’t let the fact I did invalidate what I have to say.
------------------------------------------------
So what did you guys think? Especially the haters; did it change your opinion of Branson and his relationship with Sybil at all?
Once again, I DID NOT write this article; all credit goes to GreenKneeHighs@tumblr.
------------------------------------------------
Concerning Branson and Sybil and *THAT* comment he made…
So since the last episode has aired, the Downton Abbey track tag has been practically EXPLODING with what seems like the entire fandom up-in-arms about Branson telling Sibyl that her job was unimportant. Needless to say I was a little worried, but what I found odd was as mad as people were getting mad about what Branson said, nobody had posted the actual line.
And then I watched the episode.
And I am fairly certain that I have never seen a single sentence so misinterpreted in my life.
So let’s start this off by repeating the EXACT thing Branson said to Sibyl when she told him that she wouldn’t run away with him, because that would mean leaving her family, her friends, her work-
•He responds with “What work?! Bringing hot drinks to a lot of randy officers?!”
•He diesn’t say “Your work is unimportant and mine is.”
•He didn’t say “Your job is stupid.”
•He says “What work?! Bringing hot drinks to a lot of randy officers?!”
•He isn’t denigrating her job.
•He’s denigrating the way she’s being utilized in her work.
•Because let’s think about it: Sibyl became a nurse in order to make a difference and care for seriously injured soldiers.
•Which is what she was doing at the hospital.
•But now her primary duties are at the convalescence home in Downton Abbey.
•A convalescence home is for those who have recovered from their injuries, but are still rehabilitating/learning how to cope now.
•In short, at this point the fear that said soldier is suddenly going to get worse and die is pretty much nonexistant, unless there’s some grave problem everyone’s overlooked.
•Downton also seems to cater especially to the needs of rehabilitating English OFFICERS.
•OFFICERS.
•I know that there are common soldiers there, but it seems like most of the attention is being focused on the OFFICERS.
•Who were more often than not UPPER CLASS.
•So at this stage of the game, what is technically Sibyl’s job?
•Changing sheets, giving sponge bathes to and serving hot beverages to ENGLISH OFFICERS.
•Which, as good as it is, is hardly tending to the seriously wounded COMMON SOLDIERand making the world a better place.
•Which is what Sibyl wanted to do in the first place.
•And what she isn’t doing.
•What Branson’s pointing out is by doing this work, she’s wasting her potential to do some serious good in the world and help the COMMON MAN, like she was doing before.
•Which, when (not IF, because the way the plot is going, it’s only a matter of time) Sibyl follows Branson to Ireland, she’ll be able to do by putting her nursing skills to good use during the Irish War of Independence.
•Which happend from 1919-1922.
•YOU KNOW, DURING THE THIRD SERIES.
•You’re probably also wondering why Branson is so pissed that Sibyl is waiting hand and foot on ENGLISH OFFICERS.
•The answer is very simple.
•Branson is Irish.
•Julian Fellowes made Branson Irish for a reason.
•(and it wasn’t just to fill his hot accent quota)
•At that point, Ireland was a part of the British Empire.
•As it had been for the past seven hundred years.
•SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS.
•Which was basically just England shitting on Ireland.
•FOR SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS.
•Remember what Sibyl said last week?
•“We weren’t at our best in Ireland…”
•GIRL.
•Let’s talk about how your ancestors:
•Drove the native Irish from their ancestral lands and built plantations on it, forcing those whom it once belong to work on it without pay and exploiting the land’s wealth for England.
•Killed off the Ireland’s native language in order to make them more English.
•While the Potato Famine wasn’t England’s fault, have you ever wondered why the native Irish didn’t just eat something else.
•IT WAS BECAUSE ALL OF THEIR OTHER CROPS AND THE OCEANS WERE RESERVED FOR ENGLISH CONSUMPTION.
•I am not even going to get into the religious fuckery.
•(although I will say that one of the main reasons why England didn’t provide more aid to Ireland during the Potato Famine? BECAUSE THE ENGLISH BELIEVED IT WAS DIVINE PUNISHMENT FOR THE MAJORITY OF IRISH PEOPLE BEING CATHOLIC)
•SIBYL DEAR I LOVE YOU, BUT WERE YOU ASLEEP DURING IRISH HISTORY CLASS?
•(not that she’d even have an Irish history class, but whatever)
•What I am trying to say is, since Ireland was under English control, they spent centuries making the Irish as English as possible.
•And even when they had adopted all those English things, they were still treated as inferior, simply because they were Irish, not English.
•(this conqueror imposing its various system on the conquered happens all the time in dominions and colonies)
•(there’s a name for it but I forgot it and I don’t know where I put my Irish history notebook)
•(but I assure you it’s a real thing)
•Branson, therefore, is treated as a second class citizen by the English simply because he was Irish.
•He always has been.
•And he always will be if things continue the way they are, even if he lives the rest of his life in England, since one can’t change their nationality.
•(George Bernard Shaw, who was born in Dublin, once said this: “Eternal is the fact that the human creature born in Ireland and brought up in its air is Irish. I have lived for twenty years in Ireland and for seventy-two in England; but the twenty came first and in Britain I am still a foreigner and shall die one.” Shaw was almost a hundred when he died in England, was lauded as a playwright and yet…he never felt totally accepted)
•Hell, even the servants treat Branson as an inferior.
•(except O’Brien)
•(but that’s probably because she’s Irish too)
•(which is why she’s treated as a second-class citizen as well)
•(which explains why she’s so bitter all the time)
•And you know what’s even worse about being treated as a second-class citizen?
•You get forced into having all the responsabilities of a normal citizen without any of the rights of like.
•Take World War I for example.
•The Irish didn’t want to fight in World War I.
•They believed that fighting for “King and Country” was absolutely ludicrous, especially since said “King and Country” had been treating them so poorly since practically forever.
•Not to mention that the British army periodically went around Ireland to “patrol” it and were systematically awful.
•(remember what Branson said about his cousin the week before and how he was shot to death by a British soldier for being a bystander to the Easter Rising of 1916?)
•(yeah, that stuff happened ALL THE TIME.)
•So Ireland REALLY didn’t want want to fight England’s battles.
•But England was like “WHELP, TOO BAD! GO BE CANNON FODDER.”
•Which a lot of Irish people ended up having to do, because it was the only job available for them.
•And many of them ended up dying for a war they didn’t believe in.
•And at the time of the latest episode (1918), Britain was planning on beginning the conscription process in Ireland.
•So I think we can all understand now why Branson planned on staging a protest had he been drafted into the British army.
•And why he planned on dumping that bucket full of crap onto the English general’s head.
•And why he isn’t particularly enamoured of the English officers that Sibyl has to serve.
•Which brings me to another point.
•Branson is a socialist.
•And being a socialist, he doesn’t give a fuck about the class system.
•And as I said before, most English OFFICERS were part of the higher classes.
•(look at Matthew)
•(as much as I like him, I am pretty sure he is only an officer because he’s the heir of an English house)
•And if you can remember, a lot of the English upper-class made their money exploiting Ireland and the Irish.
•And many of them were just generally assholes and treated anyone who wasn’t English like crap.
•And also a lot of time even those who were.
•Just because they had a title, they believed they were entitled to anything they wanted to.
•Like screwing the maids.
•And probably being a little bit too forward to the daughters of the house.
•(there’s just so much we don’t see)
•(and obviously you had the situation with that officer making the beast with the two backs with Ethel in that spare room)
•(and with all the skipping around this show does, who isn’t to say that Branson didn’t one day see some officer get fresh with Sibyl and pinch her ass or something? And Branson then probably wanted to pummel that guy’s teeth into the back of his throat)
•(women-especially nurses-were just told to laugh it off and deal with it back then)
• So let’s look her again at what Branson said: “What work?! Bringing hot drinks to a lot of randy officers?!”
•What he’s actually saying is: “What work?! You are being under utilized and your potential is being wasted acting like a maid to a bunch of useless English toffs, instead of putting your nursing skills to good use like I know you want to!”
•So see? He’s NOT putting down her work. He’s putting down the fact her potential is being wasted babying these guys.
•Although, I will admit, he could have phrased it in a better way, like “What work?! Your skills are being wasted here on these idiots!”
•But he didn’t because one says stupid things when one’s angry and because Branson, like all good characters, is flawed.
•And if this doesn’t convince you, then perhaps Allen Leech’s tweet about how they CUT OUT Branson’s apology in the final edit of the episode will.
•So we can all stop hating him now.
•Please.
•Because I bet you anything that during the Christmas episode they’re going to run off together and next season will be SIBYL AND BRANSON TOGETHER FIGHTING IN THE IRISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
•NEXT UP: HOW YOU CAN TELL THAT SIBYL REALLY LOVES BRANSON AND HOW HE IS JUST STATING THE FACTS AND NOT “PUSHING” HER INTO ANYTHING, LIKE I KEEP SEEING PEOPLE SAY.
EDIT: It has come to my attention that I spelled Sybil’s name wrong and for that I am sorry; please don’t let the fact I did invalidate what I have to say.
------------------------------------------------
So what did you guys think? Especially the haters; did it change your opinion of Branson and his relationship with Sybil at all?
