First of all let me say hello to the community, as this is my first post here. I've known about the community for awhile but I'm not really good at reviews. Today however it's a different day as I'd like to share my thoughts about this series and about how would I feel if I would be living in the gilded age.
A wide-eyed young scion of a conservative family embarks on a mission to infiltrate the wealthy neighboring clan dominated by ruthless railroad tycoon George Russell, his rakish son, Larry, and his ambitious wife, Bertha. source
Reading reviews about movies and series is not what I usually do before watching them. Reviews can influence my expectations and then comes disappointment. When I saw the poster, I thought let's see what this series has to offer to the viewers. Sometimes it's good to jump into the unknown.
There have been a good few episodes aired already of the first season. I haven't seen them all yet, but I love what I've seen so far. This series is a constant reminder of how different life has been back in those days. Today I'd like to point out a few things that seem important and sometimes funny to me.
We're talking of 1882, when women were daughters, wives, mothers, grandmothers and that's all. The more affluents sometimes had the chance to enjoy their childhood, till they were old enough to serve as an asset in the family business, to be married to some wealthy man, who was of noble origin and wealthy enough to contribute to increasing the family wealth. In other words these poor girls were sold to the highest bidder, literally.
The less fortunates were given to basically anyone, just to avoid them being a burden to the family and in both cases what came after the wedding was definitely not what these young girls were dreaming of.
These words put together sound funny when you think of those times, but believe it or not, there was a career for the wealthy women even those days and that was the charitable career. I'm not part of any wealthy society and there's a high chance I will never be, but what I see in TV, this career may still exist today. However, it may be different from what it was in those days.
While the wealthy were taught how to handle charity, the poor ones were busy learning cooking, cleaning and sewing as they knew once they were married, they will have to do all the housework themselves as hiring a maid for them was never an option. They were in fact the maids if they were lucky enough to be hired, sometimes starting at the age or 12.
Charity has two functions in our world my dear. First to raise funds for the less fortunate, which is holy good. The second is to provide a ladder for people to climb into society who do not belong there. - Christine Baranski as Agnes Van Rhijn in The Gilded Age, s01e05
This is what I quoted from the series in my post yesterday and said it it true today too. Back in those days it was the only way to buy your position in high societies. Money, appearance and status was everything those days.
There was on scene, in which I really felt how far the emancipation has come. This was the era of building the railway and obviously selling stocks was a way to get the necessary funds but we all know how the stock market works. It wasn't much different back in those days, just lacked digitalization, which meant speed of information was slower or should I say non existent.
What was funny about it was the stock price was falling and I was telling them Short it, short it! but there was no shorting option then I suppose, you had to wait till the bottom was in, then buy like crazy. I was thinking of how lucky I am to live in the 21th century and not only be in crypto, but also have a masters in economics. Women those days only knew what their husbands told them and when things got out of hand and they lost most, if not all their fortune, women were the ones carrying all the burden as it was easier for the men to shut themselves, rather than face the consequences.
I can't finish my post without mentioning the dress code. Women are known to do everything, to suffer as much as it is needed in order to look good, but those days ... ah, those days ... I was trying to imagine myself pressed into those dresses using a corset all day, every day. No wonder they were eating as much as a bird and fainting was part of their repertoire, to look vulnerable, to give men the feeling they need to be protected. I suppose wearing those dresses must have been a real challenge.
Growing up like these people were brought up made them cope with the situation as they had no other choice. For me, having a different mindset, knowing what I know today and having experienced what life looks like today, it would be very difficult to live in those days. However, it would be funny to travel back in time and live in the gilded age for a week or two. My biggest challenge would be to behave, to stick to the rules and to keep my mouth shut 😂 I suppose I would be constantly worried about the crypto market, the things I would be missing while trying to be someone I am not. I am used to freedom, to shaping my own future, to take matters in my own hands and obeying blindly just because men think they are superior would be difficult.
However, watching the series is fun and relaxing. Give it a try 🙂
