Criticism of the romanticisation of aristocratic privilege in the film “Downton Abbey”

The one thing about "Downton Abbey" that I simply cannot bring myself to accept is the romanticisation of what are, in essence, monstrously unjust foundations, built upon feudal inheritance, the treacherous will of monarchs of old, very nearly slaveholding and vassal-suzerain relations. It is not easy to sympathise with people studded with diamonds on every side, who imagine that their lives hold some difficulties, who permit themselves to pine for lost grandeur and lament that they may have to give up the use of a portion of colossal riches, which in the final analysis they obtained by entirely unjust means, all for the sake of preserving their former comfort and standard of living. True, the makers of the film are evidently doing everything to reconcile monarchical ideas and institutions with the newest realities, but all the same the theatricality of the noble spectacle pushes somewhat into the background the unifying subtext and the conciliatory statement about women's rights, gay rights and diversity. All the same, it is hard to believe in the drama of a pound of diamonds