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shallownessOutrageous - 1.3 Sparks Light Fires
This covered 1934, mainly. It finally sank in with me that Decca is the one obsessed with Communists, although she didn’t do very much except read and crush on her second cousin from afar because of his revolutionary zeal (absconding from boarding school and co-writing a book.) There was a lot about Unity, and a hint for modern viewers that she might have been neurodiverse. Mainly, because of her obsession with Hitler (and his ideology), she was campaigning to go to a finishing school in Munich. Perhaps because she sold it as being cheap, she got her way. There she became a stalker, basically, booking a table at a restaurant Hitler (only seen in pictures and from the back) frequented.
Diana confessed to Nancy she needed an abortion, Mosely would pay, but couldn’t come, would Nancy? Of course she would. It looked clean for an expensive backstreet clinic, although there was one clever and suggestive shot of an endless corridor.
They tried to fake out that Diana had died from the procedure, but she hadn’t (but was still haemorrhaging about a month later). All the Mitfords had come together for Easter, bringing a sheep to church, where Unity carved a swastika in a pew, while Decca stole collection money for a more red-approved collection, all behind their parents’ backs.
Thing was, Nancy had breezily agreed to write a novel poking fun at the fascist movement. It took Pam to point out that Diana and Unity might have A View about that. But Nancy had already spent the advance, because her husband had two problems: drinking and not getting a job, possibly linked.
Nancy tried softening the satire, but then she and Peter went to see a fascist rally, which turned violent and shook them both. By the time she had the manuscript ready, the fascists had gained in popularity in the UK, giving Joss quite the chill.
Decca was arguing that this book she’d raid said that things were not all right in Germany (what we heard her citing sounded quite accurate.) Her brother and Marve said that wasn’t what they’d witnessed when visiting, (but Marve clearly couldn’t speak German, so let’s presume that she didn’t understand the sign forbidding Jews, and not assume that she was as antisemitic as plenty of British people would have been in 1934) and it wasn’t what the Times was reporting either. Farve and Jessica just wanted to eat their meal in peace. Nancy tried to sit on the fence.
When Diana read the manuscript, along with Mosely, we got to see what modern viewers should recognise as coercive control and a few red flags from him. But then, his public persona had already raised a few red flags among more thoughtful democrats (Nancy), the marginalised (Joss) and Communists (Decca, who would have preferred literal red flags.) Diana repeated his line about wanting Nancy to show her loyalty, and then challenged Nancy to say what she really thought – totally fair, that last. Nancy admitted tersely that she didn’t like the man or the public persona. RIFT.
So, when Nancy came home, no, she wasn’t up to drinks with friends. The closing scene would be of her waking up (while Peter slept the sleep of the drunk) to the bailiffs coming for their downstairs furniture, because they were so in debt. We’d earlier seen Marve reading the books behind Farve’s back, and finally realising that things were bad, which had led to her tentatively suggesting a separate bank account to Nancy – who’d already used up her savings and advance, and they were still in the red. And now had to face the consequences.
This covered 1934, mainly. It finally sank in with me that Decca is the one obsessed with Communists, although she didn’t do very much except read and crush on her second cousin from afar because of his revolutionary zeal (absconding from boarding school and co-writing a book.) There was a lot about Unity, and a hint for modern viewers that she might have been neurodiverse. Mainly, because of her obsession with Hitler (and his ideology), she was campaigning to go to a finishing school in Munich. Perhaps because she sold it as being cheap, she got her way. There she became a stalker, basically, booking a table at a restaurant Hitler (only seen in pictures and from the back) frequented.
Diana confessed to Nancy she needed an abortion, Mosely would pay, but couldn’t come, would Nancy? Of course she would. It looked clean for an expensive backstreet clinic, although there was one clever and suggestive shot of an endless corridor.
They tried to fake out that Diana had died from the procedure, but she hadn’t (but was still haemorrhaging about a month later). All the Mitfords had come together for Easter, bringing a sheep to church, where Unity carved a swastika in a pew, while Decca stole collection money for a more red-approved collection, all behind their parents’ backs.
Thing was, Nancy had breezily agreed to write a novel poking fun at the fascist movement. It took Pam to point out that Diana and Unity might have A View about that. But Nancy had already spent the advance, because her husband had two problems: drinking and not getting a job, possibly linked.
Nancy tried softening the satire, but then she and Peter went to see a fascist rally, which turned violent and shook them both. By the time she had the manuscript ready, the fascists had gained in popularity in the UK, giving Joss quite the chill.
Decca was arguing that this book she’d raid said that things were not all right in Germany (what we heard her citing sounded quite accurate.) Her brother and Marve said that wasn’t what they’d witnessed when visiting, (but Marve clearly couldn’t speak German, so let’s presume that she didn’t understand the sign forbidding Jews, and not assume that she was as antisemitic as plenty of British people would have been in 1934) and it wasn’t what the Times was reporting either. Farve and Jessica just wanted to eat their meal in peace. Nancy tried to sit on the fence.
When Diana read the manuscript, along with Mosely, we got to see what modern viewers should recognise as coercive control and a few red flags from him. But then, his public persona had already raised a few red flags among more thoughtful democrats (Nancy), the marginalised (Joss) and Communists (Decca, who would have preferred literal red flags.) Diana repeated his line about wanting Nancy to show her loyalty, and then challenged Nancy to say what she really thought – totally fair, that last. Nancy admitted tersely that she didn’t like the man or the public persona. RIFT.
So, when Nancy came home, no, she wasn’t up to drinks with friends. The closing scene would be of her waking up (while Peter slept the sleep of the drunk) to the bailiffs coming for their downstairs furniture, because they were so in debt. We’d earlier seen Marve reading the books behind Farve’s back, and finally realising that things were bad, which had led to her tentatively suggesting a separate bank account to Nancy – who’d already used up her savings and advance, and they were still in the red. And now had to face the consequences.
