BLOG 131: PROUD and PREJUDICED!!!!

"This is the final test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him." William Phelps (British Colonist)

I have to admit to a standard lady crush on Colin Firth. The 50 year old British Actor features on most women (of a certain age) secret crush list... which is odd as there is little about his actual packaging that can be found on most women (of a certain age) desirable list. And yet..the crush continues...despite all reason.

Like most who enjoy this crush, I do not fancy Colin Firth. I have had the pleasure of seeing him in real life, and I have to admit that if you were that way persuaded he is undoubtedly an attractive man – but I have to admit that he does not ring my bell. Mr Firth ( or his gorgeous Italian wife) have no need to worry about him having to be a gentleman around me ….as I have no desire to compromise him. Colin Firth does not rise my passions... so what is with the crush?

Well... in his roles, in his real life... Colin Firth comes over as a Respectable Gentleman.

And no... this is not to do with the fact he played Mr Darcy in the now legendary 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. (I prefer Elliot Cowan's Darcy in ITV's 2008 'Lost in Austen'). This is not just about the roles he plays, there is something about the man that communicates Respectable Gentleman. It's just that you just can't imagine Colin Firth displaying the less attractive but often celebrated elements of masculinity. You can imagine him firmly repelling adverse situation with nothing more than a disapproving glance. This is to do with the quiet masculinity, the certain sense of what is right, the strength that comes with being respectable.

And it is the ultimate magnate to women... this concept of male respectability. And there is not one nation on this planet that packages the idea of the Respectable Gentleman better than the British.

The concept of the gentleman in the UK is not merely a social or class designation. True, as with all thinks UK social class has a lot to do with it... originally members of the British aristocracy were Respectable Gentlemen by right of birth … BUT in the case of being a Respectable Gentleman paradoxically enough, that birth alone could not make a man a member of this desirable status. But being Respectable Gentleman did used to require a certain degree of financial security and social influence.

By the 1800's the waters were very muddied... clergy belonging to the Church of England, army officers, members of Parliament — were recognized as gentlemen by virtue of their occupation, while members of numerous other eminently respectable professions — engineers, for example — were not. The whole concept was due an overhaul.

The modern rules of what makes a gentleman were founded in Victorian times when the new industrial and mercantile elites, in the face of opposition from the aristocracy, inevitably attempted to have themselves designated as gentlemen as a natural consequence of their growing wealth and influence. But the eventually, the Victorians settled on a compromise: by the latter part of the century, it was almost universally accepted that the recipient of a traditional liberal education based largely on Latin at one of the elite public school — Eton, Harrow, Rugby, and so on — would be recognized as a gentleman, no matter what his origins had been.

However as the Victorian period wandered into the 20^th Century the concept of the Respectable Gentleman became more behaviourally based. Yes financial security remained desirable (and NEVER mentioned) but social status less so. It became about cultivating impeccable manners, an implacable expression and a strong sense of fair play. A Respectable Gentleman must be patriotic but not shout about it, and always be perfectly turned out but not vain about it.

A Respectable Gentleman does not have a concern with power and the need to triumph or to win. He is primarily concerned with people, courtesy and kindness. He would never promulgate his own ideologies or justify pettiness and lack of feeling for people. A Respectable Gentleman would never reward qualities that arise from his sex, race, class or creed. He is the safe depository for trust that will not be misplaced.

So you can imagine my dismay to discover that Colin Firth... the poster boy for the Respectable Gentleman has recently been quoted as saying:

"It's true, I'm very associated with this stereotype, but I don't think that exists except in the roles I play.”

OH NO!!! … The Respectable Gentleman does NOT exist????

Well...I must say.... THAT was not very gentlemanly Col was it? What happened to the safe depository for trust that will not be displaced???

I'm so distraught! That was like telling kiddies that Santa isn't real!!!

(Side track here...Andrew Yau at the University of Calgary has proof Santa exists, www.nserc.gc.ca. )

Back to the main point...

There is a chink of hope here...

The mark of a Respectable Gentleman is NOT his infallibility it is his ability to retract a mistake.

Mr Firth... on behalf of all believers in the state of Respectable Gentleman-hood, I invite you to take advantage of the many avenues which are open to you to retract this statement so that we may grant you safe passage on the single path to forgiveness!

Come on Colin... I'M WAITING!

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