#thomasguy tag

[adamsvanrhijn]

I wonder if Thomas is travelling with Guy as his servant and therefore if there is a servant's quarters Thomas would go there. I didn't think about it but someone brought it up in a post. Personally I interpreted the job as a PA type thing.

Is this just in the context of DA3 or like, in general? I'm curious what their reasoning was, because I don't think that makes sense with what we know!

Context + canon refresher since I just saw the movie and it's fresh in my mind...

First of all, "servants' quarters" isn't even a universal concept—especially by this point in the 20th century, especially outside of the UK.

By 1928 and especially by 1930, the vast majority of people do not have servants, let alone live-in servants who travel with them. Domestic workers like cooks and cleaners are likely to not live where they work and to have more than one client. Some services a lady's maid or a valet might have provided, like mending or planning travel or personal shopping, are outsourced; some, like dressing a person, are simply not relevant anymore.

Such that, if you're traveling with your same-sex companion/partner/lover who is not your servant, you don't gain any safety or security by falsely claiming that they are your servant — if anything, you're shooting yourselves in the foot when it comes to being able to interact normally in front of others & inconveniencing your host who probably isn't prepared for this scenario.

When you & your lover already present to strangers as, & are in fact also in, a lateral professional relationship, there isn't really a reason to claim otherwise. Way easier to tell the truth, including that you both have identical accommodation needs. With hosts who don't have all the details, this would most likely look like adjacent rooms, adjoining rooms, a suite or room with multiple beds, etc. Obviously for familiar hosts who do have the details it can be whatever the host & guests would like.

Changing that up just because you happen to visit a rich person who has live-in servants with dedicated servant accommodations doesn't really make sense and is very inconvenient and complicated. In addition to being a bad move where your relationship's longevity is concerned.

Anyway, on top of all that, Guy says out loud on screen that he doesn't even see value in the social role associated with servants when he speaks with Thomas in the butler's pantry:

THOMAS: Suppose someone comes in. What would they say?

GUY: I don't care. I've lived in America for ten years now. I don't believe in that stuff anymore.

We see him demonstrate this with how he treats and speaks to others while he's at Downton. With Thomas specifically, a couple examples of this are, when he insists that he and Thomas address one another as equals, and in an even more revealing way, in their first 1:1 interaction, when he doesn't seem to be thinking about it and speaks to Thomas with more familiarity —light-hearted teasing — than most would find appropriate in context between a guest and a servant, which he seems to then realize after the fact (based at least in part on Thomas's reaction) and immediately explain and apologize for. It's giving season 1 episode 2 Matthew Crawley but way more thoughtful. Some characters could never!!!! 👀

HOWEVER, none of the above context even matters...

...because Guy also says out loud that he expects as part of what he is proposing that Thomas will be comfortable on his own terms with however much involvement or meaning he wants, making the choice to clarify this out loud rather than leave it ambiguous (emphasis mine)—

GUY: Hollywood gets some bad publicity, but I live in a place called Hancock Park, and it's... it's pretty nice.

THOMAS: I can believe it.

GUY: Well, why don't you come and see for yourself?

THOMAS: What.

GUY: I mean it. I travel a lot for my work, and I don't have a wife to look after me, so... [pause] ...you could do it.

THOMAS: I'd be your valet?

GUY: More than that. You'd run the house and organize our journeys, make me comfortable. [beat] Make us both comfortable. ...Of course, if my career folds, then we'd have to think again, but...

THOMAS: Your career won't fold.

and

THOMAS: Tell me, did your offer mean what I think it did?

GUY: It can mean as much or as little as you like.

THOMAS: I'd like it to mean a great deal.

GUY: Then you're in luck.

So like, Thomas being the one responsible for figuring out the travel in the first place and making BOTH of them comfortable... He is the one who gets to make that choice!!

& I personally don't think that's at all what Guy would hope Thomas would choose... or that he [Guy] would let it go undiscussed if he [Thomas] did make that choice. That does not appear to be at all what Guy has in mind. Even if they're keeping things strictly professional, I think his expectation on traveling arrangements would be what I describe above for two professionals traveling together—same exact level of accommodation, near enough for work coordination & collaboration, but they're not stepping on each other's toes and can lock the door on each other if they so wish.

My personal interpretation, supported by Dominic West saying Thomas is Guy's lover in that interview recently, is that Actually when they are traveling together they are simply not going to lock the door on each other though 😌💅🏻 They have their reasons 😌💅🏻

[siamesecatloves]

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