B-U-C-K-E-T “No, I assure you it’s pronounced Bouquet.”
From the show "Keeping Up Appearecence(sp?).
I know some British folk who say that no real British women would ever act like that. And that is it just what Americans think the British are like. While I agree it’s probably exaggerated to play the comedy angle, the show wasn’t meant to play to American audiences.
I can’t see an American version being done as we don’t have a class system like Britian…But is it somewhat realistic in terms of at least some Brits acting like “Our Hyacinth.”
It’s a caricature - it picks out a set of features which are oh-so-true for many Brits, and magnifies them to the point of ridicule. I doubt there’s anyone actually like her, but there’s many who are that way inclined
The divisions between the British classes are becoming more blurred these days, but heres a brief summary:
Working class: Blue collar workers
Lower Middle class: White collar workers, comfortably off
Upper Middle class: Executive workers, well off
Upper Class: The rich!
This is just a rough explanation, but it gives you the idea. Hyacinth would like to think she belongs in the upper middle classes, I think.
The British (or rather English IMO) class system is at its worst a caste system, a little like the Indian caste system * - I.E. people “knowing their place” rather than being forced by external pressure.
(Quentin Crisp said something like: - “Foreigners don’t understand that the strength of the British class system comes from support from the working class, not from the power of the upper class” - shackles in the mind being stronger than those on the wrist, and all that.)
About the only thing I liked about Maggie Thatcher was the way she took a wrecking ball to the class system.
On the other hand there has always been room for some social mobility in Britain - there is a convincing argument that the Industrial Revolution started in Britain rather than in say China because exploiting inventions in China couldn’t lead to a change in social position, as it could in Britain - so inventions remained curiosities which no-one bothered to develop.
This contradiction in the class system creates a tension between a desire to move up in the world and the sense of being “out of place” if you do - hence Hyacinth Bucket - the joke is that she is a social climber, she wants to be seen as something she’s not and embarrassment results from her exaggeration and misunderstanding- it’s a common theme of British comedy.
Anyway to actually answer your question, I’ve come across one or two Hyacinths, the same age as her as well - a dying breed.
I find it ironic that the two great civilisations of Britain and India found common ground during the Raj in the worst aspects of their cultures - the class/caste system and a love of bureaucracy.
What I meant is we Americans have a “Society System” which has old money, new money etc…But it’s not as pronounced as the British. Or what we would think of as being British, true or not.
For anyone who has seen KUP, I would like to know how you could possibly transfer that show to America. I don’t see it working.
there are bits that wouldn’t transfer to the us, like the title seeking.
i do think there could be a version with a woman who hopes to break into society and be mrs astor reborn. seeking to hang out with movie people, singers, and a kennedy or two.
There are plenty of folk who put on airs and graces that are not appropriate to their social status, or educational level etc.
This need not be related to class, more a lack of self-awareness.
I’ve seen people provide political support to those whose programs are probably least in their own interests, and the reason being that to them its a sign of ‘making it’ by voting for them.
One person I know worked in a bank, decided that unions were ‘working class’ and voted Tory and supported their anti-union legislation.
That person is now redundant, her job replaced by call centre staff in India(HSBC), she simply forgot that working class means anyone employed, needing to earn a living, and having that employment determined by another party.
I don’t know what people mean when they talk about the British class system. When you apply for a job here, nowhere on the application form do you have to indicate what class you supposedly belong to. The important things are experience and qualifications, like anywhere else. I suppose there are a few stuffy, long-established institutions where your ‘breeding’ might count for something, but they have such institutions in the States, don’t they?
From what little I’ve seen of Keeping Up Appearances Hyacinth Bucket is just a snobbish social climber. If the show is supposed to be a satire of British society it’s about 60 years out of date.
On the topic of making the show in America with an American twist - they did it with Alf Garnett and made him into Archie Bunker.
Alf was a foul mouthed, pro-monarchist xenophobe who believed ferevently in the British Empire and followed Millwall religiously.
So at first glance he coulnd’t possibly have been anything other than the nationality he was, yet I believe Archie Bunker was a big hit in the US.
The class system in Britain is usually lambasted because of the existance of titled people. Yer actual royalty and Lord and Lady This-That-&-The-Other of Wherever-it-is do not exist in the States, right enough, but that’s about the only difference.
And let’s be fair, Hyacinth reveres those type of people in the same way as social climbers in every country bow and scrape to the upper echelons of thier society.
Labour have a large proportion of the working class vote these days, and the Torys are considered a middle class / upper class party. Interestingly, in the 1980s the Tory leader Margeret Thatcher had a lot of the “working classes” voting Tory. She strongly promoted Capitalist ideas, including allowing people to buy their council ownded property and privitising utilities to allow people to invest in shares. Many of the working classes profited from this.
