Downton Abbey alternative

If you are a Downton Abbey fan, you'll definitely be interested in this documentary film produced several years ago by the BBC and now available on YouTube. Servants: The True Story of Life Below Stairs places the servant class of the Victorian Age in a larger historical context, recognizing for example the role of coercion and particularly the workhouse in generating this supply of highly exploitable workers. Also see Secrets from the Workhouse, which is narrated by Jim Carter (Carson of Downton Abbey).     .  

activists in support of The Help

Despite widespread criticisms among progressives about The Help, Ilyse House reports in a recent article in The Nation that the Oscar-nominated film has served as a positive force for domestic workers by bringing their plight to national attention. According to labor activists, the movie has served to give their cause a significant voice, as well as a yardstick by which to educate the public that conditions among those in this occupation have not appreciably improved since the Civil Rights era a half-century ago.