The new series by Julian Fellowes, whose action takes place in New York, in 1882, includes several black characters. Does the fate of the latter reflect a historical reality?
The two mansions stand on either side of 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Their occupants spy on each other, stare at each other, envy each other. On one side, the Van Rhijns, straight-laced descendants of the first settlers. On the other, the Russels, newly rich who made their fortune in the railroad. Series The Gilded Age, broadcast in France on OCS (one day later than in the United States, where it is offered on HBO), tells of their rivalry to dominate New York high society.
The action takes place in 1882, in the middle of the “golden age”, according to the name given to the period of reconstruction and economic flight which followed the Civil War.
From episode to episode, a third family will impose itself in the picture. The Scotts are black. They live in Brooklyn, which then forms a distinct city: the district will be integrated into New York in 1898. The father is a pharmacist, the mother a pianist. Their daughter Peggy (Denée Benton), while waiting to pursue a career in the press, has found a job as secretary with the Van Rhijns. The family has a brownstone, one of those typical New York red sandstone buildings, and has its house staff.
Spotlight on black elites
Criticized by the press for its melodic and lazy plot, The Gilded Age, first American creation by Briton Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey), has at least one merit. As noted The Grio, an information site aimed at the black community in the United States, it “comes to explore a part of black history rarely touched on screen”. Or, to put it more precisely:
While most fiction rooted in this period of history ignores the black elites, ‘The Gilded Age’ finally shines the spotlight on them, to affirm not only that they were there, but also that in many respects they then prospered, before a violent regression.”
The action takes place nineteen years following the abolition of slavery in the United States
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Marie Beloeil
