The allure of Darcy and Poldark

It’s hard to believe that those famous abs are hidden underneath such a pedestrian sweater. Can it be it’s the same person? Really?

It’s as if the character we have fallen for on screen has been deflated, reduced to the actor who, without the help of costume and makeup and script, has been significantly transformed, almost unrecognizable, almost nothing like the character we so desired.

The disappointment is real, if a little unrealistic.

When we see these fantasy men in the flesh in the modern environment of talk shows, they are not the men we have seen on the screen and, quite frankly, it can be disappointing. I’m sure, for a moment after watching every episode, we all envy the partners of Colin Firth and Aidan Turner – after all, they get to sleep with Mr. Darcy and Ross Poldark every night – while we have to wait once a week to get our fix. But for most of us, we discover disappointingly, it’s not actually the actors we are after: it’s the fantasy of their  characters and personalities they portray.

We enjoy these dramas and these characters because they offer hope that if really complex, honorable men could exist back then, then perhaps they can still exist today.