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Downton Abbey: A New Era · 2022 — Chapter 12 of 18 · 2'16" · B2

The Maids Talk Myrna Down, Explained: washed up

Myrna Dalgleish locks herself in her room and refuses to come down for the scene. When the maids go up, she admits what really frightens her: "I'm washed up, as the Yanks say." They refuse to humor her and remind her she is rich and famous, then tell her to dust herself off.

What happens

On the day's shoot, the star Myrna Dalgleish will not leave her room, and Jack Barber can get nothing done without her. Mary suggests sending the maids up instead, and they talk their way in. Myrna admits she always knew sound would end her career, and the maids answer with plain sense rather than flattery.

Comforting a friendComfortingPersuadingStaff & customerB2fastbritishClean
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Listen for

get the knackwashed updust yourself offyesterday's news

00:00 / 02:16
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Phrase of the scene

washed up

彻底完蛋；风光不再

女星认定有声片会终结自己的银幕生涯，用这个说法形容自己的处境。

After the injury, many thought his career was washed up.

Also in this scene

  • get the knack

    找到窍门

  • dust yourself off

    拍拍身上的土重新站起来

  • yesterday's news

    过气的消息；不再受关注的人或事

Everything marked in this scene

34 notes across 48 lines

Phrase · A2come downMyrna, darling, please come down.
Phrase · B1can't do anything without someoneWe can't do anything without you.
Soundanything without you

liaison

We can't do anything without you.
Phrase · A1go awayJust go away!
Phrase · B1if you think soAll right. If you think so, yeah.
Phrase · B1stand backStand back, everybody.
Phrase · B1be going through somethingWe understand what you're going through.
Grammar · B2what you're going through

nominal clause with what

We understand what you're going through.
Soundgoing through

liaison

We understand what you're going through.
Phrase · B1and you know itThat's true, and you know it.
Phrase · B2should have heard someoneYou should've heard them at every premiere.
Phrase · B1open one's mouth'Don't speak. Don't open your mouth.' They despise me.
Phrase · B2take elocution lessonsWhy didn't you take elocution lessons? Lots of people do.
Phrase · B2get the knackCouldn't get the knack.
Phrase · B1since the day something happenedSomething's upset you since the day you got here.
Grammar · B2the moment I saw

clause with the moment

I knew I was finished the moment I saw The Jazz Singer.
Phrase · C1a sword hanging over someoneIt's been like a sword hanging over me.
Grammar · B2It's been like a sword hanging over me

present perfect

It's been like a sword hanging over me.
Phrase · B1ahead of someoneI thought maybe I had a few more films ahead of me, but this one will be me last.
Phrase · B2be washed upBut the fact is I'm washed up, as the Yanks say.
Slang · B2washed upBut the fact is I'm washed up, as the Yanks say.
Phrase · B2be yesterday's newsI'm yesterday's news.
Grammar · B2So what if your film career is over

rhetorical so what if

So what if your film career is over?
Phrase · B2any number of thingsThere's any number of things you can do.
Phrase · B2dust oneself offNow, dust yourself off.
Sounddust yourself off

liaison

Now, dust yourself off.
Phrase · B2while you're at itAnd while you're at it, try being polite to the people who serve you.
Phrase · B1be one of usYou're one of us, not one of them.
Slang · B2chop-chopNow, chop-chop.
Phrase · B1get goingStraighten your hair, and let's get going.
Phrase · A2just like someoneI had a sister just like you once.
Phrase · B1die of somethingShe died of the Spanish flu in 1919.
Phrase · B1but you never knowDidn't think it would touch our family, but you never know, do you?
Phrase · A2Shall we go?Shall we go?

The Maids Talk Myrna Down, explained

What's really going on

The funniest and saddest thing in the scene is that the great movie star is being comforted by the staff she looks down on. Myrna, who has spent the film terrified of the microphone, finally names the fear out loud: "I knew I was finished the moment I saw The Jazz Singer," and adds, "It's been like a sword hanging over me." She is not wrong, and the audience knows it. What changes the temperature is the maids' refusal to flatter. They grant her beauty and fame and money and then administer the harder truth, that she is "yesterday's news" unless she picks herself up, and that she should "try being polite to the people who serve you." The class note lands both ways: the servants see her as "one of us, not one of them," and the star's survival now depends on them.

Theme

ClassThe privileged star is rescued by her servants, who judge her as one of them rather than one of the elite.
AmbitionMyrna's career is ending with the coming of sound, and she must decide whether to keep going.

What you'll learn

  • 'washed up' carries more than its dictionary gloss.
  • 'yesterday's news' changes the pressure of the reply.
  • The surrounding lines set the social temperature.

Listen for

  • anything without you — liaison
  • going through — liaison
  • dust yourself off — liaison
It's been like a sword hanging over me.

Myrna's image for her fear of sound film: a threat that has hung over her since she first saw The Jazz Singer.

And while you're at it, try being polite to the people who serve you.

The maid's parting shot: if Myrna is picking herself up, she should also drop the rudeness toward the staff.

You're one of us, not one of them.

A reminder that the star's money and fame do not change the class line, and that the servants count her as their own.

I knew I was finished the moment I saw The Jazz Singer.

Myrna pinpoints the moment talking pictures doomed her silent-film career, and explains why she has been so difficult.

But the fact is I'm washed up, as the Yanks say.

Myrna states the case against herself in American slang: she believes her career is over for good.

Questions about this scene

Why is Myrna refusing to come down?

She is afraid of being humiliated on set over her accent, and she believes sound film has already ended her career.

Why do the maids go up to her room?

Mary suggests it, and the maids can get Myrna to listen when the director and crew cannot, so they go to talk her down.

Why does Myrna say she is washed up?

Her accent and voice make talking pictures a problem for her, so she thinks The Jazz Singer has made her obsolete.

Why does a maid tell Myrna to be polite?

Because Myrna has been rude to the servants, and the maid says she should treat the people who serve her with respect.

Downton Abbey: A New Era · 18 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 13had in mindViolet Says Goodbye to Tom
Chapter 1who are we to argueViolet Gives Sybbie a French VillaChapter 2take a dim viewJack Barber Pitches Filming at DowntonChapter 3wouldn't hear of itHollywood Comes to DowntonChapter 4frighten the horsesThe Family Dines with Myrna DalgleishChapter 5eye someone upDinner at the Villa of the DovesChapter 6in a wayTom and Lucy Inherit the VillaChapter 7perform miraclesMary Saves the TalkieChapter 8On an impulseMolesley Pitches His Own EndingChapter 9trouble in paradiseMary Talks About Her MarriagesChapter 10more than capableRobert Learns Cora Is IllChapter 11in your handsMyrna Walks Off the SetWatching · Chapter 12washed upThe Maids Talk Myrna DownChapter 13had in mindViolet Says Goodbye to TomChapter 14await developmentsGuy Offers Barrow a Hollywood JobChapter 15an object of desireBarber Asks to Kiss MaryChapter 16a fool for loveViolet Tells Mary the TruthChapter 17what the blazesMolesley Proposes to BaxterChapter 18last the courseViolet's Deathbed Goodbyes
Chapter 12 of 18 · about 13 min to go