Roush Riff

[victoriawinters]

Well folks, I'm going to out on a limb here and say that I believe Barnabas works as a younger man.   Historically, someone in their 40s would sort of be like an old man in 1795.  Most people were not long lived then.  Having to wait for marriage until one's 40s would just be weird.  I believe a young person from a wealthy family would have been well read as well as highly educated as Barnabas was in the old show.  Thus, the smart, witty, charming with impeccable manners works for the time at a younger age.

A young lady would be married off at 18 or 19 at the latest.  To be any older would have constituted being called an old maid.  A young lady of that age would certainly not want to be marrying some old guy twice her age either.

Also, seems there would have been pressure for a young man to marry earlier then later since so many women died in child birth along with a high infant mortality rate.   The younger a couple was, the better.  Plus, if the young lady did die, it still made the man young enough to try again with another or find a wife for any children that may have been issued.

No TV or computer then either so plenty of time to read.  And one's genius or not genius, is formed at a young age.  Being the step-parent of a genius, I can say the genius was always there.  It was the emotional development that was lacking at the earlier age.  And, that works for Barnabas too.  He did make some very bad decisions before he was turned into a vampire.   He also had a ton of naivete concerning Angelique.

Thus, based on this argument, a younger, but not teen, Barnabas could work.   If we must have teen, do it in flashbacks to tell more back story of the Collins family.  That would be new territory for the franchise.

I also recall the Ron Berry interviews with Jonathan Frid where he states that he did play the early 1795 Barnabas as a youth.  You can see it in his mannerisms, voice, etal.  So, younger can really be believable.

[stefan]

victoriawinters wrote:

Historically, someone in their 40s would sort of be like an old man in 1795.  Most people were not long lived then.  Having to wait for marriage until one's 40s would just be weird.  I believe a young person from a wealthy family would have been well read as well as highly educated as Barnabas was in the old show.  Thus, the smart, witty, charming with impeccable manners works for the time at a younger age.

I agree with this comment. Is the new DS going to involve the whole story, Barnabas as the 270 something year old vampire (do vampires get physically older at all?) or Barnie as the late 20's early 30's newbie with women problems.