Great comments on Brad's post Sherlock Peoria "Lowering the bar for Sherlock, lowering it for ourselves." It's all in the matter of what one perceives and one wants to perceive. He sees "Elementary" as "a complete heroin addict", "Mr. Holmes" as "suffering severe mental infirmities from old age" but "BBC Sherlock" as "one that a lot of folks like to place somewhere on the Asperger's/autism spectrum". You'll note the difference: Miller is an addict; McKellen is senile; but only some people see Cumberbatch as on the autism spectrum. Yet, "BBC Sherlock" has Cumberbatch say he's a high-functioning sociopath twice--the second time is just before he puts a bullet in Magnussen's head. In some people's minds the damage "BBC Sherlock" has inflicted onto Holmes legendary status is greater than "Elementary" or the Downey films or "Mr. Holmes".
Your point about fanfic is a good one. What "Elementary", "Mr. Holmes", "BBC Sherlock" and fanfic is doing is exploring the legend, taking it apart and reassembling it in new configurations. When he sees something he likes, that is what it is doing, re-exploring and re-imagining Holmes, making the character new and fresh. When he sees something he doesn't like, it's lowering the bar and trashing the detective. What Brad needs to do is set himself up as a superSherlockian judge, have every movie, television and radio show, comic book, pastiche and fanfic and fanart go through him, separating the wheat from the chaff and raise the Sherlockian bar for us all. "Help us, Brad Keefauver, you're our only hope!"
Great comments on Brad's post Sherlock Peoria "Lowering the bar for Sherlock, lowering it for ourselves." It's all in the matter of what one perceives and one wants to perceive. He sees "Elementary" as "a complete heroin addict", "Mr. Holmes" as "suffering severe mental infirmities from old age" but "BBC Sherlock" as "one that a lot of folks like to place somewhere on the Asperger's/autism spectrum". You'll note the difference: Miller is an addict; McKellen is senile; but only some people see Cumberbatch as on the autism spectrum. Yet, "BBC Sherlock" has Cumberbatch say he's a high-functioning sociopath twice--the second time is just before he puts a bullet in Magnussen's head. In some people's minds the damage "BBC Sherlock" has inflicted onto Holmes legendary status is greater than "Elementary" or the Downey films or "Mr. Holmes".
ReplyDeleteYour point about fanfic is a good one. What "Elementary", "Mr. Holmes", "BBC Sherlock" and fanfic is doing is exploring the legend, taking it apart and reassembling it in new configurations. When he sees something he likes, that is what it is doing, re-exploring and re-imagining Holmes, making the character new and fresh. When he sees something he doesn't like, it's lowering the bar and trashing the detective. What Brad needs to do is set himself up as a superSherlockian judge, have every movie, television and radio show, comic book, pastiche and fanfic and fanart go through him, separating the wheat from the chaff and raise the Sherlockian bar for us all. "Help us, Brad Keefauver, you're our only hope!"
You said it better than I did.
Delete