Sherlock
having seen Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, I like him as Watson a great deal.
However, I have been reading Doyle since I was seven, and Sherlock was never a dick. Oh, he had his little jokes on Watson but he was always loyal and kind to his friend. The idea that snide sarcasm = dizzying intellect is one that appears to be uniquely British, or has a uniquely British impression. I do not think that to be necessary, it detracts from the stories, and it makes the whole series less than it could be, which is brilliant. I don’t know if it has been written/directed this way, or of Cumberbund is injecting this into the mix, but it is stupid, unnecessary, and wrong. Do it well, morons, you’re better than this.
Update: This is the Sherlock I will always think is the best.
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A lot of the Sherlock’s that made it to the big or little screen suffered much from “artistic interpretation”
As if we think those rug chewing hacks had any better divination on what life is.
I kind of like Robert Downy Jr’s interpretation, all things being equal.
Jeremy Brett pulled it off best, in my opinion.
I agree. Brett’s the best. Truest, I think, to the spirit of the era and his author.
M
One of the reasons I am happy no longer to live in UK is the sarcasm. I like the fact that when an American says…”I like your hat” he means “I like your hat” and not “I think your hat is stupid, but I’m too British to simply be polite and say nothing so I’ll make some sarcastic remark and perhaps you’ll think I’m witty.”
yeah, I love to watch Top Gear but when Jeremy Clarkson starts American bashing all I can think is “Wow! And he’s still speaking English and not German, and he’s still being a dick”
Brett is Holmes. That series always struck me as faithful.
This fall, I was in Connecticut and visited the William Gillette Estate (Gillette Castle).
I was unfamiliar with him, but the exhibit said he was Sherlock Holmes to theaters worldwide. He made his fortune at it. That he introduced the the cape and deerstalker cap, which I could have sworn I’d seen in Strand Illustrated.
Sherlock Holmes, Morse, Foyle’s War, Midsomer Murders, and Vera are why my teevee hasn’t wound up in a landfill. I figure since I’m paying for them at gunpoint, I may as well watch. That and I enjoy them.
So, I didn’t watch the clip. But I am pretty sure I have read all the Holmes short stories. Then I read about Doyle. IN rereading those short stories with the knowledge that Doyle did not like Holmes a great deal made more sense to me.
Watson was not Holmes foil or even sounding board. He was Holmes anchor. Watson prevented Holmes from being washed out to sea. Holmes relied on Watson, not to solve the case to prevent Holmes from consuming himself with his addictions.
I think Downey Jr. captures this view of the relationship best.
I lived in England in the mid-1950s, and my recollection is that the “sn-words” were not in play then. Snark DOES travel well though, and we have more than our share of it in our own little genre of blogging.
With all possible offense to the kings and queens of snark, snide and snivel, the purpose of blogging and other forms of exposition is to inform, nothing more. Sure, you can try for humor with your exposition, but snark rarely achieves that end, and along the way, spoils the exposition. BTW, lampoon, a la “Punch”, DOES achieve humor, but most snark-slingers will not know the difference.
I don’t have any issue with sarcasm, because it is what it is. Nastiness and sarcasm have never been a part of the Holmes franchise and don’t belong there.