Emotions for the Modern World

Caution: this blog post contains spoilers, so if you haven't seen the season two finale of Sherlock, and you think you might potentially watch it one day—which you should—then probably don't read this post. Although, at this point, I'm not sure how you could have possibly kept from hearing any Sherlock spoilers.

As I started talking about in my last post, Sherlock Holmes has inspired a major fan following ever since Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the original stories. Especially in recent years, adaptations of Sherlock Holmes have become very popular. In this post, I want to talk about the 2011 BBC series Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch and the 1984 Granada series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes starring Jeremy Brett.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Jeremy Brett

  

Something that I love about Sherlock is that it is focused on Holmes’s intellect and personality. This adaptation focuses more on Holmes’s complex emotional character than any other adaptation. This change in focus has also gained the show one of the biggest Sherlock Holmes’s fan followings.

The contrast between Cumberbatch’s Holmes and the other actors’ is especially apparent when you look at Sherlock side by side with other adaptations. I looked specifically at Jeremy Brett’s Sherlock Holmes to contrast with Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes.  

The way that I see it, the difference between Sherlock and the other adaptations is mostly in the portrayal of Sherlock Holmes's personality. In The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Holmes is certainly deep down better at everything than the rest of the human population, but he is still someone that you feel like you could have a conversation with without having to run away in tears.

Sherlock, however, has dug a little deeper into the complexities of the man Sherlock Holmes and has taken a discussion of Holmes's personality quirks to a whole new level. The best part is that the audience loved it. I mean, it makes a lot of sense—anyone who is that much smarter than the rest of the world can't possibly act like a normal human being, right?

Just to give some examples to illustrate what I'm talking about, I placed here a few comparisons, using the episode "The Final Problem" from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and "The Reichenbach Fall" from Sherlock. These episodes are both adaptations of the story "The Final Problem." Looking at some scenes side by side clearly shows that Sherlock took a hard right turn to the emotional.

First off, here is a clip of Jeremy Brett's Holmes learning that the police have let his arch-nemesis Moriarty slip through the trap Holmes so carefully set up for them. Note his reaction to their incompetence.

Jeremy Brett "The Final Problem" (The part of this video that I am focusing on here goes from 4:00 until 4:45; I'm still working on the whole video editing thing.)

Now compare that with Benedict Cumberbatch's Holmes in Sherlock. This is how he reacts to the incompetence of the police.

Interesting. One of these men is a little more outspoken about his distaste for those "less brilliant" than himself, which, let's face it, is everyone. I'm guessing Brett's Holmes gets invited to a few more parties than Cumberbatch's.

The other comparison I wanted to show was the *SPOILER ALERT* death scene at the end of each of these episodes. In each one, Holmes leaves a note for Watson, but they are presented very differently.

Here is Holmes's goodbye to the world and Watson in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. 

Jeremy Brett death scene "The Final Problem"

And here is Holmes's goodbye to Watson and the world in Sherlock. (Sorry that it's in two different videos.)

As you can see, the scene from Sherlock is much more emotionally charged. That is not to say that The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes wasn't also a great series. It just doesn't have the intensity that Sherlock does.

Why do you think that is? Is it the time period difference? Are people of today more interested in complex emotional characters than the people of thirty+ years ago? This is a question that is still up for discussion.

Fandoms for the Modern World

Basil Rathbone

Jeremy Brett

Benedict Cumberbatch

    

Robert Downey, Jr.

Jonny Lee Miller

Will the real Sherlock Holmes please stand up? All five of these men—along with many others—could positively answer that call. However, even though all of these actors have played the brilliant British detective, every Sherlock Holmes fan has their own opinion on who is the real Sherlock Holmes.

I have heard quite a few fans who are very vocal about their opinions too—after all, if there is anything the Sherlock Holmes fandom can claim, it’s making their presence known. Some love the classic, gentlemen detectives while others love the more physical ones. Some are appalled by the adaptations that put Holmes in a contemporary world while others love that he is such an adaptable character.

For example, many people don't like the show Elementary because it is set in the US, not necessarily because they don't like Jonny Lee Miller. Sherlock is often seen in direct contest with Elementary because they are both contemporary television shows. That is shown with this popular meme.

There are still those who don't like that Sherlock is in a contemporary time period even if it is on the right side of the Atlantic, but there are many who do like that it is focused on the intellectually superior aspects of Holmes's character.

But, then again, there are those who are more interested in the physical, action movie type and tend to like Robert Downey, Jr.'s Holmes more than Benedict Cumberbatch's.

And, of course, there are those who love the older adaptations with actors like Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett who play Sherlock Holmes with all of the class and finesse of the ideal British gentleman. 

Whatever their reasons, each Sherlock Holmes fan knows who their Holmes is, and they are not afraid to make it known. As for me, I enjoy many of the adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes stories—though I am just enough of a purist to not love him being set in the US—but I definitely have a favorite.

Can you guess who it is? I’ll give you a hint: He’s one of the five I have pictured above. Not a very helpful hint, I’ll grant you that, though I think my post contains a couple more. I guess you’ll just have to figure it out yourself.  

The blog I wish I could write

I don't follow many blogs, so I went on an online journey to find a new one to follow. I came across The Everywhereist and immediately loved it because it is not just a travel blog. It is a funny, adventure-filled, unexpected travel blog. The only drawback is that reading it makes we want to have international adventures as well.
Here is the link:
The Everywhereist