BBC Sherlock Unaired Pilot

If you are a true blue BBC Sherlock fan then you cannot say that you have truly lived until you've seen the unaired pilot. Trust me, it is not an experience you can live without.

Clearly, the quality of these two gifs are not equal but just looking at them you get the reason why you so desperately need to see this unaired pilot.

It is shorter, there are less cameos (Mycroft doesn't get his fabulously dramatic entrance) and it's thirty minutes shorter but what it lacks in pure quality and polished charm is the raw, unfinished nature of it.

It is so apparent that all of them (Moffat, Benedict, Martin, Rupert) have not finished making all of the great and small decisions about their characters, about the relationship and about the structure as a whole.

Both Sherlock and John are younger in the unaired pilot, Sherlock is practically a teenager while John is less an aged, world-weary soldier and more defianlty homosexual Three Continents Watson. 

Some of the delivery is sloppy, Sherlock moves likes he's just recently learned but he's open in a way that actual canon denies possible. 

John is dressed in stylish coats and open collar dress shirts. The limp is incredibly disgusting and fake but he's also eye-fucking Sherlock over the firelight and shooting the cabbie. 

Every time I really get into a fandom, I try and watch the unaired pilot. First of all, to see who that one actor/actress is that gets replaced (in this case, Sally Donovan is some other black English woman with less power and weaker line delivery. They really dodged a bullet there)

It's so apparent in some cases how much deliberation and minute action goes into a character. The littlest things like the cut of a coat can tell you so much about a person and their motivations. Watching the pilot was like getting a glimpse at Johnlock (ship name) in utero.

If this last gif does not convince you then you're dead inside.

That is all.

For everyone who has not seen the wonderfulness that is the unaired pilot, please go to 

 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xtsdwg_ssherlock-2010-unaired-pilot_shortfilms

Fandom Research Assignment

So, I have never been a big one who is devoted to a fandom, but I did find researching fandom to be pretty interesting. I researched Doctor Who's fandom for my assignment mainly because I found the show interesting, but have not ben invested enough in it, that I felt like I was an expert on the show or my feelings of the show would have been impacted by what I learned from fans. I focused my assignment on theories based around one specific character in the show, but I found it amazing how open, energetic, and invested fans are into the series.

It was really strange to read reaction about the Doctors leaving and new ones coming in. Fans seem to  grieve a loss of the old and try to reject the new, even though this is a process that they have experienced time and time again. Eventually, they become loyal to the new doctor, and will then repeat the cycle again. I find that it is strange how emotionally invested that fans get to a character that they know may not last long, but this gives them an opportunity to theorize and speculate about the version of The Doctor.

http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/jd52bbea1b.jpg

I was impressed with many variety of ways that fans express show their loyalty and love of the show. These forms of expressions, to me at least, seemed clever, normal, artistic, funny, and shocking in my mind. Below are the images that show these forms of fan expression.

http://cdn4.nerdapproved.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/doctor-who-doctors-office.jpg
I love the different images and items around the Doctor's Office referencing Doctor Who

http://theberry.com/2013/11/23/happy-50th-doctor-who-27-photos/
This one doesn't seem extreme to me, just how a fan would wear a costume

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/3c/f3/43/3cf343c21f2e7a60e678ac3872061ca9.jpg
I think this one was of my favorite, because of the detail, and I found it really artistic.

http://globalgeeknews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Doctor-Who-Wedding-Cake.jpg

This final one was definitely the most shocking for me, it's a TARDIS coffin, and corresponds with the story of a 26 year old who had his funeral completely themed to Doctor Who….

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1191224/Dr-Who-lookalike-sent-Tardis-style-coffin.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1191224/Dr-Who-lookalike-sent-Tardis-style-coffin.html

The website just tells the story of the fan's funeral, which is interesting and very detailed with what was included from the show. I do not by any means think that all Doctor Who fans are invested to this degree, but I do think that it is interesting that the show affects people to extremes, and allows them to be less conventional.

http://www.deantfraser.com/Doctor-Who-Springfield-Punx-Philip.jpe

What the Hell is a Sherlock?

Our previous class got me thinking about Sherlock Holmes and who/what he is. I think people want to make Sherlock into many different things but I feel like the only necessary components to Sherlock are 1.) the obscure but unique name and 2.) The intelligence. I don't think that he needs to be British, Rude, a Drug Addict, or even a man.

It seemed that before we had our second class on Sherlock Holmes that the character kept cropping up in the most unexpected ways. I mean, I was looking through some K-pop videos as per usual and BAM! There he is in the form of a five member boy band. I can imagine people refuting that this music video is a representation of Sherlock because it's a music video. But why? There is a bull terrier, their playing the violin, they're solving a crime involving lost jewelry. The phantom girl and dance numbers are a twist but all and all I would agree that it is very Sherlock like. Have a look for yourselves! (ignore Taemin's hair please...it was a phase and he grew out of it.)

Wow, okay. I got lost in a youtube train of Korean pop music. I could write a thesis on the production value of Korean music videos.The world is dangerous.

But do you see what I'm hitting on? I think it only takes the bare accessories to accomplish a rendition of Sherlock. Does it cheapen it? Not in my opinion. You can do what ever you like with Sherlock [on that note there are so many Sherlock porn knock offs that I was shocked] and the canon will always be what it is/was. There are always going to be re-productions that miss the mark in comparison to others but I think the more varied the adaption the more interesting. Sticking too close to canon might to some be 'authentic' but I am interested in how the character (or even the idea of Sherlock) can exist in crazy situations that the canon Sherlock would never encounter. 

I am seriously ready for the female housewife Xiaohui "Shirley" Holmes (Chinese american) whose wife is head of the police department. She might look over her wife's shoulder while she, Gita Lestrade (Indonesian american), works on a particularly hard case. From dropping the twins off at school and running to the store she pieces together the answer and the real problem is attempting to sneak the answer into her wife's head. Then! Juliet Watson (African american whose family is from Sudan) , a retired military M.D, catches Shirley on the 'case' when the woman is stalking down a man with a baby in her arms. With a team effort, Juliet tackles the man to the floor and the authorities arrive. Juliet watches as Shirley takes none of the credit and looks flustered? They become fast friends and work on cases together. Juliet is constantly trying to get Shirley to take credit for her genius. Shirley is fighting off Post-postpartum depression with these cases but will her marriage survive if she tells Gita?! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH I WANT THIS SO BADLY! 

MY TIME TO SHINE

I said it first day of class, and I'll say it again. I am 100% in love and obsessed with Elementary and now is my time to shine and discuss why I love it so much!

Obviously you can't talk about Elementary without discussing Sherlock. As they're both modern adaptions, you can't get away from comparing them. I like Elementary because it has everything that is missing from Sherlock, and none of the awful parts of it. To me, Elementary excels where Sherlock fails.

Irene Adler is speechless that the writers
thought that she was well written

To get into why I love Elementary, we need to talk about why I dislike Sherlock. The writing in it is often racist, sexist, and homophobic. The entire second episode is a train wreck of racism, the treatment of Irene Adler is sexist, and  the "queer baiting" of Sherlock and John and again the treatment of Irene Adler is homophobic. If you've never heard of "queer baiting" before, it's basically when the creators and/or writers continually hint at a homosexual romance in a joking manner and then never follow through with it or act like fans are crazy for shipping characters together. Almost every episode, if not all of them, have some kind of joke about John and Sherlock being a couple which is offensive to people who are actually queer and desperate for representation. Also, in Sherlock, Irene Adler is gay, but they still have her falling in love with Sherlock, contributing to the VERY damaging idea that a lesbian will only remain one until she meets the right man. (If you think this idea isn't damaging, please consider the fact that many lesbians are harassed and raped by straight men trying to "convert them.")

In addition to the terrible oppressive systems that the show contributes to, I also have problems with the relationship between Sherlock and John, which is very unhealthy and toxic, as well as Sherlock himself who is a complete dick that I CANNOT STAND.

SO now that I've explained all this, let's talk about why I love Elementary.

Every way that Sherlock fails to be socially progressive, Elementary excels. There are many POC in the show, and to my knowledge there hasn't been any criticisms race-wise (please let me know if I've missed anything though!) The fact that Watson is a Chinese woman is groundbreaking. There are many strong, diverse female characters and though Holmes can occasionally say misogynistic things, he's called out on it. There's even a transgender character on the show, played by a transgender woman which IS HUGE. And I am in love with Irene Adler in this version (and that's all I will say on that manner for fear of spoiling anything.)

The relationship between Sherlock and Joan is much healthier and satisfying. Their relationship grows very close and they trust each other. It is kept platonic (and I believe the writers intend to keep it that way?) which is a breath of fresh air, honestly.

I find Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock much more human and likeable. He can be an ass and mean sometimes but he's called on it and he learns. I loooooooove Lucy Liu as Joan like I will accept no other Watson ever again.

I love the format of Elementary as well. It is an hour long procedural cop show and I love that. I think they manage to incorperate elements of the original stories as well as original stories very well together.

ALSO I REALLY LOVE EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE SHOW LOOK AT THIS THEY'RE ALL SO CUTE:

SO to make a long story short I really really love Elementary and I hope everyone goes and watches it all also PLEASE DO NOT LOOK UP ANY SPOILERS EVEN LOOKING ON THE IMDB PAGE BECAUSE ITS SO MUCH BETTER TO NOT KNOW ANYTHING THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.

Please forgive my long ramblings. 

Location and Holmes

Last week in class I’d made the comment just after we had our break that may have sounded like the biggest “well, duh” moment of the semester.

“I think that part of the reason that Sherlock Holmes is more associated with English popular culture than with American popular culture is that it’s set in London.”

I’d be easy to write this off as the mad ramblings of a man who’s only half awake and only half aware of what exactly he’s saying, but I’m here to defend my rather innocuous statement.

What follows is an eight minute video from America’s first and only academic comedy website, Cracked, that I think explains what I mean fairly well.

(Fair warning, the video contains content that may not be considered suitable for work environments.)

http://www.cracked.com/video_18436_after-hours-camping-5Bplaceholder5D.html

Essentially, my argument that Sherlock Holmes is English because it is set in London is based on the premise presented in this video, rather than the more obvious connection that London is an English city.

By setting Sherlock Holmes in the city, the stories draw on the various subconscious cultural fears and concerns of the primary intended audience. The city didn’t need to be London, but London was the city most transformed by the Industrial Revolution, and thus the city that changed the most about England and the most about the minds of England’s citizens.

For comparison, modern American crime dramas also fall into the pattern noticed in this video, with a predominant focus on setting in more rural than urban environments. Although Law and Order, perhaps the archetypal American crime show, is absolutely and constantly set in the urban environment of New York City, its focus is on presenting a dramatic narrative about the investigative and legal processes involved in law enforcement. A marathon of Criminal Minds, a similar show that focuses instead on FBI Criminal Profilers and the mysteries of each case that they work on, predominantly sets its episodes in rural and suburban areas. The dramatic tension is primarily on trying to understand the mind of whoever is capable of committing that episode’s crime, and they almost always begin the same. To show the audience a glimpse of the crime that will be looked at, we see the victim or victims, who are usually isolated in some form in a wilderness type area. If not an actual forest or back road, a wide open space near suburbia like a park. Then, the crime happens. We cut to “civilization”, the FBI headquarters in Quantico, and the cast going over the details of the case. Then the game is afoot.

Like Holmes, the focus here is on the mystery, the mind, and an attempt to understand the actions of someone who is, by all accounts, human. The stories, however, are fundamentally American. Yes, they are set in America, much as Sherlock in England, which is why it’s difficult to discuss these details without sounding in some ways like an idiot. But the fact remains that the stories being told are influenced by their setting, and so too then are their characters, which in turn influences just what kind of story they really are.

Sherlock Holmes is English Popular Culture because London, which Sherlock’s adventures are primarily set in, represents so much more to England and its people than just a city.

Now I have a confession to make. I really hate Sherlock. For several different reasons that are long and complicated and definitely not something that you want to hear if you like the show, so I won't make you listen to that.

I used to be in love with it though and I wanted to share one of my favorite Sherlock fan creations from when I was into the show. There is a tumblr that is basically a cross between roleplay, text blog, and fanfiction. It's called "Text Messages from Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson." The basic premise of it is that two people are roleplaying Sherlock and John. People send them questions and they answer them in character and in the format of text message transcripts and the occasional prose. Although they can't control what people ask, the two creators use the questions to create a story that goes along with the canon story line. Most of the action that happens takes place in between what happens in the episodes and seasons, so you'd most likely have to watch the episodes to know exactly what's going on 100% of the time. The timeline that these texts take place starts after the first episode of season 2, and they're currently doing Season 3.

What makes this so great is that a lot of what happens is because of the fans. Someone will send a question that will move along the story. It's interactive fanfiction, basically.

Here's a link to their index (though that doesn't have all of the texts just the most important ones.) Warning that it is shippy (Sherlock/John), though not all of the texts are and when there's prose it gives warning for any triggers or not safe for work material. The shippy aspects are slowly moving so the earlier texts are less likely to have shippy things in them. Also warning that there are triggering things in the material but again there's trigger warnings for everything.

I haven't kept up with the blog for for about a year but I do have fond memories about the fandom (called the Texts subfandom) and of reading it.