07-18-2012, 11:58 AM
|
 |
Causer of Unrest
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Arizona
Posts: 4,005
|
|
I've checked out the preview, and I'll probably check it out when it comes on. It doesn't look terrible, and I always like the Holmes/Watson dynamic, in whatever form. I liked the new Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.
What I don't like, however, is how both modern versions seem to pathologize Holmes, as if he's some kind of mentally ill savant. That was never the impression I got from Conan Doyle (I read the complete works), or from Laurie R. King, whose rendering of Holmes has always been, in my opinion, very faithful to the original. Holmes is an eccentric genius who doesn't feel the need to explain himself to what he perceives as his inferiors, or to suffer fools. Indeed, that's probably what I always liked about him. I'm terribly fond of brilliance, even if it's fictional. He never came across to me as damaged. Sure, he had a drug problem at one point, but he'd recovered from that to live a productive life, as many do. The focus on that aspect in both modern versions I suppose makes him more colorful, but if you've read the originals, it wasn't an aspect that came up in every single story. |