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Venkatesh1

Prof Lynda Haas


Gaurav Venkatesh
17th August, 2014
Sherlockian Evolution
AnalysingAnalyzing the past we realize that everything follows a pattern, all the elements are
linked to each other one way or the otherevery element similar is linked to each other one way or
the other. During the the birth of the detective genre birth of literature in the Victorian Era we
see a stereotypical view way in which works are presented. Robert Harris, a well knownwell-
known writer, once claimed that:
If one tries to think about history, it seems to me - it's like looking at a range of `
mountains. And the first time you see them, they look one way.
But then time changes, the pattern of light shifts. Maybe you've moved slightly, your
perspective has changed.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyles, a scottishScottish physician noted for his short tales was and
known for his works in the detective genre. Upon close inspection of his writing style, one can
relate to the environment he was inendured. Being a middle class writer, he also represented a
majority of people during his time. Doyles main creation, Sherlock Holmes, gave the detective
genre a totally different perspective.
Sherlock Holmes,Holmes is an eccentric character adorned by his fans for his perfections
and imperfections. Through the 20th and 21st century the Sherlock Holmes series has been
remade time and again to suit the audience, it is peculiar how Holmes has never been changed
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yet the crimes and associates changehave. It is vital to understand that the protagonist itself is the
main reason behind the success of the series and how the series has changed to handle its
audience.
Doyle, unknowingly, created a superhero or an individual that possess most of the
traits of a superhero. In many ways Sherlock was one of the earliest unofficial superheroes. Little
did Joe Shuster and writer Jerry Siegel know that Superman would become such a huge hit, that
a century later there would be 3D action movies based of him. In the last decade, there have been
two movies based on Sherlock Holmes. They have however completely ignored the original
script by Doyle. The only difference between Joe Shusters and Conan Doyles superhero is that
Sherlock is a more realistic superhero. Neither is he the man of steel, nor does he fly about in
fancy clothes yet he is an unsung hero.In the last decade, there has been two movies based on the
characters of Sherlock Holmes but completely ignoring the original script of Sir Conan Arthur
Doyle. Sir Conan Arthur Doyle, unknowingly, created a superhero or an individual that possess
most of the traits of a superhero. Little did Joe Shuster and writer Jerry Siegel know that
Superman would become such a huge hit, that a century later there would be 3D action movies
based of Superman. The only difference between Joe Shusters and Conan Doyles superhero is
that Sherlock has been a more realistic superhero. He is not the man of steal, neither does he
fly about in fancy clothes. It is however critical not to underscore the attributes of the
superheroes. If we were to analyseanalyze how the movies are made, we see that all the
characters in the main script lie in the movie, however the however the stories have been
plagiarized, parodied, burlesqued, updated, and rewritten so many times the originals have
disappeared, smothered by their progeny (Panek, 39). Some characters seem to be more
dynamic to make the movie less boring and packed with action (Michael Dalton).storyline is so
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out-dated that no matter how many times the series is made if you are to repeat the storyline it
would bore the audience. Hence, storyline has been completely re-written. Some characters seem
to be more dynamic to make the movie less boring and packed with action. For instance
Dr.Watson is seen as an equal to Sherlock in the movies. But the fact remains that the
superpowers the protagonist possesses does not change regardless of time. Superman can fly, can
destroy buildings and cannot be killed by mere bullets in the original script, thatscript, which
also remains as the baseline for movies. Sherlock's main power well is that he deducets. His
remarkable ability of extracting impeccably accurate information from bare minimal detail and
make it sound like it is nothing more than the obvious is what sets him apart from the rest of the
world. This particular trait seems to be the trademark of Sherlock Holmes.
Maria Konnikova explains in her book How to think like Sherlock :Sherlock:
But his insights into the human mind rival his greatest feats of criminal justice.
What Sherlock Holmes offers isnt just a way of solving a crime,
its an entire way of thinking
This particular trait seems to be the trademark of Sherlock Holmes.

As of late, there seems to be two shows which portray Sherlock Holmes under no alias
namely the BBC version of Sherlock Holmes and Elementary.ElementaryElementary.
Elementary, a holmesian adaptation in America, provides a completely upgraded version
upgraded version of Sherlock Holmes than its counterpart in London. There has been a total
revamp of the series and we see a different side of the protagonist . The show puts a realistic
image of what would happen if Sherlock was picked up from the orthodox Victorian period and
placed in our age of technology. The influence of Sherlock is considerably reduced, this may be
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due to various reasons butreasons but the factors have been well accounted. More than making
this a one man show, He works with these people as a member of a team instead of wandering
off on his own to play Super Detective claims Emily Asher-Perrin in her article Battling Super
Sleuths: The Awkward Case of Elementary, Sherlock, and Building the Better Adaptation.
The BBC series however, seems to ignore only certain fact of our age that there is a
conflict in the era in which the shot is taken and when it was originally written. For instance, one
of the key factors for the idolization of SherlockHolmes, was due to the contrasting level of
thought process between Sherlock Holmes and the rest of the elements such as Dr.Watson and
the police. In the 21st Century, mockery of the capabilities of the Police seems highly ignorant.
The notable difference between the two shows is the power distribution between the characters.
Dr .Watson seems absolutely unnecessary in the BBC series, but plays an extremely crucial role
in Elementary. Furthermore Elementary has seemed to paint a more accurate picture of the crime
and the police involvement. By the end of season 1 in the BBC series, the police is an obstacle to
the protagonist, an adaptation of the original script but in Elementary, Sherlock, Watson and the
Police go hand in hand. However if we are to compare who is the better Sherlock, BBCs
Cumberbatch for the win hands down. Its not (just) his aristocratic, weirdly reptilian good
looks or the Alan Rickman-lite voice Cumberbatch just exudes effortless, amused
intelligence. Hes the embodiment of the high I.Q. of the show claimsclaims Sara Stewart. By
making the other characters an equal to Sherlock, he is not able to grab all thethe entire spotlight.
Sherlock Holmes shouldnt have super powers. He should be extremely clever, but as with any
hero you want to be able to relate to him argues Chapman in his works. However if you are to
make a show with Sherlock as a main character, he doesn't need to be flawless but the least you
can do is empower him.
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The BBC version of Sherlock however sticks to the main script written by Sir Conan
Arthur Doyle. By and large, each Sherlock entry keeps its focus on a single plotline, and while
the best episodes have enough twists and turns to keep that line from dragging, theres little of
the comforting regularity that Doyles fiction generally delivered. states Zack Handlen. Him
being spot on, the BBC series deviates only as to fill in the void of the generation gap by the use
of technology. Sir Conan Arthur Doyles mistake of creating Donga as what base knowledge the
articles in newspaper and magazines provided implicitly explains the mindset of people during
those times. The NYPD is well equipped and a respectful force. The characters come from
various races and the biggest twist being that of the Antagonist. Irene Adler found alive was an
unexpected twist, further making Irene Adler the evil villain Moriarty was something else. No
one would have guessed such a twist would ensue and a fewer would have come to terms with
the fact that Moriarty, an intellectual equivalent to Sherlock himself, to be a female.
I would like to focus on three scenes, one from the BBC Sherlock and two from the show
Elementary. Firstly focusing on the BBCs Sherlock, The fall of Reichenbach, the episode in
which we see the fall of Moriarty and the apparent death of Holmes himself. Midway through the
episode we see that Moriarty has planted an idea in the head of the police that Sherlock himself
is part of the criminal activities taking place. Sherlock enters an empty cab, arrogant as ever,
considers Watson a hurdle in his flow of thought commands him to take another cab. We see a
crane shot of Holmes in the cab when suddenly the GPRS turns into a screen with Moriarty, we
must note that this is the only modernity that this show brings to its audience. We see two
alternating scenes during the chaos. On one side we see Moriarty explaining how he plans to trap
Sherlock and on the other we see that the police falling prey to Moriartys scheme. This style of
editing gives the audience a good idea about how the execution of Moriartys plan goes spot on
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as he narrates it; we also observe that the scenes are shot in two different styles; Sherlock being a
close up representing his individual attempt in bringing down Moriarty and a medium shot of
Lestrade and his assistant representing their failure to comprehend the plan and in trusting
Sherlock. We also notice the close shot with a shallow focus on Sherlocks face as he loathes the
fact that he had fallen for every single trap laid by Moriarty. Lestrade however is portrayed under
office lighting casting a deep shadow, representing how he is chained in following the judicial
principles. As this show is a typical replication of the original script we must note how the police
is a burden to our protagonist. We must also note that there is no actual use of Watson in the
series; he does nothing that aids our hero other than provide a contrasting character to make our
protagonist look smarter. This is the typical Doyle setup during the late Victorian period. Now
focusing on the last episode of season one of Elementary; firstly I would like to talk about the
scene in which Irene Adler, played by Natalie Dormer, is discharged from the hospital and taken
to Sherlocks residence. The medium shot scene starts off by showing how Joan Watson, played
by Lucy Lui, is worried about Sherlock. We must notice that the lighting is a mixture of key light
and fill light giving us a mixed expression of a serious conversation yet not a dramatic one.
Unlike the cold, relentless Holmes we have read about, we see a more passive and caring
Holmes, who even admits to have fallen in love later in that episode. He even gives up on the
case and further requests Watson to continue on the cold trail. This scene is but a paradox to
everything we know about Holmes; our protagonist would never fall in love, never tire till he
solves the case and would not rely on Watson. These elements make our character weak and
fragile like a normal human being, but at the same time makes the show more pragmatic. The
scene now turns into a long shot picturing the house in which Irene was found from a low angle,
depicting that something positive is going to come out in the next few minutes. Watson, a female
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character, begins her investigation and the audience is shocked to see that her deduction is at par
with Holmes himself. Next I would like to focus on the scene in which Holmes is admitted in the
hospital for apparent overdose. The combination of the key light, the dead silence and the
unpopulated dry hospitals ambience brings out a very dramatic and serious side of the characters
in this scene. Holmes accepts his defeat to Moriarty, a female lead, making him inferior but at
the same time smartly captures her accepting to her crimes. The most shocking part however was
that the mastermind behind the capture was none other than Watson, a female character of an
Asian ethnicity. We see that the police are not a hindrance at any point and actually take Holmes
and Watson extremely seriously
Also, other than Irene Adler, a probably paradox to the mainstream work, we see no
female role in any of the Conan Doyles work. Some might argue that he was being a male
chauvinist, but it is also abundantly clear that women, during the Victorian period, did not play a
major role. This could be one of the main reasons why Dr.Watson or Sherlock himself was not
plotted as a female character. I would further argue that Conan Doyle being unexposed to the rest
of the world made his characters standard Londoners. The middle class writer was able to
communicate with his audience as they were able to connect with what he was implying by his
texts. For instance, the inefficiency or corrupt nature of the police force was something his
immediate audience could easily relate to. But that would not be effective in this period of time.
Elementary on the other hand seems to think beyond mere changes in technology. The NYPD is
well equipped and a respectful force. The characters come from various races and the biggest
twist being that of the Antagonist. Irene Adler found alive was an unexpected twist, further
making Irene Adler the evil villain Moriarty was something else. No one would have guessed
such a twist would ensue and a fewer would have come to terms with the fact that Moriarty, a
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intellectual equivalent to Sherlock himself, to be a female.
EMILY ASHER-PERRINEmily Asher Perrin ends her work by asking her viewers
What amazes me more is that no one seems willing to take the extra groundbreaking steps
hereLike making Sherlock Holmes a woman. Call me when that adaptation happens. For all
we know in the next 50 years, when, inevitably, Sherlock is made again, we will see a female
protagonist with an addiction to video games and maybe even a transsexual Watson. But all that
would depend on how the world evolves and what factors would determine a hit series at that
point of time.







Work Cited:
"Battling Super Sleuths: The Awkward Case of Elementary, Sherlock, and Building the Better
Adaptation." Tor.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2014.

'Elementary' vs. 'Sherlock': Who's the Better Holmes?" New York Post Elementary vs Sherlock
Whos the Better Holmes Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2014.

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"It's Elementary, Sherlock: How the CBS Procedural Surpassed the BBC Drama." For Our
Consideration The A.V. Club. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2014.

Konnikova, Maria. Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes. New York:
Viking, 2013. Print.

"10 Reasons Why Elementary Is Better Than Sherlock." WhatCulture 10 Reasons Why
Elementary Is Better Than Sherlock Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2014.


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