I was reminded of John Bennett Shaw today.
John Bennett Shaw, for those newer to the field, was one of the greatest Sherlockians of the last century. A Sherlockian's Sherlockian, an inspiration to every latter day Sherlockian who met him, and a helluva fun guy. And here's the thing about John Bennett Shaw: he was a Sherlock Holmes fan.
I was reminded of this today because someone send me a link to one of those captioned photos on Facebook that people use to make points without having to write a whole paragraph or two. The image contained two photos, one that read "Are you a Fan?" and showed Sherlock panties, and the other that read "Or a Devotee?" and showed a photo of Conan Doyle and some issues of Strand Magazine.
The point of this completely assinine little photo essay is that there are apparently fans of BBC Sherlock out there who only like panties with Benedict Cumberbatch on them and wouldn't care a whit if one of those original Strands fell right in their panty-wearing laps. To which I must reply, "Show me that person." It's really sad that there are some aging "devotees" out there whose egos are still so in need of puffing at this point that they have to pretend that newer female fans are lesser creatures.
Which is why I thought of John Bennett Shaw. The Sherlockian's Sherlockian. And you know what? If Shaw were alive today, he would own a pair of those Benedict Cumberbatch panties.
Just like the chocolate Easter Bunnies in deerstalkers in his freezer. Just like the industrial floor mats with a Sherlock Holmes cartoon and the caption "The Customer Is Our Final Inspector." Just like all those Snoopys dressed as Sherlock Holmes. And just like all those issues of The Strand Magazine.
Shaw was a fan, and fans like all kinds of crap relating to their hero. It validates us somehow. Eventually our houses fill up and we come to our senses, but "fan" is short for "fanatic" and that's what we are about our chosen fandom. Fanatical. You don't do the stuff we do if you're merely "devoted" to something, like a dogged follower of some ritual observance. You don't do the stuff we do because you're one of the "elite." (And seriously, who the hell calls themselves "elite?" Anyone who isn't a narcissist?) You do what we do because you're a fan. And ya gotta love a fan.
Especially one that owns Sherlock panties. I mean really, guys, are you trying to kill the chances that we might get a Baker Street Journal panty issue, like Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit offering? (Sorry, ladies, for the sexist turn, but some of us are fans of things other than Sherlock Holmes, even if we don't write Irene Adler/Martha Hudson slash fiction.)
Whoa . . . totally got away from John Bennett Shaw there. But I think he would understand. He understood quite a bit.
The ongoing investigation of Sherlock Holmes, reported from the Peoria, Illinois outpost of Baker Street's dirtiest half a dozen.
This fan here gets flop anxiety: S3 starts filming on March 18th (Sue Vertue confirmed), but they'll do it in two installments, because they have to stop after two eps as the actors have other obligations and then will restart in the summer (date not known). And more bad news: Paul McGuigan won't direct any of the eps as he's too busy with Frankenstein.
ReplyDeleteBoohoohooo... Where to get Sherlock-panties? I need some comfort.
Flop anxiety now that we have "Elementary" as the new low bar to measure it against? No worries there!
DeleteOne of the items in The Sherlock Holmes Collection at the U of Minnesota is an ice cream carton (empty!) with a cartoon picture of a cow wearing a deerstalker. They also have several copies of the 1887 Beetons Christmas Annual.
ReplyDeleteWhere can I get panties with Sherlock Holmes on them? The Collection would probably want a pair, too. :-D
LOL
ReplyDeleteYour post just demonstrate you have lost your (sherlockian) sense of humor... The captioned image was just funny :) Even Babes liked it on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteHmm, that's an interesting response. I remember similar accusations of no sense of humor when some clod would make a joke about an ethnic stereotype and it would fall flat. Seems the same sort of thing, Anonymous. (And by the way, knock off the hacking!)
DeleteJohn Bennett Shaw: "The one thing Sherlockians should be serious about is not taking themselves seriously." Remember? :)
ReplyDeleteThat applies to the hobby. Not calling other fans second class citizens. Our hobby may be a non-serious thing, but the Klinger lawsuit? Serious. The "elite devotee" attempt to marginalize new fans? Serious. And just try to get the BSI to open their dinner up to anyone who wants to come . . . suddenly "ha ha" time is over very quickly.
DeleteI have a pair of my son's underwear from when he was little. They have Shaggy (or is it Scooby) from Scooby-Doo on them wearing a deerstalker and holding a magnifying glass.
ReplyDeleteBe happy to photograph them and post them somewhere for ya.