Okay, I went to see Benedict Cumberbatch's latest foray on to the big screen today in Black Mass, and if you wanted to see him play a character who is so very definitely NOT Sherlock Holmes, well, Billy Bulger fills that bill. The boy can act. And if you think seeing a non-Sherlockian Cumberbatch film isn't a Sherlockian activity, speak to any of those Sherlockians who followed Rathbone, Brett, or any other of the great Sherlock actors out of that role and into their others.
But here's the thing: I don't really want to write about Black Mass, for the oddest reason. Actress Julianne Nicholson, at some point during the film, put me in mind of Ruth Wilson, who played serial killer Alice Morgan on Luther. And once I thought of Alice Morgan . . .
Okay, let me digress for a moment. I have a slightly unpopular opinion that I have to bring up, and that opinion is this:
Irene Adler is over-rated.
Yes, yes, "the woman" and all that, but that was mainly Watson trying to romance-up his friend's image. All the Holmes-Adler romance that followed has been simply fan fiction from day one. I always felt Holmes was much more impressed by Maud Bellamy of "The Lion's Mane," since we get his reaction to that young beauty from Holmes's very own pen. (Which leads me to discount any of Mary Russell's claims to Holmes's heart, as Maud Bellamy was on the Sussex Downs first.)
But all in all, I mainly just felt that Irene, in her one little, barely-interacting adventure with Holmes, never really lived up to being a true match for him. I like Lara Pulver's Irene a lot, and think it matches up with the Cumberbatch Sherlock very well . . . but then, as I said, I thought of Alice Morgan.
Alice Morgan.
Oh, here was the woman I wanted to see face off against our modern Sherlock Holmes. And as we live in an age of magic genies, a quick Google search and I've got not only fan fiction pairing them up, but a YouTube video or two. They make quite the matched set, and the videos show a good bit of . . . dare I say it . . . romantic potential.
Such the fanboy this week. Ah, well, I'd just rather consider Sherlock and Alice than think any more about that balding, blue-eyed Johnny Depp portrayal of a real-life psychopath in Black Mass, I guess.
The ongoing investigation of Sherlock Holmes, reported from the Peoria, Illinois outpost of Baker Street's dirtiest half a dozen.
Exactly! I was always baffled at what everyone else saw with Holmes and Adler.
ReplyDeleteNow Sherlock and Alice, is a match made in Hades, which I'd pay good money to see. That second vid, particularly, was eye-opening. Thanks.
I never understood why ACD's IA was hyped as this icon of feminism and a true match for SH as I was very unimpressed by her in Scandal. Lara Pulver's Irene now and, as you say, Luther's Alice Morgan - quite a different story!
ReplyDeletePeople forget that she was (according to Watson) the 'late' Irene Adler - I took a few hits once for my comment 'yep, dead as a door-nail, in the ground with a shovel full of dirt in her face.' So all the 'after Scan' romance is pure fiction anyways.
ReplyDeletePeople forget that (according to Watson) she was the 'late' Irene Adler. I once took some hits for commenting 'yep, dead as a door-nail, in the grave with a shovel full of dirt in her face.' So all of the 'After SCAN' romance is just fiction, anyways.
ReplyDeleteI hate it when I have to agree with you. I to feel Irene has played to big of a role in the scholarly study of Holmes.
ReplyDeleteBut I will not admit in public that I agree.