Word over the wires is that “the first annual Sherlock
Holmes week” is coming July 30 and running until August 5. And according to
press releases that have been feeding this story, “millions of Sherlock Holmes
fans worldwide” will take part, and “the week is backed by the main societies
and organizations in the world.”
That sounds quite lovely. A bit too lovely, in fact.
Yes, we’re in a major surge
of Sherlock popularity, but still . . . millions?
Find the most popular Sherlock fan activity you can – say,
something simple like following the Twitter feed of the Baker Street Babes –
and you will find about 6,000 fans. Look for attendance at even the most major
Sherlockian event, and you’ll find a few hundred people. If anyone out there
has seen 1,000 Sherlock Holmes fans in one place, they had better have photos
to back it up. Holmes fans do not fill arenas.
Since Sherlock Holmes Week is “by the fans, for the fans,”
it could, in theory, be enormous – if every fan jumped in and put on some part
of it, if every main society and organization actually did put their hearts and
souls into it. (Though what fans would be left to attend if all the fans were
putting it on . . . well . . . .)
The most worrisome part of Sherlock Holmes Week is the
reason it’s taking place July 30 to August 5. Those dates were chosen because
it is when the Olympics are taking place in London. The OLYMPIC Olympics. In
hopes that anyone coming to town for that major world event will take some time
out to go to a Sherlock Holmes Week event or two. Yes, instead of tying it to Sherlock’s
birthday, Watson’s birthday, the date A
Study in Scarlet was published, Reichenbach day, or any other day of
significance in Holmes’s existence, somebody decided, “Hey, let’s just make
Sherlock Holmes compete with the summer Olympics!”
Well, here in Peoria, we’ve long known that part of being
a Sherlockian is sometimes going along with some just plain batshit crazy
ideas. So, what the heck? Check back here on July 30th and see what Peoria’s contribution to
Sherlock Holmes Week will be. It’s not like we were planning to watch the
Olympics anyway . . .
Great post. I was sort of hoping that "millions" had been a typo on the press release, but I guess not.
ReplyDeleteAs JBS might remark, all you really need for a solid Sherlock Holmes Week are two Sherlockians, a copy of the Canon, and a bottle. In a pinch, dispense with one (or 999,999) of the Sherlockians...
Well, the event was developed by a marketer who once promised my site "millions" of visitors with the advent of the Great Sherlock Holmes debate.
ReplyDeletePart of being a good marketer is avoiding the cliche of overpromising and underdelivering.
Wow, very not cool. Sorry to hear that Mr. Monty.
ReplyDelete