tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512050174377678428.post6389698881784577186..comments2024-03-26T09:32:26.565-05:00Comments on Sherlock Peoria: Separate but equal mini religious factions.Sherlock Peoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09896656391037436805noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512050174377678428.post-14685203283600855862014-10-18T19:12:10.860-05:002014-10-18T19:12:10.860-05:00“And while Laurie King was inducted into the Baker...“And while Laurie King was inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars in 2010, her followers, the devout fans of Mary Russell, didn't exactly come up with their battle cry, "After 1914, Sherlock Holmes is ours!" because they felt embraced by the rest of the elder Holmes fandom.”<br /><br />Yeah, but it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement. King's name is “The Red Circle,” which is one of the worst stories. You know what else has a red circle? A target--and not just the retail chain. No doubt that’s just a coincidence.<br /><br />One of the things I’ve always loved most about Holmes is the way he stands up for the powerless, including women. The Canon repeatedly makes clear he abhors men who abuse or prey on women. At the end of the second Russell excrescence, A Monstrous Testament to Misogyny, SHINO beats Mary unconscious, calls it chivalry, then makes a joke about having hurt his hand when he assaulted her. <br /><br />I come from a virulently misogynistic family with generations of battered women in it. It is indescribably offensive to me to see a character I have loved and admired for decades as a champion of abused women portrayed as a man who does not just abuse a woman, but who also pretends his felonious assault is chivalry, and then makes a joke about how HE was injured in the commission of his criminal attack. It is beyond my comprehension how anyone can write that filth and call herself a feminist. It is equally incomprehensible to me how any self-respecting person--man or woman--can like these books and consider him/herself a feminist, let alone call Mary a feminist, badass, and role-model. By that reasoning, every woman who marries her abuser is also a feminist, badass, and role model. <br /><br />Even in a fictional setting, it is extremely dangerous to portray domestic violence, or as I prefer to call it, in-home terrorism, as a joke instead of the despicable crime it is. Even worse is to encourage women to marry their abusers, particularly one who neither shows remorse about his criminal acts, nor agrees not to do it again.<br /><br />For these reasons and many others, the Mary Russell books are some of the most sexist and misogynistic literature currently being written. They are not just bad for the reputations of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. They are bad for women, bad for men, and bad for society. <br /><br />Andarta WoodlandAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512050174377678428.post-10259045039874806352014-10-16T15:05:53.374-05:002014-10-16T15:05:53.374-05:00Thanks for the blog plug Brad!Thanks for the blog plug Brad!JohnFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13294886206454693626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512050174377678428.post-59095032998868444702014-10-16T15:05:38.585-05:002014-10-16T15:05:38.585-05:00Fandom Studies is an actual academic discipline, w...Fandom Studies is an actual academic discipline, with its own journals and everything, so that sort of analysis is probably already well underway. As someone who came to the Canon via BBC Sherlock (at least partly influenced by Mark Gatiss' sheer fanboy enthusiasm for the stories in interviews), I find these discussions interesting even as they make me a bit leery.Bethhttp://morethantrue.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512050174377678428.post-84588176278228898652014-10-16T10:22:10.586-05:002014-10-16T10:22:10.586-05:00While there are now many versions of Sherlock Holm...While there are now many versions of Sherlock Holmes, the Pleasant Places of Florida sticks to the original Canon for inspiration. At our next Gathering in Holmes Beach, Florida on Nov. 1, we will take apart "The Dying Detective." Anyone who is interested should contact Carl Heifetz at microdoc@tampabay.com for details. Holmes Beach was the original meeting site for our West Central Florida Scion, and is near the fine city of Sarasota.Pleasant Places of Floridahttp://ppofl.netnoreply@blogger.com