For those who loathe the new SH film
I have seen a number of borderline vitriolic attacks on the new SH film in forums and mailing lists. I'm not a great fan of it either but I thought I would reproduce my response to one such complainer.
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To: ??????
We all need to face facts here. This film was never going to be made for us (Sherlockians). Like any other film it was made to make money. To do that it had to play with the modern low-brow obsession with sex and violence.
It is for this reason, I think, that the best adaptations of detective stories are made on the small screen where the commercial forces and viewer perception are different. In the UK you only have to look at Granada's Sherlock Holmes or Poirot to see how it can be done well.
I cannot speak for the US but in the UK we have the licence fee. Consequently the BBC has a guaranteed income. As it is the law to pay it the BBC can take risks and not worry that an adverse reaction will affect revenues. Even on the commercial channels risks can still be taken as funding comes from advertising rather than individuals. We are more likely to commit to watch something if we feel like we haven't dug directly into our pockets to pay for it. Therefore through television we watch things that we would never pay to see at the cinema.
I think we need to face the fact that the big screen will never deliver a faithful Holmes.
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To: ??????
We all need to face facts here. This film was never going to be made for us (Sherlockians). Like any other film it was made to make money. To do that it had to play with the modern low-brow obsession with sex and violence.
It is for this reason, I think, that the best adaptations of detective stories are made on the small screen where the commercial forces and viewer perception are different. In the UK you only have to look at Granada's Sherlock Holmes or Poirot to see how it can be done well.
I cannot speak for the US but in the UK we have the licence fee. Consequently the BBC has a guaranteed income. As it is the law to pay it the BBC can take risks and not worry that an adverse reaction will affect revenues. Even on the commercial channels risks can still be taken as funding comes from advertising rather than individuals. We are more likely to commit to watch something if we feel like we haven't dug directly into our pockets to pay for it. Therefore through television we watch things that we would never pay to see at the cinema.
I think we need to face the fact that the big screen will never deliver a faithful Holmes.
