Sunday links

[selenak]

As I won't get to watch the new Fringe until the 21st or thereabouts, have some links collected over the last week referring to other interests instead:

Sherlock and Doctor Who:
A Scandal in Fandom: Stephen Moffat, Irene Adler and the fannish gaze: probably the best post on the matter I've read so far, blessedly unpolemical, and great with

Comments

[ponygirl2000]

I liked the Moffat link. I had problems with the ending, but they were along the lines of I didn't think Sherlock made his case in demonstrating Irene's emotions with a jokey password and pulse rate, and really if Irene had given him a look along the lines of "if that's what you need to believe, fine," I would have been satisfied as she had played her motives as mixed throughout. I wasn't bothered by the final rescue narratively, it's just the visuals seemed so over the top - and this is where I think Moffat really opened himself up to the sexism charges as it was staged very much as a damsel in distress moment (also it called back to the Blind Banker and that is never good). Fandom's reaction has been... interesting. Especially when I've seen a couple reviews of Hounds which start off by slamming Scandal in comparison. I'm all for subjective experience and all that but really? Really? Leaving aside some major writing issues, people are finding more shippiness in an episode where Sherlock unrepentantly drugged John just

[selenak]

I suspect fandom at large either only watched or only remembers the first twenty minutes of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes with its running "is Holmes gay?" gag and completely ignores the rest of the film and the woman who is its central character. :(

And yes, Hound by comparison is... I'm all "really?" as well. I still stand by my claim Scandal is better than anything the Moff wrote in s6 of New Who.

[fresne]

Having dove with a splash into the Sherlock and then the T.E. Lawrence links, delicious. They were both very interesting. I'll have to check out that documentary

[selenak]

Hmmm... slash fanfic reading aside I tend to read ACD:Holmes as asexual and T.E. as close to same.

Same here. BTW, I think the Mack bio is still the best out there.

[fresne]

BTW, I think the Mack bio is still the best out there.
Agreed. One of the few times I've checked out a bio from the library and turned around and bought a copy. Insightful both about T.E.L and people in general.

[wee_warrior]

The article on Scandal has been an interesting read, even for someone who hasn't seen the episode yet. I found it interesting as someone who isn't quite a convinced fan, and definitely not a fan of its Sherlock (comparisons between him and Eleven are bemusing to me, but, alas). The analysis of Sherlock as purposefully ambivalent and decidedly not finished in his development is one that I haven't applied so far, which probably shows that one shouldn't let oneself be led by dislike for a character, much like one shouldn't be blinded by love. :)

[selenak]

Oh, I didn't like Sherlock himself in any of the s1 films, which was one of my problems with the show. I did like him, to my great surprise, in Scandal, not least because that does show him trying to work on himself.

[itsnotmymind]

"A Scandal in Fandom" was a fascinating read, even though I don't watch Sherlock and don't keep up with Doctor Who.

The Bronte link reminded me how grateful I am that I did a close-in-age sibling, as well as a few imaginative neighbors and friends with whom to play complex, imaginative games.

[selenak]

My brother was five years younger, but I played out stories with a same-age friend (we even recorded them on tapes), and I later made them up for my brother.