Wang 1Alicia Wang Professor Lynda Haas Writing 39B 21 May 2014 Bromance From day one, students have been exposed to the idea of genre theory and the four stages of genre development. Genre theory is the argument that all genres go through a period of multiple stages. These stages include the primitive, classical, parodic, and revisionist. Primitive is the beginning stage of the genre. Classical stage is when the genre gains a reputation and at it’s highest demand. Parodic is when the genre is so well known that it is used in satire. Revisionist is when the genre has changed the original conventions of the genre during the classical stage and brought something different to the old conventions. In the detective genre, Conan Doyle was in the classical stage while BBC’s Sherlock and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes are both in the revisionist stage. BBC’s Sherlock is based on the original Sherlock and Watson story but the twist is the setting is in 21 st century London, and was created and written by Stephen Moffatt and Mark Gatiss. Guy Ritchie directed an American movie version of the classic conventions of Sherlock Holmes and called it Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Despite the genre’s development, the main goal of the mystery genre remains the same. George N. Dove, the author of The Reader and the Detective Story says, “Four qualities of the tale of literary detection set it apart, in the opinion of critics past and present, from other popular fiction: the detective story is transitory, without long-range goals or purposes; it is fundamentally an intellectual undertaking; it is recreational, intended primarily to relax; and it is a disciplined, delimited literary form” (2). Dove says Wang 2 the detective genre is made for pleasure reading and to entertain the reader. Dove later on talks about the detective stories were created with a specific set of rules the writer could follow while creating a way for the audience to relax and experience a mental game. During Conan Doyle’s era, he incorporated the surrounding environment of Britain during the 1900s into his stories, and reflected the audience and time period. Kirby Farrell, author of “Heroism, Culture, and Dread in The Sign of Four” wrote, “…wittingly or not, it (The Sign of the Four) provides clues to the meanings of its (Britain) own addictive illusions…” (48). Farrell’s essay was about Conan Doyle’s stories reflecting the audience’s mindset and beliefs based on the four addictions Britain and it’s people were going through. During the revisionist stage, BBC’s Sherlock and Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes have similar conventions but these conventions are changed to fit the needs of today’s audience. These changes in the conventions are apparent in the show and in the movie. For example, the convention of the relationship between Sherlock and Watson has changed in the revisionist stage. In the original stories, Sherlock and Watson had a very close friendship but in the BBC version of Sherlock, the two characters are portrayed to have subtle hints at being gay for one another. In the Jim Ritchie’s version of the two characters, the strong friendship aspect is brought back. All three versions of Sherlock and Holmes are incredibly popular and this specific convention has grown to be more explicit in the TV show Sherlock but not as explicit in the Doyle stories or in the movie version of Sherlock and Watson. In the Conan Doyle stories, the idea of any other sexuality for Watson and Holmes was unimaginable. Conan Doyle’s stories were written for a 19 th century audience. In the 21 st century, people are more willing to accept and be open to the thought of Sherlock and Watson being any type of sexuality. In the book, TV series, and Wang 3 movie, Watson gets married to a woman named Mary Marget; however, in the TV series, Watson is used as a gag joke about being gay. Sherlock on the other hand is socially awkward in all of the Sherlock texts; this allowed the BBC writers to be a bit more open with the possibilities of Sherlock’s sexuality. In the BBC television series, the writers are bolder as to hint at Sherlock and Watson’s possibly gay relationship since Sherlock holds Watson as the most important person in Sherlock’s life. Lynnette Porter wrote Essays on New Adaptations, which is a book with series of essays based on the revisionist conventions from BBC’s Sherlock and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. Porter begins chapter one with, “The BBC’s Sherlock (2010-present) makes no attempt to hide the potential homoeroticism innate in the relationship between Holmes and Watson; gay references constitute a running gag throughout the first and second seasons” (13). Porter makes the point of the TV show’s constant hint at homosexuality based on the actors and character’s lines and the way the director films the scenes that hint at Sherlock and Watson’s homosexuality. An example is the fact that when Moriarty is first introduced, Sherlock deduces that Moriarty is gay based on how he is dressed but also the fact that Moriarty was wearing a well known brand of underwear for gay men. If we think about this critically, Sherlock has knowledge of underwear for gay men, but Sherlock does not know about the solar system. We can then infer Sherlock finds knowledge about underwear for gay men more important than knowledge on the solar system. Another example, in Season 1 Episode 2, Sherlock and Watson are trying to find the murderer at a Chinese circus. Sherlock said he and Watson would go out that night but Watson says he can’t go because he has a date. Sherlock asks what a date is and Watson replies it’s when two people who like each other go out. Sherlock comments and Wang 4 says that is what he suggested but Watson counters with no at least I hope not. The dialogue between the two is a gag for comedic purposes but in the next scene after Watson receives the circus tickets and takes his date, Sarah, to the circus, Sherlock interrupts the date. The scene focuses on Sherlock and Watson and how Sherlock tells Watson it is more important for the two to investigate the area rather than Watson to have his date. Sherlock does not think Watson’s date is of any importance and in fact Sherlock asks why Watson cannot just leave Sarah to go on and help him in the scene. Sherlock and Watson are talking on a staircase, which shows Sherlock as above Watson because Sherlock is on a higher step than Watson. The character placement in this scene makes Sherlock seem bigger in the frame than Watson. Sherlock’s appearance size compared to Watson exhibits to the audience how Sherlock deems the relationship he has with Watson. The audience gets the feeling that Watson just follows Sherlock around and Sherlock is the lead in the relationship between the two also because Sherlock has just barged into Watson’s date, preventing Watson from possibly gaining a heterosexual relationship. The scene is also set from a high angle, which looks down on the characters but looks down even more on Watson than on Sherlock. The idea of this high angle causes Sherlock to look less vulnerable than Watson who in this frame we are hinted at that Sherlock is the lead in the relationship between the two. Sherlock’s face has more shadow than light in the scene suggesting a mysterious aura for Sherlock’s sexuality. John’s face; however, is filled with light so we can easily see his face and his expressions hinting at the assumption of knowing Watson’s sexuality but not Sherlock’s. During the frame, the moment Watson says he wants to get with Sarah, the audience hears a comedic drum beat as if the conclusion where Watson is in a relationship is humorous. There is no Wang 5 music in the background but the comedic drumbeat could symbolize the gag of Watson having a close relationship with anyone other than Sherlock. In Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Lynnette Porter wrote about the masculine bromance relationship between Sherlock and Watson. Porter says, “The concept of the bromance understandably resonates with Sherlock Holmes and can even be determined as drawing from the influence of Conan Doyle’s own Holmes and Watson, the original odd couple alternately fighting for justice and Empire while together living outside the confines of ordinary existence” (38). Porter reflects on the movie and how the concept of bromance as a convention of the original Sherlock Holmes resonates in the movie. In Guy Ritchie’s interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, Watson and Mary are attacked on the train by a group of killers sent by Moriarty. Sherlock comes to the rescue by disguising as a woman passenger on the train. This scene shows an extreme amount of masculine bromance because Sherlock and Watson shoot down a large number of men. Sherlock and Watson go through a series of gunshots and climb the side of a moving train to avoid enemy fire. The entire time this happens, the music is very dramatic and moves quickly. The music adds suspense but the act of scaling the train brings out the masculinity of both characters but Watson’s willingness to follow his very good friend on an adventure that involves dangerously climbing a moving train. The camera then goes to high angle with an omniscient point of view. In omniscient point of view we see a group of characters and understand the feelings and emotions of both characters. This point of view and camera angle allows the viewer to see all the emotion on both characters so we see Watson’s willingness to go into dangerous situations with Sherlock but also Sherlock’s willingness to not only disguise as a lady but to risk his life to save his best Wang 6 friend. Throughout most of the scene we see the two characters on eye level. When we have two characters in eye level we understand that they are both equal to each other. The bromance requires two characters in equal standing with one another. In the movie, Watson is also a lot more masculine, strong, and witty than in the books or in the TV series. The equal relationship in masculinity between the two emphasizes Watson as the perfect English gentleman but also shows what Watson lacks in intelligence, he makes up with strength and skill in combat. The two are see more as equals than anything else in the movie so we come to understand their relationship as brothers than as lovers. As we compared the revisionist era of Sherlock and Watson and the original Conan Doyle’s Sherlock and Watson relationship, we cannot argue the two characters are very close. In Conan Doyle’s Sherlock and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock, both texts were set in Victorian times and both portrayed the relationship as a bromance than an actual romance. In the BBC television series, the setting is in modern day London and the subtle hints at a homosexual relationship is more prominent. The setting made a difference for how the writers interpreted the partnership between the two main characters. It is likely the reason for the difference between the movies, TV series, and the books is because the audience is catered toward a certain expectation of how the two would be portrayed. Wang 7 Works Cited Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Sign of the Four. Seattle: Amazon Digital Services, 2013. Kindle eBook. Online. Dove, George N. The Reader and the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1997. Print. Gatiss, Mark, Steven Moffat, and Stephen Thompson. "Sherlock: The Blind Banker." Sherlock. BBC Wales. 1 Aug. 2010. Television. Keep, Christopher and Don Randall. “Addiction, Empire, and Narrative in Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four.” NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction 32:2 (1999): 207-221. JSTOR. Web. 01/15/2014. Porter, Lynnette R. "The Noble Bachelor and the Crooked Man." Sherlock Holmes for the 21st Century: Essays on New Adaptations. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012. N. pag. Print. Porter, Lynnette R. ""Bromance Is so Passe"" Sherlock Holmes for the 21st Century: Essays on New Adaptations. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012. N. pag. Print. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Dir. Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney. Perf. Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris, Rachel McAdams. 2011. Wang 8