Apollo's Rebellion

About a month ago I decided to broaden my internet presence and get myself my own tumblr* account. An account that none of my friends know about and can't find me on. A place where I can safely obsess over my favourite TV shows with people who watch and appreciate it. I delved deeper into the heart of tumblr, picking up on words and phrases while getting the general just of things. The one thing that I found predominant was the amount of Sherlock and John shippers**.

Image courtesy of tumblr

I knew that there were lots of people out there who placed John and Sherlock together, some even calling it their "one true pairing" (OTP), but I hadn't known the extent of their fandom. When I say together I mean together, like together-together. Which is fine by me and I'll admit it, John and Sherlock are my one true pairing. They go together like all the great combinations, but I don't want them to be together in that sense.

Throughout the Conan Doyle canon, John and Sherlock have shown a great friendship. Sherlock is quoted multiple times saying "my dear Watson," and let's not forget the fact that he missed Watson sitting opposite him in his study as mentioned in The Empty House. But they were never a couple, they were just friends and that's what I want from BBC's Sherlock. I want a friendship that makes me believe in love and life. Steven Moffat has stated that there is no sexual attraction between them, just a long lasting friendship. A type of friendship that will never fade, a rare friendship that only a few possess in their lifetimes. To me their love for one another is completely non-sexual. It's a love, yes, but it's not that kind of love.

I don't need a big confession and a sex scene for me to know that these two were made for each other, that no one will ever compare to the eternal love they have towards one another. I know this because I've seen this only once before, between two girls who, if you had seen them out together, you would swear that they were a couple. It's something that doesn't just happen straight away, but grows over time. It's that type of love that gives me hope. The type of love where you can get married to someone else, but still go back to them and begin where you finished off. It's that kind of love that Sherlock and John have. It's a romance, but not a sexual attraction. 

I'm in no way criticising those Johnlock shippers out there who post some of the oddest yet magnificent pieces of art and literature. All I'm saying is, do we really need to have a kiss or sex scene to show us that they love each other? Hasn't Sherlock already proven that in The Reichenbach Fall when he jumped to his death to protect his friends? What further confirmation is needed?

Drawn by Golubaja on Deviantart.

*tumblr - internet blogging platform where people generally share their views on their favourite shows or other things. Sort of like twitter and a blog mixed together.
**shipper -  a person [who] wants two characters to get together and/or shows support for two characters already together. (taken from Urban Dictionary)

After much anticipation the new episode of Doctor Who aired yesterday and what an episode it was. In this episode the Doctor is more dejected and refuses to help in anyway possible. He knows that there is something sinister going on, but he is still adamant on not helping "Team Vastra" as they've been dubbed by fans. There is, however, one person who can change all that... (Warning! Spoilers ahead)

This year's Christmas special brought about a whole lot of news. New TARDIS interior, new companion and a new title sequence and theme tune, but I'll get to that later. Firstly let's begin with the story line.
It all starts with a little boy who excludes himself from the kids. Probably because he doesn't like them or more so maybe because they don't understand him or maybe he prefers his own company. For whatever reason, this telepathic snow chooses little Walter Simeon to mirror. 50 years later and Walter and his giant snow globe are trying to take over the world one snowman at a time. It's a classic Doctor Who villain story and Richard E Grant makes a perfect Dr Simeon, but the person who stole the show was none other than Jenna-Louise Coleman. She is such a superb actress and Clara is a no nonsense kind of girl. Barmaid by night and prim governess by day, Clara is just the perfect type of person to bring the Doctor back from the sad place he entered when Amy and Rory left. Clara, like most of us, is very curious and she is also very brave. One of the first things she does is chase after the Doctor's coach and pop her head through the roof as well as following the Doctor to his TARDIS in the sky. Jenna-Louise Coleman is perfect at playing her, but I'll get back to that in a minute.

Moving onto Team Vastra. It took me a while to get used to Vastra, Jenny and Strax and, although I liked their parts in A Good Man Goes to War I wasn't sure if I would like to see them return, but I quickly warmed up to them. Vastra and Jenny are such a good pairing and to me it doesn't seem at all weird that Vastra is a lizard woman let alone lesbian. The thing that bothered me was seeing two of the Doctor's enemies become his friends, still Strax brings a humorous side to the episode and I like that Vastra is also nicknamed the Great Detective. Speaking of detectives there are multiple Sherlock Holmes references in the episode from Dr Simeon mentioning a "Dr Doyle" to the Doctor wearing a deerstalker and going under the alias of Sherlock Holmes. It was almost like Steven Moffat's way of saying this is the closest thing you're going to get  to the Doctor and the famed detective. (Just a little side note the Doctor has dressed up as Sherlock Holmes before.)

This Christmas special was possibly one of my favourites, it was humorous, sad, captivating and played out like an hour long movie, but the biggest mystery came at the end when the Doctor realised Clara's full name (Clara Oswin Oswald) and he set about trying to find her. The episode ends wonderfully with Clara (or Oswin or Jenna or whatever you wanna call her) standing over her tombstone in modern day England. This sets in motion the rest of series and I can only assume that the Doctor finds her soon after that because she is wearing similar clothes to some of the behind the scenes pictures.

Anyway, getting back to review at hand. Let's move on to the "news":
New title sequence and theme tune: I had to watch this twice to fully grasp everything about it. I have two words: Classic Who. It reminds me so much of the classic series, but is also up dated and somehow feels modern. I like the new arrangement of the theme and it gives the show a bit more of mystery-thriller atmosphere which it sometimes is, but it stills feels like it had that adventure to it. The only problem I have with the new title sequence is that it's a bit too red for me, but that's just me.
New TARDIS interior: I don't like it. I can live with, but I don't like it. After making the TARDIS into a living breathing person, you can't all of sudden make it into an odd metallic machine! The TARDIS felt so homely and welcoming before, but now it feels more like something that is just transport. The TARDIS isn't just transport it's a whole world inside a 1960's police box! Yeah, it might take me a while to get used to this new interior.

How could you not fall in love?

New companion: I love her. She is wonderful. Truthfully, I liked Karen and I liked Amy, but there were times when I didn't like Amy. I didn't like the way she treated Rory and occasionally tossed him aside, but then the next minute she's proclaiming her love for him. Clara, I can say, is no Amelia Pond. She's fun, clever and extremely good looking. She's also really good with kids. Clara is the only person able to get the Doctor back to his good ol' ways and with just one word: Pond. Her entire interview with Vastra is fantastic and quirky. As you probably know this isn't the first time Jenna-Louise Coleman's appeared in Doctor Who and the mystery of her character is further investigated. She's a face that keeps cropping up everywhere and keeps dying. I hope the dying stops, though, I don't want another repeat of Rory. Oh and did I mention, "It's smaller on the outside."

The episode was wonderful. It kept me engrossed and it wasn't bordering on too dramatic. It was well thought out and not lazily written like some previous episode. After a somewhat disappointing series 7 part 1 and one of the most annoying companion send-offs, it was nice to see Steven Moffat and Matt Smith back on top form and keeping me entertained.

Irene Adler is one of the most famous woman in literary history. Known as the only woman to attract the interest of Sherlock Holmes, Irene first appeared in the short story A Scandal in Bohemia in the novel The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This was the very first Sherlock Holmes story I had ever read which made me very interested with the character of Irene Adler. She is known as the only woman to beat Sherlock which elevates his admiration and respect for her. We only get a brief background of Irene but that makes her mysterious.

Will the real Irene please stand up.

In my opinion Irene should just be in A Scandal in Bohemia and left at that. I feel now with more adaptions of Sherlock Holmes comes the possibility of Irene being in them. I dislike that. People don't know enough about Irene's character to bring her into adaptions. In the Guy Ritchie version of Sherlock Holmes Irene is shown to be a skilled thief and has "mutual romantic feelings" towards Sherlock. It was never stated in the book that Sherlock ever had "romantic feelings" towards Irene Adler. He had an admiration for her but never anything more than that. Sherlock is a masterful detective who would never let something like a love for a woman get between him and his job. In the film it does. He is tricked by her and she runs off again.

Another example is the BBC's modern adaption of Sherlock Holmes titled Sherlock written by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. Irene first appeared in the episode A Scandal in Belgravia  where she is a dominatrix who serves high-end clients. The episode, written by Steven Moffat, has received criticism for the exist portrayal of Irene Adler. I have not seen the episode yet (wake up, BBC South Africa!)  but the few clips I have seen almost shocked me. One of the first clips I saw was of Irene naked and talking to Sherlock on a couch. The first thing I thought was, "Great, the only strong woman character and you make her into some sort of sex symbol. Why, Moffat, why?" but seriously though, why? Irene was one of the only female characters I looked up to and now you make her into mistress who could possibly be bi. To me Irene was a smart and witty character. She saw past Sherlock's disguise and she got away before he could catch her again. I wanted to be as clever as her: the woman who outwitted Sherlock Holmes and got away with it. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle showed people that woman can be as smart as men and sometimes even smarter. Irene was an equal to Sherlock and that's what made her so well-loved.

There have been other adaptions of Sherlock Holmes which brings in the character of Irene Adler just because she is "The woman". A Russia adaption of Sherlock Holmes has introduced Irene Adler just because she was popular in the Guy Ritchie version. In a 2007 production called Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars she is shown as one of Sherlock's arch enemies. If she isn't a love interest then she's an enemy. Why can't Irene just be "The Woman" and left at that? I feel as if my favourite character is being murdered over and over again. This is my plea to anyone who wants to introduced Irene into their own adaptions. Please keep her true to the story, don't try to change her. Or, better yet, don't introduce Irene Adler. She stays within the pages of A Scandal in Bohemia written by the only person who knows her: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Sources:
http://stavvers.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/irene-adler-how-to-butcher-a-brilliant-woman-character/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Adler
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_(TV_series)


Update:
I have watched 'Scandal in Belgravia' and I have to say that I didn't like Irene as much as I wanted to. I didn't particularly like the fact that she sold her body and I also didn't like that she had to get help from Moriarty. I'll tell what I did like: her passion and her brains. Which irks me more because she chooses to swap her intelligence for a job that demeans women. All in all I loved the episode and it did keep me on the edge of my seat at times. I always like when I can solve the case with Sherlock and this episode provided enough for me to figure out. Also the score was fantastic.