Apollo's Rebellion

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.

Doctor Who is an iconic British television program that has been around for almost half a century.Although it is a science fiction program it deals with real life matters and problems.I have laughed and cried but most of all I have learnt. In this article I'll be focusing on the humorous aspects as well as real life problems. Here are a few things that I've learnt from watching the Revival Series of Doctor Who:

1. I Should Probably Hit The Gym 
With Earth being recognized more and more by aliens it should be a good idea to be as physically fit as you can. Running helps. Who knows, maybe one day while I’m working in a massive retail store I might need to run from the mannequins that are now trying to attack me or maybe I’ll have to outrun creepy stone angels that only move when I look away. Basically, running is vital if you want to live. Like Donna said, “Seriously, there’s an outrageous amount of running involved.”

2. Gingers Are Badass 
There’s nothing more badass than a strong willed ginger who knows what they want. Donna, the biggest loud mouth ever, paved the way for gingers everywhere. Her fiery hair reflected her fiery personality giving new meaning to the term “temp”. Plus she was one of the only companions that didn’t fall for the Doctor’s tricks immediately (Rory being the other one: “It’s another dimension.”). Amy Pond is not afraid to speak her mind and her curiosity makes her all the more loveable. She’s not afraid of going into a restricted zone or facing a Dalek. Yes, sometimes she does get into trouble but, then again, how many of us can say that we’ve meet Vincent van Gogh? She’s a ginger nothing can get in her way.

3. Travelling Through Time And Space Could Lead To Danger 
 Everywhere the Doctor seems to go trouble always follows. “Let’s go to 1930’s New York. Nothing could go wrong!” or “I hear the planet Midnight is great. Why don’t we stop by?” There always seems to be an endless supply of aliens trying to attack other planets or attempting (and failing) to evolve. Fact of the matter is Space + Time = Danger. Or maybe travelling with the Doctor equals danger. Either way, make sure you know how to fight off an alien with a water pistol or a plank of wood.

4. The TARDIS is Awesome 

Awesome, right?

“Oh that box, Amy, you’ll dream about that box. It’ll never leave you.” Oh how right you are, Doctor. There have been many countless nights where I’ve gone to bed straight after watching Doctor Who and almost every time I’ve dreamt about the TARDIS. There was even one time when I thought I could the “TARDIS noise” right outside my window. It has such a distinct sound that my sister and I can identify it from a mile away. Yes, just like Mickey and Jackie. It’s a big blue box that’s bigger on the inside, it (sorry! She) has a heart and soul. The TARDIS is a magical box that can never be replaced or upgraded into something new. She is a timeless classic.

5. Not All Aliens Are Bad 
Our prime example being the Doctor but also Jabe from the second episode of the New Series or the Star Whale that just wanted to help the people of the UK. Some aliens are as ignorant of us as we are of them. They just want to live their lives happily the same way we want to. It has taught me that not all aliens are little green men and I shouldn’t be scared of all of them, but if they have plans to attack the Earth then you better run for your life.

6. Never Trust A Good Looking Prime Minister 
Because he’s probably a raging psychopath alien with a desire to take over the Earth just because he wants to. The Master: a man who used to be friends with the Doctor but is now his worst enemy. He is good looking and not to be trusted at all. He’s brainwashed everyone with the Archangel signal and he still looks charming. The first thing you should think about when choosing a possible Prime Minister is his age (if he’s old and ugly he’s your man) don’t go for anyone that’s hot because you might end up being killed by your descendants.

7. The Doctor Likes To Meddle 
He’s always in place he should never be and he’s always doing stuff he never should but he still does it. The Doctor always let’s his curiosity get the best of him. There are lights flickering in Craig’s neighbourhood, “I should probably leave.” But does he? No, he doesn’t! He just walks right into danger. “I’ll just leave Martha back at home! But that man just said he was going change what it meant to be human, I have to find out what he meant!” He is always tasting stuff he shouldn’t be tasting and going to places he shouldn’t be going. The Doctor is inquisitive and no amount of companions could stop him from meddling.

8. Murray Gold Is A Song Writing Genius 
If you watch Doctor Who and don’t know who Murray Gold is then you don’t deserve to be watching it. Murray Gold is the composer for the show and he comes up with most of the musical score in it. You know the Eleventh Doctor’s famous melody? Murray wrote that. One minute he could be composing for an action packed scene with aliens shooting at the Doctor and his companions and the next minute he’ll be scoring the most emotional scene ever. Sometimes he has to do it all in one scene. Being a composer for Doctor Who is challenging because you have to be versatile with the music. There are heart-breaking moments and parts where you just can’t stop laughing (fish custard) and action sequences that all need to be scored by one person. Murray achieves all of this in one episode and he never fails to amaze me. He is probably the only person who can reduce me to tears with a two minute long tune.

Some of the enemies the Doctor has faced in cute cartoon form.

9. Life Is Pretty Dull 
Enter the “I hate my life” phase. After watching Doctor Who and experiencing all these great new things ordinary life seems so dull. Yes, I know it’s just fiction but it still grips you and makes you believe that you could do anything with your life. Like Rose said, “What do I do now? Wake up, go to work, come home, and eat chips and sleep.” Compared to what she has seen normal life is just so boring. There is a part of me that doesn't want the life Rose had to go back to, it has taught me that if something good is going to happen I should probably make it happen. Rose does that it the exact same episode she realises that real life is boring but she's the only one who can change it.

10. Violence Is Never The Answer 
Being a show aimed at the whole family, Doctor Who teaches us that violence doesn’t solve much. One of the principles the Doctor lives by is no violence whatsoever. He is there to help but don’t give him a gun. He try’s his best to fight using words and he never wants to see his enemy die (unless it’s a Dalek). He’s got all this rage within him but he will try his hardest not to lash out at anyone. Still suffering from the time war, he goes the extra mile to prevent anyone’s death. Like when he saved River Song into the Computer or he tried to stop the death of Adelaide Brooke. He has shown me that battles don’t have to be won with fist, guns or swords and that if you sit down and talk like civilized human beings you will achieve so much more.

My friend told me about this book last year and I just shrugged it off. At that time I was so wrapped up in everything that I had forgotten she had told me about it. About a few weeks ago there was a lot of buzz about it at school and it all sounded so familiar. I decided to go and buy the book to see what it was about. At first I was a bit hesitant because I noticed that the three main characters were almost forming a love triangle and I didn't want it to be like another Twilight or something. Then I really got into the book and I began to like it. I really do like the character of Katniss because she's not perfect but she doesn't care, she comes from a poor home where survival skills outweigh looks any day. The story is set in the future in a place once known as North America (known as Panem) and the rich Capitol owns and controls everything. It is clear that Katniss despises the Capitol and the Hunger Games but her love for her sister is what makes her risk her life. This is what I love most about Katniss, she loves her family and will do anything for them. She is also not afraid to speak her mind and tell it like it is. I thought this was going to be a poorly written book with a clichéd plot but it wasn't. I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend to anyone looking for a book to read.

“Please sir. Just buy one of my paintings. Just one,” Arthur pleaded. He held up his favourite canvas. It was a painting of the café that he goes to everyday. “See this one here? I’ll give it to you for half my previous price.” The man just shook his head and said, “I’m sorry, sir, but that painting is hideous.”

Arthur walked home, his canvas safely tucked under his shoulder. As he walked down the gravel path, he kicked a loose stone. He watched as it hit a well-dressed woman. Looking up at her face, he stopped in shock. “No,” he whispered. Arthur knew those eyes, apple green and wise with age. “No it can’t be,” he replied. He blinked and looked at her face again. No, the woman’s eyes were brown. Arthur rubbed his temple and kept walking.

He must be hallucinating, for the umpteenth time. “Was I drinking too much absinthe?” he asked himself as he placed his painting on the shelf next to the door. Arthur looked around his small, one bedroom house. There were various sketches and paintings scattered around his tiny home. Walking up to the table, he picked up a sketch book and opened it. There she was for a second time today, the same green eyes. Her hair was the brightest orange and those lips… soft and curving into the most beautiful smile. Arthur kept turning the pages. There she was again. Sometimes just the eyes or the nose or maybe the hair. The same woman in every painting…

“I saw her , again,” Arthur said looking at his friend, Paul. They were sitting at a table in Terrace Café.
“The mysterious muse strikes again,” Paul muttered as he took a sip of his coffee. “Yeah, I don’t know why but every time I see her face, I just feel so…happy. Like the world’s a brighter place with her in it–”
“You!” howled a voice from behind. Arthur turned around and opened out his arms.
“Me!” he said jovially.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve coming here today!” said the manager who was making his way closer to Arthur.
“I know, I know it’s my tab but… what if I give you this painting of your beautiful café. I painted it myself.”
“I can clearly see that!” the manager said. With a swift movement he picked up a knife and slashed a hole right through the painting.
“And stay out!” he shouted as Arthur picked up his wounded painting.

Arthur never fully understood why people didn’t appreciate his work. Was it because they couldn’t see life the way he saw it? Couldn’t they see the bright magnificent colours surrounding them?
“Yes and they’ll never appreciate my work,” he thought to himself. He hurried home, took out a blank canvas, paint and a bottle of absinthe. “This will be my last painting.”

He stood back and admired his work. Arthur had been painting his entire life. He learnt the skill while growing up in the orphanage. That’s where he learnt to paint life. The painting was of the same woman, but this time he recognised her. “Mama,” he whispered. He now knew what happiness felt like.

“This is the last painting to be done by the famous artist, Arthur Noble,” the museum curator said, “he was found dead in his house, this painting was drying on the easel next to him. Many people have speculated as to who the woman really is…” The crowd looked up at those haunting green eyes. The plaque read “1890”
“That’s one hundred and twenty-two years ago,” someone whispered. Arthur was finally appreciated.

Author's note:
This essay was done for school under the topic "Happiness". It is loosely based on the story of Vincent van Gogh. Like van Gogh, Arthur is struggling artist but unlike Vincent, Arthur grew up without a proper family. Vincent had his brother and sister to support him and I think this was what kept him going for so long.One of my favourite paintings of van Gogh's is "The Terrace Cafe at Night" and that was main inspiration for the story and another inspiration was an episode of Doctor Who called "Vincent and the Doctor" in which the Doctor and Amy visit Vincent van Gogh. I hope you enjoyed my "essay" and begin to appreciate art a little more now.

"Cafe Terrace at Night"

The comparison came about when the first Twilight movie blew up. Everyone was comparing Twilight to Harry Potter. Was it maybe that Edward Cullen looked suspiciously like Cedric Diggory? Or was it because they both created a huge hype? But they’re two completely different types of books and genres with completely different themes and subplots.

First of all the storyline, Harry Potter is all about a young wizard who is trying to grow up and learning to control his powers. Twilight is all about a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire. That’s all there is; Bella falls in love with Edward and the rest of the series is all about how Edward doesn’t want to hurt he,r but ends up hurting her anyway and halfway through the series you begin to predict the ending. Harry Potter, on the other hand, is completely different. Throughout the entire series there have been twists in the story. We find out the reason why Voldemort is such an evil guy. We find out more about Harry’s past. Everything in the story is meant for a reason for example Harry’s unexplained parseltongue is because a piece of Voldemort is “within him”. Harry’s story is so full of history and meaning. Twilight rushed through the whole story of how wolves (or shape shifters) and vampires came about.

The next thing is the characters. The characters in Twilight are very stereotypical and 2 dimensional. Edward is the same broody vampire in the fourth book as he was in the first. Bella is still a desperate angst-y teenager (although now she’s a desperate angst-y vampire). The characters in Harry Potter grow and evolve as the series goes on. You feel the emotions of the characters as the book goes on, you feel their hardships and you feel their joy. In Twilight I didn't feel that, when Edward left Bella I never, not once, felt sorry for her. Other than emotion Edward is kind of stalker-ish. It’s shown more in the movie. He’s obsessive to the point of over protection. Some people may think it sweet but I think it’s creepy. Frankly, I don’t want an over protective boyfriend. What girl wants to be dependent on their boyfriend? I’d much rather be like Hermione: an intelligent, independent girl. Yes, she may be bossy at times, but everybody has their flaws. That’s what the characters in Harry Potter are; they have flaws just like normal human beings. But in Twilight’s “world” everybody is perfect and nobody has their flaws because they’re vampires! In Harry Potter, Harry is a very brave young man and although he may not have confidence in himself he still stands strong. Whereas Bella is always looking to someone for support, whether it is Edward or Jacob, she can’t stand on her own.

The next topic is imagination. Everyone knows that a good fiction story grows from a good imagination. JK Rowling created a whole new world within our world. The wizarding world exists within our world (the muggle world). Even words are made to describe the different people. Muggles for normal human being, half-bloods (or mud-bloods) for wizards that have  one muggle parent and one wizard parent. The spells that they use come from Latin and even some of the names. In Twilight a normal girl moves to a boring town of Forks. There aren't any interesting names that they call vampires or humans. Maybe if you count “Cold ones” and “Pale faces” as some. The setting of Twilight is a boring rainy mess of things. Bella hates it there and the only reason she stays is because of a “vegetarian” vampire. Hogwarts, on the other hand is a magical maze of wonder and excitement and you could get lost at every turn. When reading Harry Potter I see myself walking down the endless hallways of Hogwarts, maybe even sneaking my way around the Forbidden Forrest. In Twilight, I find it hard to see the meadow where she and Edward sit and talk. I find it hard to visualise the street where Bella lives. I sometimes even rely on the movies to see how everything looks. This could be because I was bored while reading the description. I found myself bored while reading the whole series. As I was reading felt like I was reading recycled plots of other stories – the most prominent one, as you would agree, is of Romeo and Juliet. Shown a lot in New Moon (near the end when Edward thinks Bella is dead). The plot is clichéd. Yes, Harry Potter may seem predictable at times but as a whole it is much more…what’s the word? Ah, yes! Imaginative. With every word I read, I know that Harry is a wizard. I don’t feel that with Edward. Yes, we may know that Edward is a vampire but we've never seen him do anything that suggests that he is. He may jump from tree to tree or run really fast, but we don’t see that mysteriousness about vampires. I regret ever calling them vampires because they aren't  They don’t drink human blood, they live in forest in a house made mainly of glass and (worst of all) they sparkle. Have you ever seen Count Dracula sparkle? I thought not. There is no history in Twilight. I feel as if the author took the concept of vampires and turned it around completely. In Harry Potter we can see that the author took time to research every creature and she also took time to create new creatures. In Harry Potter she never rushed over the description and the story as a whole – she wanted her readers to enjoy the story. JK Rowling was never afraid to kill off her main characters; she knew the story would be more realistic to the readers. Stephanie Meyer, on the other hand, kept all her main characters alive in their perfect little world of flawlessness.

My last point is parodies. This goes well with fan bases. Most of the Twilight parodies poke fun at the entire series (ie Vampires Suck). The same goes for Harry Potter with the Barry Trotter. There are plenty of parodies on YouTube – all you have to do is look. I have found that there aren’t any fan-made parodies of Twilight but there have been many fan-made parodies of Harry Potter like Potter Puppet Pals and Starkid’s A Very Potter Musical. These are comedies made by the fans for the fans.

Hope this report has enlightened you a bit more. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I decided to voice mine. If you disagree with anything that I said please feel free to leave a comment, I’m always open to criticism.

They say it’s always the darkest before dawn. I’ve been awake early too many times to know that it is true. Sleep is still calling me, but I sit on my patio and taste the waking dawn on my lips. The birds and the neighbours’ dogs can taste it too. Their voices can be heard from a million miles away.

There’s a blue tinge in the sky and the smell of a thousand flowers caress my nose. Sunflowers, daisies, tulips…all bright like the sun. A small, red and black bird atop my giant tree sings me a song. He stops. Then asks, “What song would you like today?” His was head moving from side to side.
“Something welcoming,” I whispered back, too afraid that my voice may scare the sun away. The dew drops on the grass are under cold under my touch. Yet, I still slip off my slippers and walk slowly across the garden. It’s as if they are diamonds, left by a bandit whose pockets had holes in them now they are scattered all over my grass. A worm makes its way past my bare foot as if to get away from something or someone. A bullet of black comes into my vision and the worm is picked up by a myna. I shoo it away but it just screeches at me. I run back to the safety of my chair, too afraid to find out if mynas also like human flesh.

There’s a taste of anticipation in the air as if the world is waiting. There’s a bright glow on the horizon. Inch by inch I can see it, hear it, taste it, smell it, feel it coming. One more moment…and in that moment the entire world held its breath.