Acting Out (of Character)

We had a few inches of dry powdery snow this past weekend and while most of the country wouldn’t be snowed in, here in the PNW we know that powdery snow is going to compact into a solid couple inches of ice once the freezing rain hits, so we all pretty much sheltered in place and had a nice long panic.  I did, however, with my parents brave the weather to walk to my grandmother’s house for tea.  All was fine and dandy until someone brought up Sherlock Holmes.  This is always a topic that makes grandmama sigh deeply, clasp her hands, and shake her head.  It is not, as one might think, because she dislikes Sherlock but rather because she likes him so much in his original form that she believes he should be “allowed to die” rather than be re-imagined by and for modern audiences.  While this wasn’t some big new revelation it was the most Scrooge like proclamation I’ve heard in regards to the great SH, and the first death wish.  It always bothers me when she (or anyone) gets so upset about re-imagining characters like Sherlock Homes.  I mean, in most modern adaptations he’s still a smart, socially awkward drug addict; what’s the problem?

Most of the time I don’t have a problem with reworkings stories.  Admittedly my favorite film adaptations of books often have at least some input from the author (Princess Bride, Stardust) but I don’t necessarily think author input is a requirement of a good movie adaptation.  I really love retellings/reworking of fairy tales because it is interesting to see how different people take the same story and re-imagine it for a new setting or different audience, it’s great and exciting, and keeps old stories new and fresh.  In fact I think there has only ever been one I’ve really taken issue with: the incredibly stupid movie “version” of Howl’s Moving Castle.  I think it’s because so much was changed in the stupid movie version it was barely recognizable as the same story.  Also, it was a stupid movie.