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mid0nz-archive · 4 years ago

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The Cannibal & the Consulting Criminal: How Silence and Sherlock Taught Me to Read

(I’m writing a series of autobiographical essays. This meta is a messy. messy warm up…)

PART I: TSotL The Odd Flash of Contextual Intelligence

Know your intertexts (and the limits of their influence)

I’ve spent a LOT of time writing about the influence of Harris on Mark Gatiss in particular. We have Harris to thank for Sherlock’s mind palace for starters. Moriarty and Dr. Lecter share many traits. Then again so do the psychiatrist and Sherlock. I’ll come back to these obvious connections between Sherlock and TSotL in a later part of this meta. (The connections are actually quite superficial.) For now I want to return to my first obsession: the genius cannibal who taught me how to read and the fandom that saved me from him.

Do your research.

Thomas Harris, author of The Silence of the Lambs, choses every word with great care. How many people, for example, do you know called Hannibal? Clarice is more common I suppose, but it’s certainly not a run-of-the-mill monicker. While starlings are the most common of birds have you ever met someone with that surname? Have you ever met a Lecter? What if I told you there is an extremely obscure historical figure called Hannibal the Starling? (You’ll find the reference in Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology if you seek.) Would you think that Harris must have heard of that man? Possibly. Possibly. If I told you that Harris makes most of his characters’ names up– that they sound plausible enough, but unless you’re an everyman like a Jack Crawford or a Will Graham you’re a Francis Dolarhyde or an Ardelia Mapp.

Ardelia Mapp? In the novel Ardelia is Clarice Starling’s roommate at the FBI academy. When exams roll around and Clarice has been too busy hunting Buffalo Bill to read her textbooks, it’s Ardelia who makes sure that Clarice knows all about search and seizures. Adelia Mapp. Ardeila Mapp. What kind of name is that? It helps if we cram along with Clarice:

Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961), was a landmark case in criminal procedure, in which the United States Supreme Court decided that evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures”, may not be used in criminal prosecutions in state [or] federal courts. (x)

Hey Thomas Harris!

Recognize when there’s a joke and you’re not getting it.

Thomas Harris amuses himself with language. Clarice comes from the Latin root clar and the words related to pertain to brilliance and light and the illustrative. And Lecter? So many people have tried to trace its origins but all becomes clear when you think about its etymology. In Latin lector means reader.

Clarice’s boss, Jack Crawford, likes to quote impressive sounding things out of context. Dr. Lecter mocks him for picking and choosing passages of the Meditations of the Roman Emperor, Stoic philosopher, and persecutor of Christians, Marcus Aurelius.

“I’ve read the cases, Clarice, have you? Everything you need to know to find him is right there [in the case files], if you’re paying attention. Even Inspector Emeritus, Crawford should have figured it out. Incidentally, did you read Crawford’s stupefying speech last year to the National Police academy? Spouting Marcus Aurelius on duty and honor and fortitude— we’ll see what kind of a Stoic Crawford is when Bella [his wife] bites the big one. He copies his philosophy out of Bartlett’s Familiar, I think. If he understood Marcus Aurelius, he might solve this case.” “Tell me how.” “When you show the odd flash of contextual intelligence, I forget your generation can’t read, Clarice. The Emperor councils simplicity. First principles. Of each particular thing, ask: What is it in itself, in its own constitution? What is its causal nature?” “That doesn’t mean anything to me.” “What does he do, the man you want?”

I could go on and on about how Harris allows Dr. Lecter to reference Stoicism and all kinds of other ideas for his own amusement. I say amusement because the reader need not understand Dr. Lecter’s jokes to enjoy Harris’ books. Clarice doesn’t and she doesn’t pretend to. Oh how Dr. Lecter fancies his student! I could go on and on because the entire fucking book is a compendium of in-jokes. That in itself is Stoic food for thought. Diogenes Laertius recounts a Stoic idea that Harris likes to chew on.

“Some appearances are expert (technikai), others are inexpert; at any rate a picture is observed differently by an expert and the inexpert person.”

Julia Annas explains:

A non-expert will just see figures; the expert will see figures that represent gods. The expert is right— there really is that significance- and the non-expert is missing something. What is more surprising to us is the claim that the appearance is itself “expert.” The expert is not seeing anything that is not there for the ignoramus to see. It is the fault of the ignoramus that he fails to see what is to be seen, because he fails to understand the content of what is presents to him. (82) - Hellenistic Philosophy of Mind by Julia Annas

Lecter, the consummate reader, is the expert. Clarice, who’s not more than one generation from the mines, is the ignoramus. Yet she shows the odd flash of contextual intelligence.

Discern clues from NOISE.

Though their relationship was weird, close, and lasting Clarice would never realize that Dr. Lecter gave her everything she needed to know to catch Buffalo Bill the first time they met!

On that fateful day, with instructions from Jack Crawford to note anything and everything she sees, Clarice shows enough intelligence to asks Dr. Lecter about the drawings in his cell. Dr. Lecter replies:

It’s Florence. That’s the Palazzo Vecchio and the Duomo, seen from the Belvedere. Do you know Florence?“

If Clarice were prepared "to read” Dr. Lecter’s work, she might have understood the significance of the image. She’s the very model of the Stoic ignoramus.

Clarice finds Buffalo Bill/Jame Gumb by recognizing his personal acquaintance with the first victim he skinned, Fredrica Bimmel. They both lived in Belvedere, Ohio where Clarice finds Gumb while Crawford’s teams go all SWAT on John Grant’s last known address. We find out later in the novel that Dr. Lecter knew Gumb lived in Belvedere, Ohio. Perhaps he was musing on the facts of the case while composing his sketches.

Jack Crawford, of all people, should have noticed the name “Belvedere” and made the connection. His dying wife’s name is Phyllis but he’s called her Bella for most of their entire relationship. Phyllis and Jack were both stationed in Italy and during one of their outings, a man called Phyllis “Bella,” or beauty. Bella is the feminine form; “bel” is the masculine form, as in bel vedere, or beautiful view. We learn later that Clarice has to work hard to trick herself into seeing any beauty in Belvedere, Ohio.

Now you’ve got the facts. Theorize with them.

There is another explanation as to why Crawford might have missed the clue in Dr. Lecter’s drawing from Clarice’s notes. Clarice does not know Italian. How would she have written the sketch’s title in her report? Dr. Lecter does not say, when she asks about the sketch, that is is the Old Plaza and the Dome seen from the Belvedere (pronounced in English, be-vuh-deer as in Belvedere, Ohio). Dr. Lecter says all the proper names in Italian except “Florence.” Florence is the English name for the city Italians call Firenze. Clarice’s ear would catch “Florence” and it may be that her report stated that the sketch was of Florence, but no further details. She doesn’t, after all, ask Dr. Lecter how to spell the names of the places with which she is unfamiliar. Crawford, reading a reasonably detailed report from Clarice, might have only noted that Dr. Lecter was sketching Florence– enough detail for a report if you don’t know what you’re looking at. Clarice, while an ignoramus in the Stoic sense, shows potential. Dr. Lecter is polite when he surmises that she is “innocent of the Gospel of St. John.” He calls her innocent, not ignorant. She’s simply not an expert in iconography. She sees all she can see in the image. Crawford, however, is experienced enough with Dr. Lecter to know how important images are to him. Will Graham captured Dr. Lecter in Red Dragon by recognizing that one of his victims was posed in a tableau of a Wound Man in one of Dr. Lecter’s books. Graham was an expert. We can’t be sure from simply reading the text that Dr. Lecter isn’t making the epiphany of “Belvedere” especially difficult to decode even if Clarice were to have written a verbatim transcript of their discussion. In speech Dr. Lecter may be pronouncing the proper names as an American would, or, alternately, with an Italian accent. He could be pronouncing the incidental proper names (Palazzo Vecchio and the Duomo) in an Italian accent and “Belvedere” in an American accent to dare Clarice and Jack to take notice. Or, he could be pronouncing all the names in an Italian accent, a fact could be lost in translation between Clarice, innocent of Italian, and Crawford, who knows just enough to have had an epiphany. Each scenario is possible and each reveals a slightly different interpretation of Dr. Lecter’s motives. If we take Thomas Harris himself as the final authority, in the audiobook Harris reads Dr. Lecter’s part. Harris says all proper nouns including “Belvedere” with an Italian accent (albeit with a Mississippi drawl.)

Yeah ok SO WHAT?! And what about Sherlock?!

In Part II I’ll talk about TSotL as an intertext to Sherlock and the limits of this influence. I’ll compare Dr. Lecter’s method of reading to James Moriarty’s. I’ll talk about why & how I crawled out of the cannibal’s skull and into the consulting criminal’s and where I am going next… Or I just might try to revamp this to make more sense. I dunno…

#Repost of an old meta I deleted but need for a new project.#The Silence of the Lambs

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midnight-musings-blog · 5 years ago

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Book Rec:

One of my favourite books is The Crimson Petal and the White (2002) by Michel Faber. There is also an excellent BBC 4-part adaptation of it (2011), featuring Romola Garai, Mark Gatiss, Richard E. Grant, Gillian Anderson, Chris O'Dowd, Amanda Hale and Shirley Henderson.

It is set in the 1870s, and employs and engages with many familiar features of the Victorian novel, whilst being very modern at the same time. But if you like Victorian novels, it is reminiscent of those in the manner it is written and tropes, themes types of characters etc it features. it does help if you are already fairly well versed in literature from that time, but since there are many film adaptations of 19th century novels, I think most will have some familiarity.

However, it is also clearly written with an awareness of literary criticism, historical research and historiography on the subject of Victorian literature and the period. It’s evidently influenced by Pearsall’s The Worm in the Bud: The World of Victorian Sexuality (1969), for example. And Faber wrote a first draft in the 1980s, so worked on it a long time. Certainly, there is a great influence of feminist academic work (literary criticism and history) and theory, in the way it presents female characters and handles patriarchal oppression of women.

The title of the novel is derived from Tennyson’s poem - Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal - but I think the intention of Faber with it is to represent the misogyny of the madonna/whore dichotomy of the period. “The Crimson Petal and the White” - symbolise the main character, sex worker Sugar, bought by William Rackham to be his mistress, and his wife, Agnes. Neither woman is truly free; both are dependant upon Rackham and have limited choices due to the society in which they live. Sugar is a “fallen woman” - a “bad woman” - who is used but not good enough to marry (even though Rackham and other male characters are not remotely paragons of virtue, but you know, double standards). Agnes is the stereotype of the feminine ideal - conforming perfectly to societal expectations, yet she is not safe in spite of this.

This use of two contrasting women being central to the novel is reminiscent of Victorian novels. Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White (1859), features intelligent, resourceful Marian Halcombe and the guileless Laura Fairlie. The novel examines inequality in marriage. Then, there is Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), which took inspiration from Collins. It features the intelligent Mina Murray and the innocent but helpless Lucy Westenra. However, a large aspect in the horror of Dracula is female sexuality. Stoker does appear to criticise the limited expectation of women up to a point. Lucy is victimised and fails to resist Dracula because she’s never had agency nor expectations beyond marriage and being a pretty ornament. Whereas Mina succeeds because she’s more independent, resourceful and educated. However, Mina’s agency is only allowed up to point, so long as it it in the service of being a wife/mother, rather than compete independence.

Anyway, back to The Crimson Petal and the White. :) It is rather long, and I suppose not easy reading, as it has quite heavy subject matter and is written with an awareness of academic work. If you are used to reading victorian literature etc the writing style will not be challenging imo. But it’s a really great piece of literature, and I highly recommend it. :)

... And frankly if I could produce a piece of writing of this calibre - well I'd be happy.

#literature #crimson petal and the white #michel faber #feminism #history #books #fiction #victorian novel #victoriana #neo-victorian #book recommendations

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elizadoolittlethings · 6 years ago

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British actor Mark Gatiss on the role of King George: I am the bruise

One of the authors (and actors) of the popular Sherlock Mark Gatiss series will be featured live in cinemas tomorrow as a British sovereign suffering from mental illness. The well-known game of King George's Madness is transferred from theater in Nottingham to Prague, Hradec Králové and Náchod.

Today 11:39

The NT Live Live transmission has already happened when you played with Tom Hiddleston in Shakespeare's Coriolan. Will it make you less nervous about Tuesday night?

Probably yes. At NT Live you have to forget about cameras. You can not act like a TV show. It's best to just play and not think about the millions watching you in the cinema. Even though you are reminded of, as in the case of Coriolan, when David Tennant sent me a message five minutes before the start: I'm sitting in a small cinema on Vancouver Island and watching how you play in downtown London is not that amazing?

How do you perceive yourself as a viewer of NT Live?

Filmed theater has a bad reputation because it was mostly filmed by regional television without proper techniques and looked poor. But NT Live has many high-quality cameras and can create an intimate experience. Sometimes thanks to NT Live, you can also see the stage better.

Madness was written by Alan Bennett, an active author. His novel Aleluja! in the Czech Republic in NT Live we will see in February.

I have already seen her, and I really liked the game because of the state of British health. This is not what you expect most in older authors' games.

In Britain, Bennett is a national treasure, unfortunately we do not know much about it in the Czech Republic. Can you imagine it?

People think he's a gentle, gentleman from Yorkshire. But he has a very sharp joke, and he can be quite annoyed, not least in terms of the lack of opportunities for less wealthy young people to learn. He is bittersweet, able to observe life and people, and also interested in the history he studied, especially the royal family. I recommend the novel An extraordinary reader in which the queen finds books.

Has he participated in the trials of your production?

Not that, but he wrote a letter to each of us. And he said he was looking at NT Live. Since the original production in 1991 he has not seen the game.

In 1995 a film version was nominated for several Oscars. In your role played by Nigel Hawthorne.

I once saw the movie, but every production must exist on its own. You can not play in some shadow.

Your performance has been running in Nottingham since the beginning of the month. Have you discovered anything new in it since then?

I found out how much I like George. He was not an autocrat, though he too badly tolerated when someone disagreed with him. He was kind, people liked him, they called him Farmer George, fascinated him with agriculture, and appeared quietly on someone in the porch and asked him to cultivate one or the other. He and his wife had fifteen children, and they were very happy, and they called them Lord and Mrs. King. He had no lover, which was almost unheard of at that time.

Is your performance as a crazy monarch a lot of physical?

I grew up at the psychiatric hospital where my father worked, and now I use a lot of things that I've seen as a child. George has a lot of ticks, a jerk. It's pretty tiring, especially in the days when we play the morning performances. But I like the acting challenge. Although I'm completely covered with bruises.

You were studying the role of George III. also historical sources?

I studied him at school and felt boring. Except for madness, it was exciting. I remembered that during his reign he was arguing about the power of politicians Fox and Pitt, but nothing more. Thanks to the game, people now find me more interesting and I think they will get something to learn about them. However, the art of the time is still bored with me, for example Gainsbourg's paintings seem feeble to me.

Now there is another story in Britain, and like almost every similar production, King George's madness has already come to concern itself with brexitis. Are your concepts deliberate in parallels?

You should never pressure yourself. Every night, people are laughing at the replica that America is wise. And always when I say that Ireland has shrunk on the ground of mold and decay, it sounds like I think of Britain today. We did not change anything intentionally, Alan wrote it in 1991 when he did not know about Brexitis. But it's strange how words have a different echo, depending on when you listen to them. Already at Coriolana, I was struck by the fact that some fascist regimes like the game and others forbid it.

What do you think, after Brexies, to become a British theater?

I'm afraid he'll fall into recession for fifteen years. Brexit, I think, is the worst thing Britain has ever since World War II. Everybody knows this, and yet it continues, despite all the evidence of massive corruption and interference by Russia and a number of right-wing groups. Catastrophe. As if you were cutting your neck in the evening and going to sleep, you will see how it will be in the morning.

The mistress of King George is played in Nottingham. How does it look like today with British regional theaters?

They work well in the arts, the problem is that they cut their budgets. As a student, I could see great actors and performances at the local theater, we had a cultural center in the city, where children could go dancing, painting, whatever. But when it is saved, culture is the first. Newcastle has recently proposed a 100% cut in budget for culture. Eventually they changed it to about seventy-five percent, which is still a disgrace. Councilors rely on parents to take their children to other rings. But what if he is not here? Regional theaters are still light in the dark, so it is important to support them.

NT Live can help?

If they see people in the Czech Republic, the US, Poland or Japan, they will know that good theaters are outside of London.

Novinky.cz [x]

it’s Google auto-translate. so ... yes, not my version :)

#MG #mark gatiss #the madness of george iii #Nottingham Playhouse #mark's interview #the man behind the genius #all things MG #novinky

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dramyhsturgis · 7 years ago

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On Lestrade, Conan Doyle, and Sherlock

It’s time to revisit this, I think.

In recent trips back through Arthur Conan Doyle's works featuring Sherlock Holmes, I've been thinking of the character trajectories across the stories, especially regarding Holmes's relationship to Lestrade (less celebrated that the brilliant Holmes-Watson partnership, but nonetheless fascinating).

"We All Three Shook Hands" by Sidney Paget, 1902 (L to R: Lestrade, Holmes, and Watson)

My thoughts are based on looking at the novels and short stories in internal chronological order (wherever it can be determined), not publication order.

Holmes

Point the First: Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is quite capable of being obnoxious in the BBC's Sherlock Cumberbatchian sense. Perhaps one of the worst affronts appears in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" (set in 1889), in which Holmes plays his "Lestrade's So Stupid That He Wouldn't Understand X" game. The example he chooses, however, 1) is one that Watson doesn't comprehend either and, more to the point, 2) is one predicated on Holmes's own knowledge of Watson's daily grooming habits gained only by the fact he's lived with Watson for years. Of course Lestrade wouldn't reach Holmes's conclusion: he's never lived with Watson, and thus he has no access to that data! The entire exercise is just an excuse for Holmes to show off, not an honest assessment of Lestrade's abilities. Holmes is none too gentle with delivering the insulting conclusion of his reasoning, for that matter, and thus he humiliates Watson. If Lestrade (or Watson) appears to get short-tempered with Holmes now and again, it's not unwarranted.

Point the Second and the More Important: Holmes shows rather compelling character development over the years (and here I'm reminded of the great man/good man point articulated by Lestrade in Sherlock), and it's instructive to watch this unfold through his relationship with Lestrade. [1]

In "The Five Orange Pips" (set in 1887), when Watson asks if their unknown visitor might be a friend of Holmes, Holmes replies: "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage visitors." [2]

Yet in that same year, Holmes's professional familiarity with Lestrade leads him to treat the Inspector not as a guest who requires formal hospitality, but rather as a regular visitor free to consider himself welcome and make himself at home (in "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor"):

"Good-afternoon, Lestrade! You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are cigars in the box."

In Holmes's letter to Watson in "The Final Problem" (set in 1891), Holmes admits that he has "friends" (plural) who will feel "pain" at his loss.

In "The Adventure of the Empty House" (set in 1894), Holmes identifies Lestrade -- in front of both Holmes's would-be murderer Colonel Sebastian Moran and, for the very first time, Lestrade himself -- as "my friend Lestrade." (He refers to Lestrade as "friend Lestrade" multiple times thereafter.)[3]

By "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" (set in 1900), Holmes regularly welcomes Lestrade's social visits (above and beyond professional meetings about their joint work on a case) with a drop-by-unannounced intimacy usually reserved for one's closest friends and family.

It was no very unusual thing for Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, to look in upon us of an evening, and his visits were welcome to Sherlock Holmes, for they enabled him to keep in touch with all that was going on at the police headquarters. In return for the news which Lestrade would bring, Holmes was always ready to listen with attention to the details of any case upon which the detective was engaged, and was able occasionally, without any active interference, to give some hint or suggestion drawn from his own vast knowledge and experience.

On this particular evening, Lestrade had spoken of the weather and the newspapers. Then he had fallen silent, puffing thoughtfully at his cigar. Holmes looked keenly at him.

“Anything remarkable on hand?” he asked. “Oh, no, Mr. Holmes–nothing very particular.” “Then tell me about it.” Lestrade laughed.

In the same story, Holmes even takes pains to consider Lestrade's personal comfort, after he's asked the Inspector to lengthen an already long day by accompanying him on a late-night expedition. Without prompting, Holmes offers food and a nap with easy familiarity:

“You'll dine with us, Lestrade, and then you are welcome to the sofa until it is time for us to start.”

Lestrade

Lestrade is practical throughout -- he bristles at insults and scorns the thought of trusting theorizing over legwork, and yet he proves willing to admit his own mistakes from the very first ("I freely confess that I was of the opinion that Stangerson was concerned in the death of Drebber. This fresh development has shown me that I was completely mistaken..." in A Study in Scarlet, set in 1881) -- but it's clear that the no-nonsense pragmatism of his relations with Holmes grows into genuine warmth and affection over time. Beyond the above examples, there are others.

By the time of The Hound of the Baskervilles (probably set in 1888 or 1889, though possibly as late as 1899 or 1900), Holmes is requesting Lestrade's presence ("He is the best of the professionals, I think, and we may need his assistance," Holmes tells Watson), and Watson can see just how their chemistry has matured:

The London express came roaring into the station, and a small, wiry bulldog of a man had sprung from a first-class carriage. We all three shook hands, and I saw at once from the reverential way in which Lestrade gazed at my companion that he had learned a good deal since the days when they had first worked together. I could well remember the scorn which the theories of the reasoner used then to excite in the practical man.

"The Adventure of the Norwood Builder" (set in 1894 or 1895) shows a friendly competition between Holmes and Lestrade in which each teases and mocks the other when the facts seem to fit his theory. (At one point, Holmes confesses to Watson, "...upon my soul, I believe for once the fellow is on the right track and we are on the wrong.") But Lestrade is "a practical man," as he admits, and when Holmes ultimately reveals the definitive truth with much added (and arguably unnecessary) drama, Lestrade reacts not with hurt pride or wounded ego, but genuine appreciation. (He also immediately gives credit where credit is due, telling the culprit, "You have done your best to get an innocent man hanged. If it wasn't for this gentleman here, I am not sure that you would not have succeeded.") The physical response from the normally reserved Holmes when Lestrade offers his gratitude speaks volumes:

"... I don't mind saying, in the presence of Dr. Watson, that this is the brightest thing that you have done yet, though it is a mystery to me how you did it. You have saved an innocent man's life, and you have prevented a very grave scandal, which would have ruined my reputation in the Force."

Holmes smiled, and clapped Lestrade upon the shoulder.

And then of course there's the justifiably famous exchange in "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" (set in 1900):

“Well,” said Lestrade, “I’ve seen you handle a good many cases, Mr. Holmes, but I don’t know that I ever knew a more workmanlike one than that. We’re not jealous of you at Scotland Yard. No, sir, we are very proud of you, and if you come down to-morrow, there’s not a man, from the oldest inspector to the youngest constable, who wouldn’t be glad to shake you by the hand.”

“Thank you!” said Holmes. “Thank you!” and as he turned away, it seemed to me that he was more nearly moved by the softer human emotions than I had ever seen him.

Note: It's no wonder why Holmes might rely on the tenacious Inspector (in addition to his always-worthy Watson) in a situation that has the potential for real danger, such as in The Hound of the Baskervilles. After all, Lestrade proves time and again willing to confront the villains by himself without backup, including Joseph Stangerson in A Study in Scarlet and James Browner in "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box." For that matter, although he's the slightest man physically in a room of five, Lestrade is the one to bring down the "so powerful and so fierce" Jefferson Hope by "half-strangling" him in A Study in Scarlet. Holmes underscores his trust in the Inspector by calling upon Lestrade once again in "The Adventure of the Empty House," in this case to assist in the capture of the vengeful Colonel Sebastian Moran.

Random Musings Related to ACD Canon and the BBC's Sherlock

According to my calculations (which I'm happy to explain and be corrected upon), there was approximately a fifteen-year spread between ACD's Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Lestrade, with John Watson and Mycroft Holmes in the middle. If you take the ages of the four male leads in Sherlock, there is a fourteen-year spread between the youngest (Benedict Cumberbatch) and the eldest (Rupert Graves), with Martin Freeman and Mark Gatiss in the middle.

Also according to my calculations, at the time of ACD's "The Adventure of the Empty House," Sherlock Holmes was 40, John Watson was 41 and nearing 42, Mycroft Holmes was 47, and Inspector Lestrade was approximately 55. As for BBC's Sherlock, at the time of the filming of the third-series episode "The Empty Hearse," this puts Martin Freeman and Mark Gatiss at the perfect ages, and Benedict Cumberbatch and Rupert Graves equally four-five years younger than their respective characters.

I wonder if the naming of Sherlock's Molly Hooper is a nod to Molly Robertson-Kirk, a.k.a. "Lady Molly of Scotland Yard" (who was, after all, a contemporary of Sherlock Holmes).

I suspect that Sherlock's "Greg Lestrade" wasn't originally intended to be short for "Gregory Lestrade," but rather for "Gregson Lestrade." In this way, Moffat and Gatiss could seamlessly combine Inspectors Lestrade and Gregson, who are identified by ACD's Holmes as, among the Scotland Yard professionals, "the pick of a bad lot. They are both quick and energetic, but conventional — shockingly so." (A Study in Scarlet) This theory may have been Jossed by the Steve Thompson-penned third episode of the second series (in which Lestrade is cut off as he's trying to explain that other D.I.s have consulted Sherlock besides him, and names Gregson as he's interrupted). The full implications of this throwaway mention of Gregson is as yet unclear.

[1] There are other interesting character changes Holmes exhibits, including his evolving thoughts on justice vs. law and means vs. ends, but I'm particularly thinking of his personal, non-Watsonian relationships at present.

[2] It's perhaps worth pointing out that Holmes describes Watson as "not a man with intimate friends" (save, Holmes implies, himself) in The Hound of the Baskervilles.

[3] Interestingly enough, Watson begins referring to Lestrade as "our old friend Lestrade" in works set in 1894 and 1895, including "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder" and "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans."

#lestrade #sherlock holmes #john watson #g lestrade #greg lestrade #di lestrade #arthur conan doyle #sherlock

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msclaritea · 8 years ago

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~By the Pricking of my Thumbs~

...Something Wicked This Way Comes...

(apologies for the length. There was a lot to share)

“There was only one thing sure. Two lines of Shakespeare said it. He should write them in the middle of the clock of books, to fix the heart of his apprehension:

So vague, yet so immense.

He did not want to live with it.

Yet he knew that, during this night, unless he lived with it very well, he might have to live with it all the rest of his life.

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962)

The youthful experiences that made Bradbury into a writer preoccupied him throughout his life. Bradbury’s much-beloved novel Dandelion Wine is a thinly veiled fictionalization of many of his sweeter reminiscences — but even these could take an odd turn. “I loved to watch my grandmother eviscerate the turkey,” he once said, a memory that sums up his most characteristic literary trait: taking homey Americana and bending it in a violent or grotesque direction. His most seminal stories wrung terror out of common occurrences, such as going into a ravine that ran through the residential section of his native Waukegan, Illinois at nighttime. In the story “The Night,” an eight-year-old boy — the author’s alter-ego — simply scares himself. There is no ghost or criminal lurking, only the panic that wells up in all of us when we get lost in a dark, damp place and know we are alone in the universe, in the “vast swelling loneliness,” feeling the presence of “an ogre called Death.”

“Ray Bradbury spent his childhood goosing his imagination with the outlandish. Whenever mundane Waukegan was visited by the strange or the offbeat, young Ray was on hand...He read heavily in Charles Dickens, George Bernard Shaw, Edgar Allan Poe, H. G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, L. Frank Baum, and Edgar Rice Burroughs; the latter’s inspirational and romantic children’s adventure tales earned him Bradbury’s hyperbolic designation as “probably the most influential writer in the entire history of the world.” Bradbury...loved carnivals, magicians, mind readers, and skeletons.

“First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys.” This was the quote given by Mark Gatiss upon the death of Ray Bradbury. That comes from Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962). “Much of the novel centers on a carousel that changes the rider’s age, giving youth to the old and age to the young. At best, those who take the ride end up miserable outcasts. At worst, they become soulless monsters. If eternal youth is no blessing, neither is a return to what has been outgrown, or an impatient leap to what has not yet been grown into. Time is precious. Mr. Halloway is the person through which Bradbury expresses his philosophy concerning good and evil. The theme that emerges in this novel, as well as in several of Bradbury's other works, is that light is good and dark is evil. Bradbury's carnival is the epitome of this darkness. It is the "something wicked" that "this way comes. Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show.”

William "Will" Halloway, born one minute before midnight, October 30. Will is described as having done "only six years of staring." (He is described as having white-blonde hair with eyes "as clear as summer rain".) Will is naturally obedient and wary of getting involved in difficult situations; nonetheless, he takes on an active role in fighting the carnival's evil power. James "Jim" Nightshade, born one minute after midnight on October 31. Jim is brooding and brash, acting as a foil for Will's cautiousness and practicality. (He is described as having wild and tangled chestnut brown hair and eyes the color of green grass.) Jim yearns to become older, which makes him vulnerable to the carnival's temptations, but he is ultimately saved by his friendship with Will. Jim represents good that is always on the verge of giving into temptation, while Will, though he has crises and doubts, is the part of us that resists giving in.

Charles Halloway, the father, is older and filled with regrets, spending all of his time in the library, where he is cornered by Mr. Dark, throwing around his lightening, and taking his life, page by page.

“I know who you are,” Holloway challenges. “You are the Autumn People. Where do you come from? The dust. Where do you go? The grave.”

MORIARTY Did you know that dust is largely composed of human skin? Doesn’t taste the same, though. You want your skin fresh .. ... just a little crispy. That’s all people really are, you know: dust waiting to be distributed. And it gets everywhere ... in every breath you take, dancing in every sunbeam, all used-up people.

“Yes, we are the Hungry Ones,” Dark concurs. “Your torment calls us like dogs in the night. ...(Redbeard?)

And we do feed and feed well. To stuff yourselves on other people's nightmares. And butter our plain bread with delicious pain

Funerals, bad marriages. lost loves, lonely beds. That is our diet. We suck that misery and find it sweet. We search for more, always.

“But no man's a hero to himself.” Charles Holloway

They set their clocks by deathwatch beetles, and thrive the centuries.

“Today we honor the deathwatch beetle that is the doom of our society and—in time, one feels certain—our entire species. But, anyway, let’s talk about John.”SH

They whispered to Caesar that he was mortal, then sold daggers at half-price in the grand March sale. Some must have been lazing clowns, foot props for emperors, princes, and epileptic popes. Then out on the road, Gypsies in time, their populations grew as the world grew, spread, and there was more delicious variety of pain to thrive on. The train put wheels under them and here they run down the log road out of the Gothic and baroque; look at their wagons and coaches, the carving like medieval shrines, all of it stuff once drawn by horses, mules, or, maybe, men.”SW

“The roads we walk have demons beneath, and yours have been waiting for a very long time.”

“You dream with your eyes open. God, if you had strength to rouse up, you'd slaughter your half-dreams with buckshot!” SW

“God, how we get our fingers in each other's clay. That's friendship, each playing the potter to see what shapes we can make of each other.”SW

“A stranger is shot in the street, you hardly move to help. But if, half an hour before, you spent just ten minutes with the fellow and knew a little about him and his family, you might just jump in front of his killer and try to stop it. Really knowing is good. Not knowing, or refusing to know is bad, or amoral, at least. You can’t act if you don’t know.” SW

John: Why did they try and kill me? IF they knew you were on to them, why go after me? Put me in the bonfire?

Sherlock: I don’t know. I don’t like not knowing.

Pam Grier, playing the Dust Witch, A blind soothsayer, usually in her Black tweeds, at one point changes into a ghost Bride( Salome) to tempt a man. However, her increased sensitivity to the presence and emotions of other people makes her vulnerable to positive feelings.The Dust Witch even comes in her balloon to find Jim and Will, but they outsmart her.

Then we come to the Mirror Maze.

This Mirror Maze is one of the major temptations that the carnival offers its customers since it capitalizes on an almost universal weakness, man's dissatisfaction with himself. Bradbury describes the experience inside this particular Mirror Maze through the use of water imagery. When someone enters the maze, he experiences an "ocean" of mirrors silently rushing in upon him. These mirror oceans can be quite dangerous. Will characterizes this danger by saying that someone can never tell just what might be swimming in the water, and there is even the possibility that a person might find himself in a watery, bottomless sea.

Dark kidnaps the children, taking them to the Mirror Maze. Charles Halloway must overcome his fears to get them out. Laughter proves to be a powerful weapon against the inherent wickedness of the Carnival. At the sound of Mr. Halloway's laughter, the freaks outside freeze from fear and the Mirror Maze crashes to the ground "in domino fashion."

So...Love & Courage. The themes are woven throughout all of Sherlock and especially the new episodes. It’s been called Amo, it’s at the 20 Minutes mark of every episode. it’s through Thomas Gray "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.”Gray is not promoting ignorance, but is reflecting with nostalgia on a time when he was allowed to be ignorant, his youth...all of the mirrors found surrounding Sherlock are increasing x. Even Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, played in The Lying Detective, is about brotherhood & unity. From through-a-glass-darkly:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. …And now these three remain: Faith, Hope, and Love. But the greatest of these is Love."

Something Wicked This Way Comes has served as a direct influence on several fantasy and horror authors, including Neil Gaiman and Stephen King. Gaiman paid tribute to Bradbury's influence on him and many of his peers in a 2012 The Guardian article following Bradbury's death and here. British TV comedy series The League of Gentlemen features the Pandemonium Carnival of Papa Lazarou. The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury

he who grew up reading sherlock holmes by harlan ellison

@gosherlocked @may-shepard @tjlcisthenewsexy @isitandwonder @multivariate-madness @delurkingdetective @skulls-and-tea @dmellieon @yan-yae @sherlocks-dimples @zadiest @longsnowsmoon5 @shag-me-senseless-watson @1895-doyle-and-bronte-obsessed @ebaeschnbliah

Hey @johnlocklover221 Just saw your vid. Awesome. Thought you might enjoy this.

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#Something Wicked This Way Comes #Ray Bradbury #bbc sherlock #literary legacies #Mark Gatiss #neil gaiman #steve king

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a-pan-in-a-van-blog · 7 years ago

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Review: Mark Gatiss’ Masterclass at The Theatre Royal Haymarket

Mark Gatiss. Where do I begin? To start with, as an inspiring actress, writer and director – for me, he’s generally one to look up to, hero wise. And quite literally – as he’s a lanky six foot of great Northernness and I’m just about 5”4 of Norfolk.

I first met Mark Gatiss, otherwise known as Mycroft Holmes from the BBC’s ‘Sherlock’ Series as he’s recognised mostly to the general public, after his Masterclass at The Haymarket Theatre Royal at Stage Door on Friday the 16th of October 2015.

I’ve been a great fan of the infamous writer and actor for the last 6 years, ever since the first Series of ‘Sherlock’ aired in January 2010 and since then he has been on top of my list of actors to meet.

To some people he doesn’t mean a lot, yet, to me he means the World and more! He’s influenced Geek Culture more than most realise, he’s written his own Doctor Who spin-off ‘P.R.O.B.E’, a Docudrama of Doctor Who ‘An Adventure In Space and Time’ (of which he was also in) and he’s written & been in several episodes and novels for the greatest and longest running Sci-Fi series itself! Which wouldn’t be airing today if it weren’t him and Russell T. Davis pushing the BBC to re-establish the show.

He started his incredible career with his three best friends, Reece Shearsmith (The Stag and Psychoville), Steve Pemberton (Benidorm and Inside No.9) and Jeremy Dyson, who all-together form The League Of Gentlemen, which was a dark comedy sketch show that first aired in 1999 and after 3 Series ended in 2005 after another 2 Theatre Tours, a Pantomime and a Movie! They originated as a small theatre production that started at smaller theatres in London (The Canal Café Theatre, The Battersea Arts Centre and The Komedia Theatre), then The League Of Gentlemen got commissioned to become a Radio Drama in 1995 and aired on BBC Radio 4 as ‘On the Town with the League of Gentlemen’, however, they were so popular, the show was eventually moved to television, which won many, many awards, which then led them all to a successful career in writing and acting. Apart from Jeremy, I’ve met Reece and Steve as well, I can tell you now, they are as gentlemanly as advertised! All three are kind and caring and love speaking to and listening to their fans and what they have to say.

Mark is often described as a ‘Professional Fanboy’ as throughout his wonderful career – he’s displayed his interests in the Horror Genre, James Bond, H.G. Wells, Vampires (& other supernatural beings), The Victorian and Edwardian Era and of course – Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes. Since Masterclass, I’ve met him another two times and every time he’s been the same lovely, down-to-earth, kind hearted gentlemen who takes his time with everyone and can make you fall in love with one look of his soul-wrenching beautiful blue eyes; and every time I’ve we’ve ended up talking about either Doctor Who, Palaeontology (the study of fossils and another common interest of ours) or Jelly Babies.

Before I went to see Mark in Masterclass, I knew nothing about it! I didn’t know they existed! The only reason I found out is through the Social Media site – Facebook. I was planning to go down to London for a weekend away because we already bought tickets to see ‘Three Days in The Country’ at the National Theatre, which, of course, starred Mark and The Master himself – John Simm. We chose the 17th of October because me being me – wanted to see Mark on his birthday and give him a present. And by total coincidence, Facebook suggested an ‘Event That I Might Be Interested In’ that included Mark! My first thoughts were: ‘Ohhh… Mark Gatiss…’ my second thought was ‘Ohhh… Masterclass…’ I then read up on the Event even more and did some research on The Haymarket Theatre Royal and on the basis it was an Acting AND Writing Masterclass… with my favourite Actor… Who’s also my hero… And it was the day before I planned to see ‘Three Days In The Country’… And it was FREE! I would’ve been an absolute Goldfish (as my dear Mycroft would say) to do so otherwise!

A few weeks before my weekend to London, I read up on some of Mark’s Author Credits and I discovered that he’d also written the marvellous ‘The Lucifer Box’ Trilogy. I had no known knowledge of these, which is surprising as 1. I’m a keen reader. 2. As you can tell… I’m a bit of a Mark enthusiast… Anyway, I ordered my copy of the Trilogy of which are my Prized Possessions and call me ‘sad’ if you will, however, I’m very proud to say I have ‘The Vesuvius Club’ signed by Mr. Re-Mark-able Gatiss.

The Masterclass started when Mark made his way to his chair in the middle of the stage and was welcomed to a wonderfully warm round-of-applause! Everyone else who was there were also huge fans of Mark, whether they were a ‘Sherlockian’, a ‘Whovian’, a ‘Local’ or just as passionate about Gatiss as I and wanted to just see and meet him. My first impressions of him were not as I expected. They were better. He’s very loveable, very easily, with his goofiness and quick wit, you can soon become friends with him and feel that you’ve known him for a life-time. The jokes and stories rolled off the tongue without hesitation or pause. He’s incredibly intellectual – more than what he makes out to be, as he can be quite purposely silly and clumsy on occasion. He answered EVERYONE’S questions and took a long amount of time to answer each one with precise detail and care, I was lucky enough for him to answer one of my own questions (on character development within scripts) of which he did not disappoint with the answer. He was incredibly sweet about it all and was gutted that he only had a limited amount of time to answer questions and to talk to fans, I’m sure if he had the choice he would still be there now – talking to us and I’m sure I’d still be there listening to him talk. He’s so charming! I could listen to him talk about his amazing tales of his family, friends, work and life ALL DAY! I wish he did another Masterclass! It was so disappointing when it ended and we had to leave, all the lit up faces blacked out like if there was a power-cut within the human race.

On a second note, I can’t wait to meet Mark again for another three times this year! Once at Sherlocked: The Event in September, second and third time watching him and his wonderful husband, Ian Hallard, perform in the revived play, ‘The Boys In The Band’ at The Park Theatre later this year which runs from September the 28th to October the 30th, I’m seeing it on Opening Night (28th of September) and the day before Mark’s birthday (16th of October) which co-incidentally works out to be my girlfriend’s 18th birthday as well. I am also looking forward to Mark’s next episode he is writing for Series 10 of Doctor Who, which is coming out in 2017 and Series 4 of Sherlock which will be broadcasted on January the 1st next year also, which has currently been in production since April. Ian will be in another Pantomime later this year at The Queens Theatre, Aladdin, run by Imagine Theatre Ltd., where he will play the role of Widow Twankey.

The Haymarket Theatre Royal is a beautifully designed theatre, one of the most gorgeous interiors I’ve seen of a theatre, you can feel the history within and I felt like I was ‘a part’ of it. The staff were so lovely and understanding and the whole place felt very welcoming and homely.

The Masterclass itself is incredible! I would recommend it to anyone, not just young or budding Actors, Writers or Directors or if you’re just want to meet your heroes or favourite actors, writers or directors or simply just want to ask professional practitioners within the Performing or Creative Arts your own questions about their time in the industry – go for it!

Show Rating: 5/5

Written By: Henrietta Leigh

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Twitter: @HenriLeigh33

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Written: June 2016

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elizadoolittlethings · 6 years ago

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Funny peculiar

As one-quarter of The League of Gentlemen, Mark Gatiss is used to playing odd characters - great practice for his stage role in All About My Mother. He talks to Sarah Dempster

[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/aug/20/theatre.arts]

Later, we will hear tell of Nubian effigies and septuagenarian sauce, of outrageous folly and the dashed inconvenience of finding oneself betrothed to not one but two Fannies. But first, a cautionary tale re: the hidden perils of high-street gadgetry. "I recently bought a digital dictaphone," announces Mark Gatiss, solemnly. "But when I got it home I noticed that there was already a 35-second recording on it. I thought, 'Hello'. So I pressed play and all I heard was (he adopts a casserole-thick cockney drawl): "'Errr ... Boxing Day mornin'. Lookin' aaht the window. Contemplatin' ... 'avin' a wank.' And that was it. Obviously, whoever it was had his festive wank, decided he had no further use for his dictaphone, and then took it back to the shop. Wonderful!" he hoots. "I immediately thought, 'Yes!' [He raises a fist in triumph.] 'This is the dictaphone for me!'"

Well, of course it is. Gatiss's imagination thrives on such peculiarities. From The League of Gentlemen's hapless, unemployable Mickey Michaels to Nighty Night's sexually stunted Glenn Bulb, his characters are often bleakly hilarious fusions of the strange and the wrong.

Today, sitting in a quiet corner of the National Theatre's artificial turf lawn, Gatiss cuts a rakish figure. Resplendent in a flapping, 1930s-style pinstripe suit and fetching brogues, there is an air of Boy's Own mischief to the chap, a dandy-in-aspic glee that echoes that of Lucifer Box, the all-quipping, all-boffing secret service hero of Gatiss's literary period romps The Vesuvius Club, The Devil in Amber and still-in-the-planning Clawhammer (in which a now-elderly Box finds himself up to his walloping libido in 1950s naughtiness).

In much the same spirit of adventure, Gatiss's latest role is that of a forthright transvestite called Agrado in the Old Vic's production of All About My Mother - Pedro Almodóvar's beloved paean to female resilience. The rehearsals, he says, are going "swimmingly". His fellow cast members - who include Diana Rigg and Lesley Manville - are "just wonderful". And yet a cumulonimbus hovers on his otherwise tranquil horizon.

"Word came from Madrid," he confides, sotto voce, "that Pedro wants me to lose weight." Clearly, this is preposterous. The man is thinner than rhubarb. And yet, having seen snaps of Gatiss dressed as volcanic redhead Agrado, the Spanish director was apparently insistent. "I know from my experience on the League that you can get quite ... boxy," he says. "I've got to have a prosthetic chest and the more you build out, the bigger you become. Nobody's saying I'm fat. But basically, I'm off the bread."

Now 40, Gatiss's voice is as warm as a recently vacated bath chair, his northern inflections softened by his many years in London and an outlook that always reached far beyond the terraced rooftops of his Sedgefield, County Durham childhood. His CV bears testament to this ambition, his enduring fascination with nostalgia and grotesques, and the overriding, shining importance of Not Just Doing Any Old Rubbish. "I'm very lucky," he says. "I always used to say, in the olden days, when any kind of career looked like a pipe dream, that the thing I'd really like to do is become well known for something and then, as a result, be offered all kinds of different things. And that's exactly what's happened. That was my dream plan - I never thought it would ever happen. It's amazing how the League has opened so many wonderful doors."

Roles in The Wind in the Willows (as Rat), BBC4's live remake of The Quatermass Experiment (as a worried boffin), the excellent Fear of Fanny (as the titular Cradock's downtrodden husband) and Starter for Ten (as Bamber Gascoigne) have demonstrated his versatility, but it is his involvement with the multi-award-winning League of Gentlemen that continues to generate the loudest online burble.

Persistent forum-generated rumours that the troupe has called it a day are met by Gatiss with a mock-theatrical sigh. "We haven't split up. We're on a sabbatical. We had lunch the other day. But it's difficult at the moment because we're all doing different stuff."

Will there be future projects with fellow Gentlemen Steve Pemberton, Jeremy Dyson and Reece Shearsmith? "I certainly hope so. I mean, Steve and Reece have written a new BBC2 thing by themselves (Psychoville), so that's interesting. I don't want it to be seen as the League, or only half the League, as it were, but I suppose that's inevitable. But we all want to do something together.

"When we sort of paused, we'd been working together continuously for almost 12 years, from the beginning of our Fringe life to the film (The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse). I would never have been able to do a show like All About My Mother because we never had three months off. So I think it's a lovely thing to step off the treadmill. And because we've all done different stuff we'll come back with different experiences. Then it'll become a total pleasure to reform, rather than, 'What the hell are we going to do next?'"

Television remains a constant source of passion for Gatiss, its highs ("Upstairs, Downstairs is wonderful!") and lows ("I want to write a drama about ratings - the whole system is fucking bollocks!") negotiated with equal gusto. Above all, however, is his love of Doctor Who. "In a way, it's been the spine of my career," he says. "It was my first TV memory and I always wanted to be in it and write for it. In the interregnum, in the dark days, I wrote Doctor Who books [he has written four to date]. And then when it came back, Russell [T Davies] asked me to write for it. And now I've been in it as well [as Professor Lazarus]. So it's all fantastic - hah-hah!"

His home life displays a similarly chipper disregard for convention. A few years ago, Gatiss decided to build a Victorian laboratory in a spare bedroom. "We had this fabulous room, blood red, beautiful fireplace. I bought all the furniture, chemical bottles and a fantastic wax head of a Nubian boy with a fez on it. All original. Amazing stuff. But then all I ever did was show it to people. I'm not quite sure what I thought I was going to be able to do with it - turn back time or something. It was a folly. At one point, I toyed with the idea of covering it in cobwebs and then just showing people it through the keyhole. But it was a case of be careful what you wish for. I wanted a laboratory as a kid; then I had one and just thought, 'Oh'. So I dismantled it. I've kept nearly all of the stuff, though. It's around the house."

Does his partner, Ian, share his affection for such monstrosities? "He ... tolerates it," says Gatiss, affectionately. As, presumably, does the couple's rumpled, sensible labrador, Bunsen. "He is extraordinary. He's the light of our lives."

The next few months will see the genial multi-tasker juggle a flurry of new projects - a situation that Gatiss ("not a workaholic, but nearly") is "very comfortable" with. The BBC are planning to adapt his Lucifer Box novels, he will "possibly" write an episode for the fourth series of Doctor Who, and there will be appearances in Consenting Adults - a BBC4 drama based around the Wolfenden report - and Andrew Davies's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility: "I play John Dashwood, who has a terrible wife called Fanny. Yes, another Fanny! It's my fate. What have I done to deserve them?

"As long as I'm able to write and perform stuff that gives me the same excitement as I've always felt, I can't imagine wanting much else," says Gatiss, smoothing out the creases in his voluminous trousers in preparation for a suitably dandy-ish evening stroll. "To be able to sit down and write, 'Interior: Tardis'. Or write a very spooky ghost story. They're the same preoccupations I've had since I was little. That's what makes me happy".

· All About My Mother is at The Old Vic from August 27. Box office 0870 060 6628.

#mark gatiss

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