The dynamic between Holmes and Watson instantly transformed from the moment that the directors of CBS\u2019s show \u201cElementary\u201d decided to cast Lucy Liu, an Chinese-American woman, in the role of Watson. Britney Broyles, author of \u201cFrom the Opium Den to Partner-in-Crime\u2026Solving: The Chinese Presence in Sherlock Holmes Adaptations,\u201d proposes the idea that BBC\u2019s strict adherence to Conan Doyle\u2019s classic Watson\/Holmes white-male dynamic allows \u201cracial essentialism\u201d to creep into the essential plotline whereas CBS\u2019s \u201clooser fidelity to the [text]\u201d allows for \u201cideological revision\u201d in which the use of binaries are neither fundamental nor significant. (Broyles, 150.)<\/p>\n
Perhaps in switching the formulaic aspects of Holmes and Watson\u2019s physical appearances, Elementary can more readily dismiss frequent criticisms about the implicit and explicit sexism and racism that customarily accompany Conan Doyle\u2019s Sherlock Holmes stories. Sherlock Holmes, as a text, has the ability to indirectly rely on racial themes because the detective must place his confidence in his ability to locate societal patterns and criminal motives whilst remaining pure and incorruptible in the eyes of the reader.<\/p>\n
However unintentional and innocent the insertion of foreign criminals may seem, Broyles takes issue with BBC\u2019s astounding amount of \u201cforeign villains\u201d during season one of Sherlock citing \u201cThe Great Game\u201d with criminals from the Czech republic and \u201cThe Blind Banker\u201d which the evildoers are Chinese and portrayed in a farcical manner. (Broyles, 155-156.)<\/p>\n
Naturally, within a detective narrative, the characters are bound to categorize or identify the unknown miscreant with an \u201cothering\u201d trait that separates themselves from the idea of the criminal. Perhaps the detective will keep a level head in regards to the assumption of racial differences or cultural customs, but the subliminal or explicit racism within criminology reports and descriptions by bystanders tend to be less concealed. Within Conan Doyle\u2019s The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Sherlock\u2019s client provides ambiguous information about a speckled band and since she cannot easily make sense of this evidence, she turns to the familiarity of racial discourse in order to identify \u201cgypsies on the plantation\u201d as potential suspects. (Conan Doyle, 45.)<\/p>\n
The witness\u2019s practice of pointing out racial and cultural differences to further disassociate with potential criminals is a common device that authors have relied upon within the detective genre. For instance, the plot of Edgar Allen Poe\u2019s The Murders in the Rue Morgue relies heavily upon subjective interpretation of the unknown. Within the tale, witnesses are called upon to provide statements about the peculiar voices of the murderers. In each case, naturally, the witnesses provide contradictory information about the languages and the ethnicities of the potential murderers. Isidore Muset claims that one of the criminals was a Frenchman who was certainly not a woman whilst the second murder certainly spoke in Spanish. Incompatibly, Henri Duval suggests that the murder was definitely a woman whilst the other accomplice spoke in Italian. In both scenarios, the \u201cwords\u201d and languages are indistinguishable, but the witnesses still provide information that conveniently distances him or her from any consequence or suspicion.<\/p>\n
Naturally, it makes sense to identify qualities that are contradictory to their own traits because they wish to disassociate with horrid criminal acts. For instance, in a more innocent situation, when a driver cuts you off, you are more likely to exclaim, \u201cCome on, lady!\u201d if you identify as male and \u201cWatch where you\u2019re going, man!\u201d if you relate more to a female identity before even seeing the gender of your road-nemesis.<\/p>\n
By switching the idea of Watson as a white male figure to the new identity of Watson as a Chinese-American female, the audience of CBS\u2019s Elementary is prompted to view race and \u201cothering\u201d factors in a different manner. Since Watson is presumably \u201cgood\u201d and holds traits and values that are admirable, the race and gender issues of Conan Doyle\u2019s classic tails are reconstructed, questioned, and modernized for contemporary viewers.<\/p>\n
Sources:<\/p>\n
Reference to The Murders in the Rue Morgue<\/p>\n
poestories.com\/read\/murders<\/p>\n
Six Great Sherlock Holmes Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle<\/p>\n
From the Opium Den to Partner-in-Crime\u2026Solving: The Chinese Presence in \u00a0Sherlock Holmes Adaptations by Britney Broyles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The dynamic between Holmes and Watson instantly transformed from the moment that the directors of CBS\u2019s show \u201cElementary\u201d decided to cast Lucy Liu, an Chinese-American woman, in the role of Watson. Britney Broyles, author of \u201cFrom the Opium Den to Partner-in-Crime\u2026Solving: The Chinese Presence in Sherlock Holmes Adaptations,\u201d proposes the idea that BBC\u2019s strict adherence … Continue reading Race and Gender Re-imagined with Lucy Liu<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3046,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123782,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-blog-post","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3046"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}