A Soldier, A Detective, Puzzles & Plans

This book sits upon my desk at home, the ribbon bookmark ever changing. To say I like Sherlock Holmes is a bit of an understatement. I first came across his stories when I was a child, my first of his adventures being The Hounds of Baskervilles. I've read and re-read the stories many times, so many that as my first Escape Room adventure, we chose the Sherlock Holmes adventures over Edgar Allen Poe's (I also have The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe, right next to Sherlock). If you had asked me why I like Sherlock Holmes when I was small, I was rather drawn in by detective stories. I read every Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys adventure story ever written, and then my grandmother told me about Sherlock. That dear readers, is all she wrote.

By the time we reached middle school, I questioned why the great sleuth wasn't taught in my particular English classes. I took great pains to hide my thick book under my desk, reading the stories when I was supposed to be focused elsewhere.

To go back a bit, I was ecstatic to discover that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle celebrated Edgar Allen Poe as being "the supreme original short story writer of all time" and I share his sentiment that once a great detective has been written, its hard to get away from that mold. Most detective stories I read now, all remind me in some ways of Sherlock, and by extension Dupin. As I mentioned, I read a lot of detective stories in my youth, and still read a lot more in my adult life, all of them bearing ties to the the great Detective and his Poe basis.

One of my favorite parts of Sherlock's stories, is that they are all written by Dr. Watson, and we see the world of Sherlock from his perspective. Dr. Watson is a very smart man in his own right, and Sherlock would not be Sherlock without his Dr. Watson. I start seeing this in how Watson begins to take life by the reins in his mission to figure out Sherlock, and the particular words Doyle chooses for Dr. Watson to describe and talk about Sherlock with (seized with a keen desire to see Holmes, he is certainly very conceited, how much this man stimulated my curiosity). Plus, the stories had to be written from Dr. Watson's perspective, otherwise they wouldn't be the approachable stories that they are. Imagine if all the stories were in Sherlock's perspective. It would be a bit like the BBC and Netflix series Sherlock. I wouldn't want to always have the thoughts in Sherlock's head narrating the story, always calculating and always analytical. It would ruin the mystery. Instead we follow Dr. Watson as Sherlock leads him to the end of the mystery. Plus it can't hurt that Sherlock even admits Dr. Watson chronicles their adventures better than he could.

'The ideas of my friend Watson, though limited, are exceedingly pertinacious. For a long time he has worried me to write an experience of my own. Perhaps I have rather invited this persecution, since I have often had occasion to point out to him how superficial are his own accounts and to accuse him of pandering to popular taste instead of confining himself rigidly to facts and figures. “Try it yourself, Holmes!” he has retorted, and I am compelled to admit that, having taken my pen in my hand, I do begin to realize that the matter must be presented in such a way as may interest the reader…' -Sherlock Holmes The Blanched Soldier

On talking about other works though, at some point we started seeing movies, and television series about Sherlock Holmes, the great detective. As a fan of Robert Downey Jr. I enjoyed his movies of Sherlock.I mean, what actor is better suited for the quirky detective? Who is brave enough to take on learning the disguising techniques?

Plus, who can't think of seeing Robert Downey Jr. in a dress?

The only discrepency I found with RDJ's Sherlock Holmes were that his disguises weren't quite as natural as is described in the book.

"Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers

 in the use of disguises, I had to look three times 

before I was certain that it was indeed he."

 It's pretty easy to tell that Robert Downey Jr. is Robert Downey Jr., and the disguises certainly don't hold up to the imagery you get from Dr. Watson's words.

Then there's works such as the series Elementary, which I appreciate, and the Sherlock on BBC and Netflix, which I don't appreciate as much. But those, are best left for another post.

My only qualm with the two Sherlock stories we have read so far is at the end of A Scandal in Bohemia, I wanted to shake the King by the shoulders and shout something along the lines of "You shouldn't just be okay with her leaving with the picture! She still has it!" but I know it is all in the story. If not, we wouldn't have the run ins with Irene Adler later. She in my eyes, is a good foil for Sherlock, as she is what he could be if he exploited people the way she does. Instead, he chooses to thwart crime, solving puzzles no one else can solve. If not for his love of solving said puzzles, he would be a rather large threat to London and the greater European community with his powers of observation and deduction.

Much like Shakespeare's work, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes will definitely survive the ages, because really, who doesn't like a good puzzle to solve?

The Three Stories/Movies About Love

I thought the movies Warm Bodies and West Side Story were both interesting stories that had some parts from The Romeo and Juliet play/story, mostly in the West Side Story.  But, there was one important thing that I found that they all have in common, is the main plot and I guess the one message that each one had. That plot/message of all of them is that love has no boundaries and if two people can find love, then nothing can stop it, not even feuds between any two groups. Despite the different ways of the movies/stories were shown or played, they all seem to be a trend of telling and retelling the same story about love.  

In West Side Story, I liked it when the setting of the story was different from the R and J play/story. In this case, 1950’s New York U.S.A., and the feuding groups were two different ethic gangs, the Americans/Jets and the Portuguese/Sharks.  Since it was a musical, there was a lot of dancing which is just another form of expression through movement instead of poetical speech in R and J.  There were scenes of the movie that were like Romeo and Juliet like the dance scene where Tommy and Maria meet for the first time and the balcony scene were both meet again. Both movies had both scenes happen in the order it happened. I think that West Side story did well in having enough parts from the Romeo and Juliet movie and enough changes in the setting, the characters, and different ending.

In Warm Bodies, the setting was also different in a fictional, future, and apocalyptic world of two feuding sides of humans and zombies. The movie had the balcony scene with the two main characters R and Julie meet, though it happened towards the end of the movie compared to Romeo and Juliet where it happened towards the beginning.  The way the characters spoke also was more casual and not really any poetic speech nor lengthy dance scenes. That helped me get a better understanding on what was going on in the movie and I liked the happy ending that resolved the feuded compared to Romeo and Juliet where it had a sad ending and resolution to the feud. I also like the small bits of humor in the movie. If any one like bloopers as much as I do, I'd look at the bloopers for Warm Bodies. 

In my opinion, West Side Story was a good movie, even though I do have trouble liking musicals, I do appreciate the work and effort that goes into the dancing scenes. I liked Warm Bodies the most out of the three since the characters spoke the way I and most others around me would speak, which makes it easy for me to pay more attention and understand. There was no Shakespearean/poetic speak to stop and listen to carefully to understand what each character communicated to each other. Though I haven’t seen the Romeo and Juliet at a stage/play setting, after seeing all of three stories of love, I gained more understanding and appreciation for how love stories where and are now shown, played, and written. I would like to see different plays of the same story Romeo and Juliet and see the differences and similarities between them. 

I have no real opinions

This is a fine adaptation. I won’t bore you telling you how much I hate musicals or how the dancing drove me crazy. This was the first time I watched this movie, and I watched it with an open mind. Before I saw this movie, we had a discussion in class about what parts of Romeo and Juliet were essential to keep in an adaptation. I thought all adaptations had to include all characters, and the large majority of the plot line AND I definitely thought both the Romeo and Juliet had to die at the end.

 Their death seemed to be the only resolution possible for the feuding families, or in this case feuding gangs. When eliminating Maria’s death, the ending was much more open ended. Whether you like this or not, it deviated a good bit from the overall take away. This was one of my two issues with West Side Story.

My second issue was there was a clear “side” to be on. As we discussed in class, the feud between the families was essentially over nothing (or Shakespeare decided to leave the reason out on purpose), and because of this, the focus was on the love story. When you make the adaptation a conflict of race, there has to be a right side… aka the ones who are not racist, but I hope I did not have to spell that out. Shakespeare did not include this for a reason, not that I know this reason, but it seems pretty significant. If anyone would like to comment and maybe give me a suggestion as to why he did 

not and why West Side Story did, I would be very interested in reading someone else’s point of view.

As I just typed my two “issues” with West Side Story I realized I don’t have a real issue with these. Romeo and Juliet can be changed in so many ways that’s the whole point of adapting it; I am not nearly well read and pretentious enough to suggest West Side Story is anything but a great rendition. 

By not killing the Juliet the audience has more room for discussion, and by including the racial component the original love story turns into something far more relevant and profound. So, what I am trying to say, is take my opinions with the smallest grain of salt you can find.

Thanks for reading guys!

Dancing Adaptation?

I have never seen the movie West Side Story before (but surely I’ve heard of it…?). Honestly, it was actually a pretty interesting movie, a good experience to have for Romeo and Juliet adaptations. I wouldn’t say it’s a favorite movie of mine, though, but knowing the film was released in 1961 lowered my expectations of it (compared to movies nowadays, I mean). This idea of forming new adaptations from original content (whether it be for movies, TV shows, music, or books) have always interested me; liking that new adaptation is another story. For example, large deviations from the original content’s prime basis and meaning are the main red flags for me.

            West Side Story revolved a lot around singing and choreography. And while I won’t focus my blog post around these two points, I will make one comment about it. The choreography, specifically during the dance segment, really showed how music and dancing can bring people together. Yes, there were still times where one could feel the tension between the two gangs (like having two separate dance circles), but it was limited. This is a great reflection of real life. Beyond the inevitable language barriers and culture differences, music provides a gateway between people, per se… basically another form of shared interest that in addition can be sung and grooved to. The point I’m trying to make is that this portion of the adaptation effectively acts as a breather, or comedic value, amongst the hatred. And in addition to knowing what the two sides were fighting about, it makes them more “human”.

            Going back to the idea of adaptations, I felt like something was missing. Yes, it did follow a basic outline of the plot of Romeo and Juliet, and yes, if the dialogue kept the original Shakespearian language, it probably wouldn’t have turned out as popular. But I kind of felt the movie getting lost in its music and choreography. The abundance of songs to portray what was going on or what characters were thinking rivaled that of Disney movies (not exactly to that extent, but you get the gist). At times, though, it did start reminiscing of The Phantom of the Opera. I’m not sure if it was the songs sharing similar chords or, as I thought more about it, similar plots via a love interest and plot songs… I can’t pinpoint it, nor should I compare the two else I might get raged for doing so…

I forgot a title when I first posted, so have this instead

I have a love/hate relationship with West Side Story. Or, at least, I have a love/hate relationship with the movie version of West Side Story. I saw a stage performance of it years ago and enjoyed it immensely. I know that it’s always hard to convert a musical into a film (the two media are very different and don’t always sync up), but I can’t help but be unsatisfied with the movie after enjoying the live one so much.

Admittedly, everything and everybody are exhaustingly overdramatic in both the movie and play versions. Then again, the same can be said of Romeo and Juliet, so I guess that there isn’t much difference between the reboot and the source material in that respect at least. Musicals are always ridiculous anyways, so I guess it’s part of the genre too. I know musicals aren’t for everyone, but I’m gay. Every gay person I know likes musicals. I think liking musicals is just a part of being gay.

In fact, I (a lesbian) sing “I Feel Pretty” with my gay friends (gay gang?) all the time. It always starts after one of us compliments another, and the rest just flows from there. Maybe I should write my paper on a queerer version of West Side Story. It could be about the forbidden lesbian lovers, Toni and Maria. Anybodys could be trans too! It could be grand.

Side note: The muppet version of “I Feel Pretty” is amazing, and you all should watch it.

Back to the point! I have always liked the idea of the Montagues and Capulets being portrayed as rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. The fact that the origin of the blood feud between the families is never explained in the original play has always bothered me. Putting them in this context explains the conflict without needing to take time to delve into its history. The singing and ballet-dancing gang members are just a bonus. A very funny and easily heckle-able bonus.

The first time I watched this movie (before I saw it live), I was dangerously close to becoming an obnoxious Shakespeare purist, and Maria surviving Tony bothered me. It’s NOT how it’s supposed to go!!! I seem to have avoided the unfortunate fate of a Shakespeare purist because this time through I liked that touch. The fact that Maria lives forces the audience to confront the lasting effects of the rivalry and everything that it caused, whereas the original ending in Romeo and Juliet just seems to be a way to wrap everything up as quickly as possible.

I’m anticipating being among the very few that liked this movie (even if it can't live up to a live version), and I understand why so many people don’t. Hopefully, we can all still have a good discussion about it.

West Side Story

           I honestly found West Side Story to be annoying and not enjoyable. At first all the characters weren’t speaking and I cannot stand when I’m watching something and words aren’t coming out of anyone’s mouth. I really couldn’t get into the movie at all. I didn’t mind the singing, but the dancing does get old after awhile. The music was obnoxious too. Why must the trumpets be so loud? The music distracted me from actually paying attention to what was going on. There were just so many unnecessary instruments and music. I thought it was funny that when they fought they expressed it through danced, so it looked like everyone was flying all over the place.

            My favorite character would have to be Tony. He’s my favorite because he actually tried to stop the fight between the Jets and the Sharks. By the way, those are the worst names for a gang. In the movie, “Bring It On: In It to Win It” those were the names of the cheer teams. I hate how Anita is so against Maria and Tony being together! I actually like them together. Anita should accept the fact that Maria and Tony are “in love”. I put that in quotations because they fell in love within the first few seconds of only meeting each other, which is ridiculous. Aka Romeo and Juliet.  I feel as if Anita blames Maria for the death of Bernardo because she was messing around Tony.

            Everything is so overdramatic and extra for no reason. The plot was okay overall, but I didn’t see the part coming where Bernardo was stabbed. I knew that Maria was going to be heartbroken. Especially since she had sent Tony to try and convince the Jets and Sharks not to fight.  I thought it was funny where the male Jets where singing (arguing) with the females because they liked America so much. It’s also kind of funny because Puerto Rico is apart of the Unites States now.

            I understand that Bernardo was just trying to protect Maria, but he was being annoying at times. Maria obviously didn’t care what he had to say because she ended up hooking up with a Jet anyway. Overall, I enjoyed the love story part of the musical, but I felt as if there were unnecessary parts that could have easily been removed. Like the part where they didn’t speak for ten-fifteen minutes in the beginning of the musical.