The summer between 7th and 8th grade was particularly memorable for me because of its own mundaneness. My accomplishments that summer were threefold. First I grew out my bangs. This may seem like a silly occupation, and even sillier that I remember it with such specificity forty years hence, but removing all evidence of bangs was a necessary part of my existence as a young teenager. The decision to cut bangs was impulsive and never worked at all for someone whose hair was as curly as mine. Of course, it was the style. Early in the 70s, Cher was the fashion icon by which all coolness was measured. Unfortunately, I am someone for whom trends are often ill-advised. Try though I might, I could not compel my naturally curly hair to defy Miami humidity and hang straight down my face no matter what method I employed. Tired of sleeping with Scotch tape across my forehead, I determined that the bangs had to go. Sadly, this was not a problem with an immediate decision. Thus, I spent the summer pulling and stretching with the hope that by the beginning of the fall my bangs would at least be long enough to hook around the back of my ear.
Second, I took shop. Back in the days when the gods of education proclaimed that girls must learn cooking and sewing while boys got to wield dangerous instruments, I bucked convention and enrolled in a summer school shop class at my junior high. I had the time of my life learning to solder with a torch and cut with a band saw. I could not believe how much fun power tools could be. It baffled me that more girls were not interested in this activity as it offered so much more creative opportunity than cutting fabric from a Simplicity pattern. I remember taking a cowry shell from a vacation in the Florida Keys and making it into a large spider, soldering cut nails into a set of eight articulated legs attached to a copper base upon which the shell was then attached with industrial glue. It was a peculiar little companion that adorned my room for years to come.
Third, I lost myself in Sherlock Holmes. Earlier that year, my English teacher had us read The Five Orange Pips and The Adventure of the Red-Headed League. I was smitten with the period detail, the quaint use of English, and above all, the well-defined quirkiness of the two main characters. I went to the library, checked out a Sherlock Holmes compendium, and retreated into a life of adventure, mystery, and witticisms. By the time I finished Sign of the Four and A Study in Scarlet there was no turning back. I made it my goal to complete all the Sherlock Holmes stories by the time school started. It was a great plan, especially because I could read and tug on my bangs at the same time.
While in college, I discovered the 1940s Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. These re-invigorated my love of Sherlock’s adventures, although most of them were not actually based on A. Conan Doyle’s stories. Basil Rathbone’s Holmes was exactly the way I had pictured him in my mind while reading the book, down to his funny hat, pipe and cape, although Nigel Bruce’s the portrayal of Watson was not as faithfully scripted—leaving him to appear as a bumbler rather than the intellectual partner that he was. I would comb the old movie channels looking for these black and white episodes until I thought I had seen each one. Having finally exhausted these gems, and the 1976 film “Seven Percent Solution,” my Holmes-mania went dormant.
A few years ago, two of my favorite actors, Robert Downey, Jr. (who should have won the Oscar for his role in Chaplin) and Jude Law, began making Sherlock Holmes films. I admit, I have enjoyed the first two issues of this new franchise thoroughly, however, they just do not feel like Sherlock Holmes stories to me. They are slick films in period dress that make ample use of special effects to connect Holmes’ observations with his reasoning skills, but they feel more like Westerns than Victorian era dramas.
Enter the Masterpiece series, Sherlock, now in its second season. My love has returned! I warn readers that if and when I miss a blog entry it will be because I have spent the night before enraptured with Sherlock. This new take on the classic tales has a contemporary setting, making ample use of today’s technology: cell phones, Macbooks, websites, card readers. While many of the original tales were written as accounts published by Watson himself, in this modern version Watson is posting the duo’s escapades on his blog! There is a wink to Holmes’ iconic hat that takes the form of a paparazzi photo's catching the intrepid detective as he attempts to flee a scene incognito. The director does an incredible job of showing us the visual clues that Holmes processes in order to deduce his conclusions. And there is a reinterpretation of the Holmes-Watson relationship that has everyone they encounter assuming that they are a couple.
Despite my love of period dramas, I am surprised to find that I do not miss those details in this latest rendition of the Sherlock Holmes tales. In fact, these shows are so artfully done that they have become the highlight of my week. They capture everything that is unique and quirky about Holmes and his sidekick while breathing a freshness and relevance into classic story lines. The characters are young and modern, possessing a conviction that is believable and harkens to the spirit of the originals.
Authenticity is measured in your gut. This new series is so true to the spirit of the original stories I found myself tugging again at my bangs.
Tomorrow's blog: Financial Stew
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