Ppl luv smartz

Yes, it's me, that crazy girl who writes the opera reviews at "The Fat Lady Sings." Well, I decided I had something to say about TV and movies, too, so I created this blog for all the moments when I wish I was a member of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." Or something like that.

Anyway, today's entry is about intellect. With our education system crumbling into a mere facade and our children coming out of public schools more unbelievably uneducated with each generation, entertainment had to dumb itself down, too. Now, don't get me wrong, these kids are smart-- but they aren't being taught much. None of my public-schooled contemporaries know who Euripides, Sophocles, or Aeschylus are, and few of them understand Shakespeare references or have heard of "The Lady and the Tiger." Most of them can't spell or use proper English grammar worth a darn. And sadly, most of them know precious little about history and economics. I just heard on 60 minutes that one historian, when talking to a young college student, was told, "Until this conversation, I never understood that the original 13 colonies[of America] were all on the east coast!" What a sad commentary on our times. But I sense that people know, somewhere in their subconscious, they are being cheated in the education department, and they want an intellectual challenge in their reading material, television programs, and movies. They are growing tired of simply following men (or women) of action on their sundry adventures in fiction and historical fiction. They want something more from their heroes than just brawn, shallow sarcasm, and martial arts skills, and so...

*Que drumroll and brass section*

...The intellectual hero has returned! At least three different re-workings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved "Sherlock Holmes" have surfaced, not to mention popular TV heroes like Patrick Jane of "The Mentalist," Richard Castle of "Castle," and Temperance Brennan of "Bones" topping the ratings, as well as the growing "Doctor Who" following, lest anyone forget. People want to feel smart again, they want wit and deep thought, and these kinds of characters are helping fulfill that desire. But you've got to have a gimmick.

On the "Holmes" platform: The Robert Downey Jr. film franchise reworks Holmes not as the spindly, well-groomed, deer-stalker-bedecked man we always knew, but as a usually-bandaged, sooty, kung-fu fighting super genius/dangermouse. 

BBC's "Sherlock" starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes sets Doyle's novels completely in the modern day, complete with cell phones, internet, and all. Cumberbatch's Holmes is "Asperger-ish" in his refusal to become entangled in any sort of emotional connection with anyone, but he shows surprising understanding of the emotions of others. Lastly, of course, there's "Elementary," which is set in modern-day America with Lucy Liu as a psychologically struggling Doctor Joan Watson.

On the other platforms, "The Mentalist" is a charmingly impudent magician with a dark past and a vendetta. "Castle" is a crime novelist helping the police solve murders...and getting in some romance while he's at it. "Bones"'s heroine is astonishingly ingenuous, and her social awkwardness makes her all the more endearing. And then, there's "Doctor Who." What could be smarter than a time-traveling, humanoid alien? He's even helping people dress smarter (for the most part), bringing back bow-ties, well-tailored suits, and patched jackets with a vengeance. Sci-fi shows never did that particular trick before.

But writers must be careful. Too many gimmicks makes for a farce instead of a marvel. For the best illustration, see "Elementary."

There are simply too many gimmicks for this show to work, and the characters are not consistent, nor is the writing really all that clever. Modern setting? Sure. In America? It could work. Watson a different gender? That's a weird choice, and it makes the classic Holmes/Watson "two-straight-guys-who-are-like-crossed-fingers" relationship suddenly awkward. That and the fact that everyone is American except Holmes. "Elementary," in so much as I have experienced, does not work from the Arthur Conan Doyle stories at all. It feels like every other cop show on TV these days. It's pretty easy to guess who did it. And the characters are so dull. Holmes is stand-offish one minute and apologetic the next. Watson seems sure of herself at first, but devolves into yet another of television's broken women in need of reassurance (usually given by her male costar). We have seen this all before! Rather than spark fresh interest in Arthur Conan Doyle's novels, "Elementary" dumbs down the brilliant characters it took and puts them in all-too-typical situations. And did I mention the scarf is a rip-off from BBC's "Sherlock"? Oi. Costume department needs replacing.

But, I am happy to say, people want more than looks and physicality from their heroes nowadays. They want cunning and cleverness, and they are getting it! Look out, intellectual revolution, because here we come!