BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Favourite Sherlock/Benedict pictures

nakahara · December 29, 2015 3:00 pm

besleybean wrote:
Sorry, but I have to play my part of outraged Yorkshire woman here.
Not because of the hairpiece, though I honestly wouldn't have noticed-if it hadn't been pointed out.
But because of the wild boar insignia, for the house of York.
Though actually it is a white boar, specific to Richard.
You realise I can only say any of this at all, because I am totally anti-monarchy!

Thank you for this information, I was wondering about the pendant myself.

Here they claim that the White Boar was actually a personal insignia of Richard III and that he was practically the first person to use such insignia in heraldry. So it´s logical that he is wearing it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_boar

Boars were from ancient times the symbols of virility, courage and fierce battling prowess, so it´s a very fitting symbol for the warrior.

Also, I love those "wild boar" hair. The shaggier, the better.

besleybean · December 29, 2015 3:08 pm

Me, too.
I'm partial to any pig, to be honest!
I mean to admire, I don't eat them.

nakahara · December 29, 2015 8:22 pm

nakahara · December 29, 2015 8:25 pm

besleybean · December 29, 2015 8:27 pm

Classic Sherlock.

This Is The Phantom Lady · December 29, 2015 8:56 pm

Interesting about Richard and the boar. About the hair... as much as I know, Richard III was supposed to have been very unattractive...

But I do love me some Sherlock! I can't get enough! And I've just spent the day binging on the show!!

nakahara · December 29, 2015 9:45 pm

This Is The Phantom Lady wrote:
Interesting about Richard and the boar. About the hair... as much as I know, Richard III was supposed to have been very unattractive...

I think the rumour about Richard III ugliness came from his enemies, the Lancasters, who wanted to paint him as a monster to discredit his regime and to embellish theirs. Richard III only deformity seems to be the fact that he was a hunchback - he could be quite a looker otherwise...

ancientsgate · December 29, 2015 9:46 pm

besleybean wrote:
Me, too.
I'm partial to any pig, to be honest!
I mean to admire, I don't eat them.

Pigs can be kind of cute, maybe, but the wild boar is considered an introduced nuisance animal in many areas of the world, the way rabbits and some other invasive animals are in Australia. In some spots in Hawaii, domestic pigs have escaped farms and inter-bred with the original small Polynesian wild boar. The resulting new strain, large, ferocious and opportunistic, has been a real headache to farmers and land managers, causing millions of dollars of damage to crops and forests. In those places, wild boar can be hunted with impunity.

But I can see why an absolute ruler would take the boar as a symbol-- smart, mean-spirited and determined, omnivores that will simply kill and eat anything in their path.

ancientsgate · December 29, 2015 9:48 pm

This Is The Phantom Lady wrote:
....But I do love me some Sherlock! I can't get enough! And I've just spent the day binging on the show!!

Oh, what fun! I should do that, too. We have the new episode being shown here on Friday PM. I remain completely unspoiled, so it'll be lovely to sit down and see something brand new that I don't already know anything and everything about. Yay!

ancientsgate · December 29, 2015 9:54 pm

nakahara wrote:
.........I think the rumour about Richard III ugliness came from his enemies, the Lancasters, who wanted to paint him as a monster to discredit his regime and to embellish theirs. Richard III only deformity seems to be the fact that he was a hunchback - he could be quite a looker otherwise...

Well, being a hunchback might definitely decrease someone's attractiveness. What was considered attractive back in those days would probably turn our stomachs today. How about their teeth, just for starters.

SusiGo · December 29, 2015 10:27 pm

Well, today we know that he was not a hunchback but suffered from scoliosis. With a severe deformity he would not have been able to fight in battle the way he did. Contemporary historians and Shakespeare who used them as sources painted a very black picture of him because of political reasons, ugly appearance reflecting a bad character. But of course when doing Shakespeare one usually stays true to the way he describes Richard. A non-Shakespearean film or play would probably choose a different approach.

ancientsgate · December 29, 2015 10:37 pm

SusiGo wrote:
Well, today we know that he was not a hunchback but suffered from scoliosis. With a severe deformity he would not have been able to fight in battle the way he did. Contemporary historians and Shakespeare who used them as sources painted a very black picture of him because of political reasons, ugly appearance reflecting a bad character. But of course when doing Shakespeare one usually stays true to the way he describes Richard. A non-Shakespearean film or play would probably choose a different approach.

My best friend, now deceased, suffered from severe scoliosis that never was treated when she was a child in the 1930s-40s, so although docs and surgeons tried to help her later in life, they had little success. She had a 90 degree S curve in her spine; can you imagine! She had terrible pain from it, just awful. Anyone suffering from that, riding around on horseback, living in battlefield conditions, etc, would have been in agony. That pain alone would be enough to make anyone look "ugly" and let their hair hang in their face. Poor guy.

Harriet · December 29, 2015 10:46 pm

Well, they found his skeleton and I guess they could tell from that if his scoliosis was as bad as that of your poor friend. It seems he wasn't that unfortunate.

SusiGo · December 29, 2015 10:52 pm

In case anyone is interested:

http://www.le.ac.uk/richardiii/science/spine.html

It seems he was quite severely affected but still could ride and fight in battles until his death.

nakahara · December 29, 2015 10:56 pm

Very tough guy. Respect!

This Is The Phantom Lady · December 29, 2015 11:03 pm

Richard III has a whole new respect from me. I have untreated Scoliosis too, though not as severe in appearance, and I can't even bear thinking about getting up on a horse at all! I can't even ride a bike...

I wonder if that's how Ben is playing Richard? Interesting, very interesting! That picture of him reminds me of how silly I feel when I stand in weird positions because that's how my balance works...

Yitzock · December 30, 2015 1:55 am

I can see why the pose in the Richard III one might seem funny, but I don't think the hair looks bad. I quite like it (I agree with nakahara on shaggy hair...lol).

Also, lots of other nice photos here today.

ancientsgate · December 30, 2015 2:10 am

To the mods-- is it okay to post already-made-public stills from the Abominable Bride here before it airs on Jan 1? I would never post anything spoilery, but whatever you say is okay by me. Just thought I'd check, thx.

This Is The Phantom Lady · December 30, 2015 7:25 am

I'm no mod... but we have a photo thread for the special on the special section. And that's spoiler marked ;)

nakahara · December 30, 2015 9:52 am

ancientsgate wrote:
To the mods-- is it okay to post already-made-public stills from the Abominable Bride here before it airs on Jan 1? I would never post anything spoilery, but whatever you say is okay by me. Just thought I'd check, thx.

We post such pictures in the special thread to avoid spoilers, as Phantom already said.