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January 16, 2013 10:29 pm  #1


Irene Adler

This article says that none of the recent adaptations have got the character of Irene Adler right:

http://io9.com/5972417/why-cant-any-recent-sherlock-holmes-adaptation-get-irene-adler-right?utm_source=io9.com&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=recirculation

What do you guys think?
 


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January 17, 2013 2:50 am  #2


Re: Irene Adler

 Both adaptions are what ACD originally meant for her to be, and that is an equal for Sherlock in the form of a woman.  Whether or not a thief or a dominatrix, as long as she's someone that serves as a challenge to Holmes, she's the character Conan Doyle created.


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January 17, 2013 7:55 am  #3


Re: Irene Adler

I think the article speaks the truth. Adler has become more flawed in the adaptations and it wasn't necessary.

While yes the original Adler was antagonising the King, there's nothing to suggest she was a serial blackmailer. she'd been linked with many well-to-do men and from that you could suggest she may have done so before but it didn't really matter to the story either way. She had already made her way through life as an opera singer.
In BBC's show,  Adler's 'sole occupation' was intertwined with deceit and lies and blackmailing along with other 'undesirable' events. Why was it necessary to paint her such a tainted image?
And then in the end she wasn't the great mastermind of it all anyway, she needed Moriarty's help. Whilst I wouldn't go so far as to agree with the feminists, she did end up being a bit of a wimp.

Equal to Holmes in intelligence? Well Mofftiss created the character to be so, but I would say not quite. This young Holmes did after all outsmart her in the end.

Nor do I believe that ACD created her to be his equal.
ACD's words tell us that to Holmes, she was the only female that he regarded when he thought of a woman, THE woman. The rest presumably were just the usual female members of society with their feminine flaws etc.
THE woman is not a man, so is not his equal.

In Bohemia, the King (in Holmes' eye) wrongly assumes that Adler is beneath him, not able to marry him and he distrusts her intentions greatly. Once Holmes deals with her, the King then has his eyes opened that Adler is in fact dealing a straight deck after all and all is well in the end even though he doesn't have the picture. He ends up trusting her.
So who really had the worst character out of the 2 of them? As Holmes subtlely pointed out, it was the King who was beneath Adler.

And that tells us where Holmes rated Adler, which was not in any romantic way either.
So possibly not 'equal' as much as 'worthy'.


____________________________________________________________________________________________
Also, please note that sentences can also end in full stops. The exclamation mark can be overused.
Sherlock Holmes 28 March 13:08

Mycroft’s popularity doesn’t surprise me at all. He is, after all, incredibly beautiful, clever and well-dressed. And beautiful. Did I mention that?
--Mark Gatiss

"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
Robert McCloskey
 

January 17, 2013 8:57 am  #4


Re: Irene Adler

Yeah well you see, that is where we differ.
I don't see 'outsmarting' as equivalent to 'equal'. Outsmarting involves one factor of many that would for me detemine equality.


____________________________________________________________________________________________
Also, please note that sentences can also end in full stops. The exclamation mark can be overused.
Sherlock Holmes 28 March 13:08

Mycroft’s popularity doesn’t surprise me at all. He is, after all, incredibly beautiful, clever and well-dressed. And beautiful. Did I mention that?
--Mark Gatiss

"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
Robert McCloskey
 

January 17, 2013 9:03 am  #5


Re: Irene Adler

In "Sherlock" Irene is connected to Moriarty which in the canon of course she isn't. I think that's what makes the whole thing complicated. They could have used the original story without making considerable changes if she had just been a dominatrix blackmailing a member of the Royal Family. But if she had "won", i.e. if she had beaten Sherlock by betraying Mycroft's plans to Moriarty and survived without Sherlock's help, she would have become a very dangerous enemy lurking in the background. And Sherlock would have had to deal with her again which I suppose is not on Moftiss' agenda. 


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"To fake the death of one sibling may be regarded as a misfortune; to fake the death of both looks like carelessness." Oscar Wilde about Mycroft Holmes

"It is what it is says love." (Erich Fried)

“Enjoy the journey of life and not just the endgame. I’m also a great believer in treating others as you would like to be treated.” (Benedict Cumberbatch)



 
 

January 17, 2013 9:19 am  #6


Re: Irene Adler

Moftiss were really prisoners of our new age society with this story. There was no way to keep the story too close to the original.
These days there is no such thing as 'gone forever' when it comes to pictures etc.
And the audience of today is too cynical to believe that Adler would have simply 'stopped being a threat' once she was safe.
That said, in a way they used up a lot of canon on one series by intertwining Adler & Moriarty. Bet they won't do something like that again.

But overall, it did water down the Adler image for me.


____________________________________________________________________________________________
Also, please note that sentences can also end in full stops. The exclamation mark can be overused.
Sherlock Holmes 28 March 13:08

Mycroft’s popularity doesn’t surprise me at all. He is, after all, incredibly beautiful, clever and well-dressed. And beautiful. Did I mention that?
--Mark Gatiss

"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
Robert McCloskey
 

January 17, 2013 12:05 pm  #7


Re: Irene Adler

Yeah, I'm really not so keen on the part at the end where he rescues her...


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January 17, 2013 12:50 pm  #8


Re: Irene Adler

I can't tell whether she's a good adaptation or not.
But I can tell that she's a well drawn character, who is an enrichment for this series. And Lara Pulver did a great job by playing her - a real challenge for our Sherlock, but at least only a human with weaknesses.
I kinda like her... even though she worked with Moriarty. 


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"Falling is just like flying, except there’s a more permanent destination."

"Sherlock Holmes is a great man, and I think one day—if we’re very very lucky—he might even be a good one."

"Would you like to-"
"-have dinner?"
"-solve crimes?"
"Oh"



 

January 18, 2013 4:44 am  #9


Re: Irene Adler

Many fans think that the very end was not real - that the rescue of Irene was in Sherlock's imagination only - perhaps nothing more than a hold-over from the daring-do pirate fantasties of his childhood (alluded to by Mycroft only moments before that scene).  Personally I have decided to make that my interpretation.  I don't mind her being actually dead.  In BBC version, she was a creature of Moriarty.


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And I said "dangerous" and here you are.

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January 18, 2013 2:42 pm  #10


Re: Irene Adler

Why should Sherlock imagine having saved her?
I think this is what really happened and it shows that Sherlock had eventually some feelings for her.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Falling is just like flying, except there’s a more permanent destination."

"Sherlock Holmes is a great man, and I think one day—if we’re very very lucky—he might even be a good one."

"Would you like to-"
"-have dinner?"
"-solve crimes?"
"Oh"



 

January 22, 2013 5:22 pm  #11


Re: Irene Adler

Well, the very first time I saw it, I thought that he'd imagined it too. It's just something about the way it's shot, with him staring out of the window as if he's daydreaming.


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Eventually everyone will support Johnlock.

Independent OSAJ Affiliate

     Thread Starter
 

January 22, 2013 5:44 pm  #12


Re: Irene Adler

I never doubted for a moment it was real and awaited the roar of protest which duly followed!


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October 9, 2014 3:32 pm  #13


Re: Irene Adler

Canonically the king offers Holmes a considerable reward for (kind of) solving the affair. But Holmes names his price as a photograph of Irene (not the one compromising the king, of course, but the one which she left as a substitute). To me, this is a statement to the king's bad attitude as well as admiration for the woman - and it certainly has a romantic touch to it (or am I to JHW-ish?). 
Moreover also in SCAN the smart, independant woman, who occasionally dresses as a man to live her life as she wants, is forced to accept the help of a man: Norton. It is only after their hasty marriage (with Holmes undercover as the accidental witness - Homes himself loughs at this retrospectively in much the same way as Sherlock does at the end of SiB) that she "wins" by fleeing the country ("run") as a wife.
I would interpret both circumstances as ultimate defeat and also a complete role change - so much to the kneeling and begging, which just reflects the complete role change in her profession in SiB.   
This way SiB works for me and now having reread the original and rewatched SiB, I admire both in many, many new ways. Thanks Mofiss, with many bows.

 

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