Introduction to Sherlock

Introduction 

For my section of the investigation I will be analysing the changes that occur in the different adaptations of 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' over a period of 70 years. In particular I will be focusing on changes in the way gender, sexuality and race/ethnicity are represented. Simultaneously I will be looking at the cultural and historical context to theorize why these changes may have occurred. When studying the representation of gender I will be concentrating on the screen time given to women, the roles men and women play and the portrayal of masculinity/femininity. When analysing sexuality I will be directing my attention to the ways in which females are depicted in a voyeuristic manner and the ways heterosexual and homosexual relationships are represented. When investigating race/ethnicity my focus will be on the screen time dedicated to ethnic minorities, the roles played by them and the ways other characters treat them. Where relevant I may also draw on other factors which may be influencing these representations, for example class. 


The adaptations I have chosen to investigate are...

Film adaptations:

• Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
• Murder by Decree (1979)
• Sherlock Holmes (2009)

TV adaptations:

• Sherlock - UK TV series (2010)
• Elementary - US TV series (2012)

All these texts are developed from the short story collection 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' written by Arthur Conan Doyle (1891), however they don't all follow the same storyline. Although the storylines differ key elements from the books remain consistent in all versions, for example the main characters and their marked personalities, the setting (excluding Elementary) and certain significant props appear in each text. 
I chose these specific adaptations because they cover a large time frame increasing the likelihood of change in representation because of historical context. Although there are earlier adaptations than the 1942 version I thought that this was a suitable time period to begin with because of the outside influences, such as World War 2, that heavily impacted on the production and outcome of the film which would provide a comparison with the more up to date adaptations. I decided to use three recent adaptations that were released at a similar time because there are some critical differences between them. Firstly the 2009 remake takes the form of a film making it comparable with the earlier films, whereas the two other modern adaptations are TV series. Rather than looking into one of the two recent TV series, I thought it would be interesting to analyse them both because they originate from different countries and thus different cultures. Therefore I'm expecting to see changes in representation because of the cultural context. Overall I have chosen these adaptations because they highlight how historical and cultural context can largely effect production of media texts.