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Cultivation analysis: Primary product Secondary Products Official Secondary products (OS) Sherlock Holmes (2009) interviews Internet (Youtube)/DVD Sherlock Holmes (1984-1994). Granada Television The complete collection: Sherlock Holmes (1939-1946). Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Studios According to Signorielli and Morgan (1990) fan cultivation is both “dependent on and a manifestation of the extent of which [a medium‟s] imagery dominates viewers‟ sources of information” (p. 21). My first source of Holmes information was Sherlock Holmes (2009), making it the primary product of my fan experience and that to which all other Holmes products were initially compared. The cultivating images of Sherlock Holmes (2009), as recorded in my substantive and analytic notes, subscribe to the film‟s genre, a buddy action-comedy, and an exaggerated characterisation of the bohemian Holmes. While Sherlock Holmes (2009) is not an original Holmes story, it lifts scenes and scenarios from many of the original works; it does chronologically take place just after Doyle‟s second Holmes novel, The Sign of Four (1890/2001). Therefore, the film begins with Watson trying to sell his rooms in Baker Street, with the hope of moving out and marrying Mary Morstan. Holmes, however, remains in denial over Watson‟s impending departure throughout the film while a series of murders occur across London. The film‟s villain, Lord Blackwood, played by Mark Strong, is hanged for the murders, only to be seen days later having risen from the grave. Holmes and a reluctant Watson set off to catch Lord Blackwood and destroy his plans. The duo delves into London‟s underworld of crime and cult organisations that have infiltrated the government. Irene Adler, a renowned thief and old flame of Holmes‟s, joins Holmes 42 TV (DVD) Film (DVD) The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (1994) Book (pastiche) The Veiled Detective (2009) Book (pastiche) The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1974) Book (pastiche) The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (2008) Book (Great Game) Unofficial Secondary products (US) Sherlock Holmes (2009) interviews Internet (Youtube)/DVD Youtube videos featuring Jeremy Brett Internet (Youtube) Fan fiction Internet
and Watson in defeating Lord Blackwood, only to betray them to a dark figure, whom to anyone knowledgeable of the canon will know to be the elusive Professor Moriarty. Primary product: Sherlock Holmes (2009) images According to Duncan (2008), the commercial adaptation of Holmes is often readily remained and tampered with according to consumer trends: The problem with the Sherlock Holmes stories is that very few of them provide enough material to be suitable for the transformation into feature films. This is no doubt why the film industry has often changed existing stories or created new ones with which to entertain us. (p. 190) Being a general viewer during my first viewing, I was unsure as to whether Sherlock Holmes (2009) was an original Holmes story. However, as with many general viewers, this piece of relatively crucial information, did not actually matter, as I was already responding to the accessible genre images of a buddy action-comedy. The choice of Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes is in itself an indication of Guy Ritchie‟s reinterpretation. Downey Jr. having just come off the recent success of Ironman (2008) brought with him an action audience that had rejuvenated his career and popularity. Downey Jr‟s popular image, coinciding with Holmes‟s experience as a boxer, identified in The Sign of Four (1890/2001), and Ritchie‟s history of directing action films, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Snatch (2000) and Rocknrolla (2008), results in the portrayal of Holmes as a literal fighter of crime. However, while this is a canonical reference, it is highly exaggerated in the film. The result is a Holmes whose intelligence is displayed while fighting. Redmond (2009) finds that this “new image [of] Holmes, [as] portrayed by Robert Downey Jr, is an indication that viewers continue to find his figure fascinating even if they are fuzzy about the details” (p. 304). Similar to the exaggerated Hollywood image of an action-orientated Holmes, Downey Jr. reinterprets Holmes‟s Bohemian characteristics as well. Watson first described Sherlock Holmes as “bohemian” in Doyle‟s first short story, A Scandal in Bohemia (1891/2001b): “Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition” (p. 3-4). If we use this introductory piece as a indication of Holmes‟s personality and character, we find that 43
Page 1 and 2: The Case Study of Sherlock Holmes (
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Attestation of Au
Page 5 and 6: List of Figures Figure 1. Abercromb
Page 7 and 8: Attestation of Authorship I hereby
Page 9 and 10: Abstract This study investigates a
Page 11 and 12: Abercrombie and Longhurst‟s audie
Page 13 and 14: and Morgan‟s (1990) and Shanahan
Page 15 and 16: two and turn them into action” (G
Page 17 and 18: Jenkins (1992), however, would disa
Page 19 and 20: that to be a secondary phase, a res
Page 21 and 22: they designed their continuum, were
Page 23 and 24: economistic theory, alongside Aberc
Page 25 and 26: informs us that we take our communi
Page 27 and 28: Methodology This chapter explains t
Page 29 and 30: albeit in Sherlock Holmes for Dummi
Page 31 and 32: Figure 2. Original model from Maste
Page 33 and 34: and like many, have a stereotypical
Page 35 and 36: Drawing from Shanahan and Morgan (1
Page 37 and 38: Model My research advocates the the
Page 39 and 40: Creative component Critiques Regard
Page 41 and 42: ethnographic position is made on tw
Page 43 and 44: Table 2. Ethnographic order of prod
Page 45 and 46: Good Doctor to placate any qualms t
Page 47: preconception was derived from its
Page 51 and 52: The common picture of Holmes is of
Page 53 and 54: “embrace of fiction” (p. 606) a
Page 55 and 56: was lost. Therefore, Doyle‟s orig
Page 57 and 58: this was the only Holmes novel the
Page 59 and 60: 9). While the tale and its quick pu
Page 61 and 62: his feet with a cry of pleasure.
Page 63 and 64: Cultivation analysis: Official seco
Page 65 and 66: their flaws and their frailties, in
Page 67 and 68: may suggest, this film is not a dir
Page 69 and 70: Holmes in the role of supporting ac
Page 71 and 72: have endeavoured to intertwine and
Page 73 and 74: Official secondary products: The Pr
Page 75 and 76: 245). Redmond‟s (2009) statement,
Page 77 and 78: “shocking affair of the Dutch ste
Page 79 and 80: cited in Jenkins, 1992, p. 32). In
Page 81 and 82: The fan Sandvoss (2005) believes th
Page 83 and 84: emotional, or cognitive); they tres
Page 85 and 86: knowledgeable fans [who] may . . .
Page 87 and 88: negative connotation, for it no lon
Page 89 and 90: Figure 6, the consumer-to-fan culti
Page 91 and 92: Creative Component Introduction Fan
Page 93 and 94: esponsible, Lord Blackwood, played
Page 95 and 96: short and are exposed as fraudulent
Page 97 and 98: Conclusion We take our communicatio
Page 99 and 100:
References Abercrombie, N., & Longh
Page 101 and 102:
Davies, D. S. (2009). The further a
Page 103 and 104:
Doyle, A. C. (2005k). The case-book
Page 105 and 106:
Jenkins, H. (2007). Afterword: The
Page 107 and 108:
Signorielli, N., & Morgan, M. (1990
Page 109 and 110:
Bibliography Ackroyd, P. (2001). In
Page 111:
Miller, P. V. (1994). Made-to-order
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