OK, I've been listening to a LOT of Sherlock Holmes stories from the Canon, as well as pastiches, recently. And, with Robert Downey Jr. starring in the Holmes movie that's due out later this year, it's made me think about the AGE thing.
See, in the original stories, Holmes was in his 20's and early 30's when most of the Baker St. chronicles occur. But, when you think of virtually ALL the actors who have played Holmes (the most well-known ones, at least) -- the IMAGE you get is a guy who's in his 40's, maybe pushing 50. Think Jeremy Brett. Basil Rathbone. From my formative years, there was Nicol Williamson in The Seven Percent Solution. All geezers in full middle-age.
Now, you've got Robert Downey Jr. (who I've always loved, he's an amazing actor and really cute, too) -- but I guess this makes me happy, because he's 44. Which makes me feel like I'm NOT old (even though I've been starting to feel like I am starting to head toward "old").
The thing that's cool about Downey's portrayal is that he really does seem to "get" how YOUNG Holmes was when he started solving crimes. Callow but not.
I haven't looked forward to an upcoming movie release this much in YEARS. I can't wait until this comes out, I hope it'll be great, and if it is, I'll see it a bunch of times.
Because it gives me back some youth.
(And in the mean time, I'll continue using Laurie R. King's Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell stories to lull me to sleep. The May-December romance of those two broken souls is just beyond compelling to me. I'm sure it says something about me, but I'll handily ignore what that might be.
When a young girl loses her dad at an early age, it fucks up her brain. Proven face. That's me, forever chasing the "older and wiser" man in my head, if not in reality.
