To me both a) a reflection of the fact that in the original novels & short stories Holmes is a kind person who sometimes struggles to be in the world, and b) a genuinely interesting attempt to reimagine that Holmes in the 21st century as someone who has some of the same abilities and problems.
Yes! it's also - in a very understated way - about the difference between the ways that a brilliant white man from a very wealthy (but emotionally cold and manipulative) family, and a brilliant Asian-American woman have been socialized to behave, and the ways that has damaged and protected them.
JLM's Holmes has to work hard, and learn new skills that are difficult for him. LL's Watson is clever, ambitious, driven, controlling, but is FAR better at both masking and suppressing her own needs than him. He teaches her how to be weird, she teaches him how to be in a society. That's interesting.
What I love about Elementary is that it's just a very interesting, complex take on what it means to be the kind of genius Holmes is - a recovering addict, neurodivergent, hyperobservent, both craving sensation and frequently overwhelmed - *and* to want to do good in the world, to be a good person.
100%. I tell this to my students every time I teach my Sherlock Holmes class and none of them has ever seen it, but it's the best one.
😂 evergreen
Just learning 24hr later that the US government invoked the Avignon Papacy
omg
RIP Averil Cameron. Her work on late antiquity opened my eyes to the historical transformations beyond the classical period I was studying in undergrad and ultimately led me to the middle ages. A brilliant historian and a brilliant writer.
As we mourn the great Averil Cameron, I point you to her autobiographical talk from 2017: on being working class and female in Ancient History wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2017/05/22/s...
Doesn't look like it's the same person, from some moderate-depth googling, unless they come out as Isabel Fall in the book. They don't include that story in their list of publications on their website.
Poster for a conversation between Sara Ahmed (pictured with her dog Bluebell) and Durba Mitra on the event of the release of Sara’s new book. A cover of the book No! The Art and Activism of Complaining is on show which is pink with letters in black and pop in style. Conversation is at Harvard Book Store 7pm tonight!
Today! Hope some folks turn up!
Wow.
This. I don't believe in banning books; I've told my 6yo that he can read HP if he wants when he's older, and I've told him why we'll get them second hand or from the library. I won't assign anything by her in my classes for the same reason, although HP fanfic is ok by me if the students want it.
I heard a rumor of a $20 per tooth price too!! "You must be joking" was roughly what I said.
Thank you, I needed that!
My 6yo son absolutely loves this song and has been singing it for months - it's really nice for there to be a bridge between his and my cultural spheres.
Fair!
I thought you were including Richard II
To be fair though, google was genuinely better two years ago
This Friday: attend in person at U of T, or virtually via Zoom. Reserve your spot now! www.medieval.utoronto.ca/events/siobh...
Who's that guy?!
I'm not saying there's anything WRONG with weird horse stuff, I'm just saying, none of Maas's teenage girl protagonists have to explain to their lovers that their sex education came from being telepathically bonded to an extremely horny sentient horse.
I wish people hand-wringing about 'romantasy' would read some feminist YA fantasy from the 80s. I'm rereading Mercedes Lackey's early novels and they are a) as sexually explicit as ACOTAR, b) far less thoughtful about things like consent and boundaries, and c) so much more into weird horse stuff.
What a delight!
The Portal is Closed
I literally burst out laughing at my desk, so it still works
Academics see the worde TTRPG and thynke "tenure track roleplayinge game"?
That's great!
But the circumstances of the industry (and editor biases) have shut out knowledgable voices. So much "fandom coverage" now feels like reinventing a very basic wheel; I feel like my and my peers' work is being actively erased. Fandom *should* be covered—but you need to know what you're talking about.