past patitently waiting

harry: that’s fine i used to sleep under the stairs at the dursleys

“When a woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct is at once to rush to thing which she values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have more than once taken advantage of it … A married woman grabs at her baby; an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box.”

Holmes uses this social norm and order to stage an attack and find out where Adler hid the photo in her house. He drops his guard and is so proud of himself because he knew that this would work, he knew that if he created disorder,  “natural” order would attempt to counteract that disorder.

Adler defies those social orders and norms: she is an untitled American woman who earned her own money through a career as an opera star, instead of relying on a husband or family to have financial security; she outwitted Holmes because she cross-dressed and indicated that she frequently did so, allowing her to have a lot more freedom roaming around London on her own terms, and her stage career aided that so that she could act like a man easily; and she didn’t care one bit about her reputation or being a “pure” woman, had several boyfriends, and was known for being an “adventuress”. More importantly, she had the ability to defy those social norms while simultaneously being able to present herself as the ideal respectable and under-estimable Victorian-era woman.

Adler literally defeats Holmes by dressing in drag then happily goes off with her new husband whom she loves very much. And Holmes respects that and is thoroughly impressed. Not only does he respect that, he realizes that he was on the wrong side of things, that he shouldn’t have agreed to take on the case for the King of Bohemia. This is the exchange that follows after Holmes, Watson and the King read Adler’s letter.

“Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?”

“From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a very different level to your Majesty,” said Holmes coldly

Holmes takes Adler’s side and realizes that the photograph is her protection from the King, not something she intended to use as a weapon against him. Adler never exploited the King to get what she wanted, only kept it as a safeguard of her own happiness. She made sure she had a way of ensuring that she alone guided her future.

Irene Adler is “the woman” to Sherlock Holmes, not because she was sexy or he was in love with her. She was a reminder that real life doesn’t always follow what social norms and order are to be expected, that people shouldn’t be taken on face value or respected just because of their title or apparent respectability and ability to follow social order and norms, and that there are two sides to every story.

Based on a 90-second teaser trailer and a few assumptions, the calls have gone out that we should boycott Bohemian Rhapsody for queer erasure.

“The trailer doesn’t show any gay content, only het stuff!” There’s a split-second shot of Freddie hugging his girlfriend at one point. There’s also multiple shots of him obviously flirting with guys. The contention that the trailer is queer erasure is mostly coming from cis gay (white) men mad that the movie seems to be depicting Freddie Mercury as bisexual and capable of loving women at all, but given how significant his relationship with Mary Austin was to his life, it would be a disservice to everyone to exclude it.

Also, the cast list includes several male characters listed as “Freddie’s Lover,” as well as Jim Hutton, his partner in his final years.

“They’ve said the movie is going to ignore the AIDS crisis!” No. What’s been said is that the movie ends in 1985. Once this information was released, people immediately jumped to assume that because the movie wasn’t going to chronicle Freddie’s illness and death in detail, it was avoiding the subject entirely. But the AIDS crisis was in full swing in ‘85, and Freddie of all people was extremely aware of it. The description of the trailer (the first teaser trailer!) even alludes to it.

It’s a fair point that they haven’t mentioned AIDS by name yet, but also, the only materials they’ve released so far are some promo images and one teaser trailer.

In this context, for people wondering why the creative team or the remaining band members don’t come out to “put the matter to rest” by assuring us the film deals with AIDS, it might help to remember that the media has in the past been extremely tawdry and exploitative in its treatment of Freddie Mercury’s illness and death (have you not seen all the “HIS TRAGIC AIDS STORY!!!” videos floating around Youtube? Not read the biographies that linger in lurid, dubiously sympathetic detail?). It makes sense to me that if Brian May and Roger Taylor have a heavy hand in the making of the film (which they seem to), they’d ask for a more subtle approach.

Also, again: we have six months till the movie comes out and only one teaser trailer at this point. Be concerned if you feel the need, but it’s a little early to call for a boycott.

My friend Rachel got married and 8 of her 9 bridesmaids were cymbal players. 

Lily Tomlin still voices the Original Friz, Valerie. Kate McKinnon voices her younger sister, Fiona Frizzle.