tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post2460300227697167617..comments2024-03-04T10:20:10.154+00:00Comments on Anna Chen: Madam Miaow Says: Sherlock and wily orientals: Blind Banker, Episode 2 reviewMadam Miaowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-86312751197284120152012-02-05T07:34:23.481+00:002012-02-05T07:34:23.481+00:00"The robotic woman from the Bing ad emoted in..."The robotic woman from the Bing ad emoted in similar fashion as she mysteriously and inscrutably demonstrated the tea ceremony." - Excellent!<br /><br />Happy to know that there are people out there, who are immune to BBC Sherlock's seemingly irresistible charms :)Arunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16498276962097853996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-20587264919708709042010-08-21T10:55:11.089+01:002010-08-21T10:55:11.089+01:00Thanks Dzhimbo. Sadly, things seem to be getting w...Thanks Dzhimbo. Sadly, things seem to be getting worse at the BBC. Yesterday one of their producers came up with the lamest defence for their recent Yellow Perilfest,:<br /><a href="http://madammiaow.blogspot.com/2010/08/racism-for-fun-fu-manchu-producer.html" rel="nofollow">Fu Manchu In Edinburgh</a><br /><br />I can't see any attempt at irony in either of these BBC programmes. Irony is a device where a deliberate contrast marks what is literally being said and what is meant. It is present in neither Sherlock nor Fu Manchu.Madam Miaowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-34531207994253473272010-08-21T05:47:18.405+01:002010-08-21T05:47:18.405+01:00While I've really enjoyed the new Sherlock Hol...While I've really enjoyed the new Sherlock Holmes, I found ep.2 the weakest of the series, mainly for the use of the stereotypical sinister Chinese villainess. Is there a possible defence for this in the wider context of what the writer/producers have done with the Holmes mythology? There is a strain of postmodernist game-playing in the constant and often obscure references to Doyle's origninal stories, and it may be that it was intended to stand as a mocking reference to the racist elements in the original Holmes tales. There is indeed a Limehouse opium den in The Man With the Twisted Lip, and there are negative images of Indians as well as Chinese in other stories. The problem with this use of irony, if that's what was intended, is that it can of course backfire - the Alf Garnett Syndrome, we might call it. It's interesting that there are numerous jokes insisting on the non-homoerotic nature of the relationship between Holmes & Watson. Is this playing with the Queer Theory reading of H&W homophobic? Since Mark Gatiss is gay, presumably it wasn't intended to be, but it could be seen to be. Perhaps a similarly misfired irony was behind the sinister assassin. I hope so, anyway.Dzhimbohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03179072095139176108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-59628877347151439712010-08-09T10:05:40.837+01:002010-08-09T10:05:40.837+01:00It's a matter where we stand and what each of ...It's a matter where we stand and what each of us is seeing. If you are seeing a mature audience that understands the cliches and see through to the "cheesy absurdity", then fine. Many of us who have grown up in Britain subject to stereotyping and name-calling don't see it this way. Madam Miao speaks for us in a way that is entirely in proportion to the problems that portrayals like this cause.Denishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04574340814610405212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-83119897541911681722010-08-08T21:36:05.136+01:002010-08-08T21:36:05.136+01:00Try Edward Said's Orientalism.Try Edward Said's Orientalism.Madam Miaowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-70096363444721118432010-08-08T20:12:10.142+01:002010-08-08T20:12:10.142+01:00I'm afraid I have to be a dissenting voice on ...I'm afraid I have to be a dissenting voice on this. I've watch the episode through twice keeping an eye out for this apparently appalling dose of racism but I'm not seeing it.<br /><br />The story is about a drug cartel/crime syndicate which happens to be chinese (frankly, a change from the traditional colombian/ambiguously latino villains and true to the Victorian roots).<br /><br />Yes, most of the characters (excluding the lead duo) are very cliché, mostly in the sense of being cliché over the top villains, although also occaisonally invoking some Chinese stereotypes (which I suspect may have been thrown for the cheesey absurdity more than anything).<br /><br />In short I really think you've been blowing this out of all proportion.Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17961828826925034002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-13759466752773913022010-08-07T14:41:25.443+01:002010-08-07T14:41:25.443+01:00ah, yes. thank YOU. this articulates very nicely a...ah, yes. thank YOU. this articulates very nicely all my problems with the episode, despite the fact that i am a massive fan of cumberbatch as sherlock/The Sherlock Show. so much unnecessary exotification. seriously? chinatown full of black-clad, sunglasses-totin' sinister looking gangsters? even the waitress wore black. though that was probably just a coincidence.<br /><br />and oddly enough, one of the most irritating parts was Gemma Chan's mispronounciation of Spider, which was the biggest giveaway that she doesn't actually speak Chinese. grrrr. up till that point i thought she might have been Malaysian/Singaporean -Chineseat least a smidgen of authenticity amidst the stereotyping, why not?!!? *tears hair out* i hope they don't put this Stephen writer on any more episodes. ugh. <br /><br />...love the blog, by the way. tried hunting for your bbc radio shows but i can't listen to any online ;_;heroin_ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04722485137978909668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-45741463464673650972010-08-06T13:50:46.897+01:002010-08-06T13:50:46.897+01:00I half agree with your review- the concept of this...I half agree with your review- the concept of this episode was a bit mad and unbelievable, but nevertheless I do love the series! <br />I was disappointed when I found out that there would only be 3 episodes. :(<br />If they made it into a regular series, the plots would be more believable and there would be more dramatic cliff-hangers. Also, Benedict Cumberbach is a great Holmes- I was apprehensive because Robert Downey Jr. was so good in Guy Ritchie's movie, but Cumberbach's Holmes is a dead ringer for the 'real Sherlock Holmes', the character from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books, because if you read the books, Holmes is very much an arrogant, highly intelligent man with crazy fighting skills!<br />All in all, I hope that they make it into a proper series!Natashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09375088152140619278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-45170887869958859752010-08-04T20:04:32.922+01:002010-08-04T20:04:32.922+01:00Hope I didn't disappoint, Ken.
There seems to...Hope I didn't disappoint, Ken.<br /><br />There seems to be quite an unexpected and widely-felt negative response to the stereotyping in Sherlock that I find heartening in that not everyone swallows what they're fed uncritically. Unlike the Guardian review and online thread that was unbelievably blinded to what was being served up on Sunday. Coat my eyes with butter, fill my ears with silver and tell me lies about an entire race of people, as Adrian Mitchell might have said.Madam Miaowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-44280428090623471952010-08-04T19:50:04.947+01:002010-08-04T19:50:04.947+01:00I was really disappointed by this episode; not onl...I was really disappointed by this episode; not only was the stereotyping offensive but it also blew the believability out of the water for me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-40081474496210398032010-08-03T17:14:35.031+01:002010-08-03T17:14:35.031+01:00As I was watching this I suddenly found myself thi...As I was watching this I suddenly found myself thinking, 'I wonder what Madame Miaow will make of this!'<br /><br />It's a shame, because the concept of the show and a lot of the execution is very good indeed.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03493440163559858462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-39319729670707709572010-08-02T14:35:23.752+01:002010-08-02T14:35:23.752+01:00Sign up NOW for Madam Miaow's Fu Fighters!Sign up NOW for Madam Miaow's Fu Fighters!VenerableSagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18079094267060544265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-51811559790702491782010-08-02T13:50:22.351+01:002010-08-02T13:50:22.351+01:00Yup, the orientalist puppets in Thunderbirds/Fireb...Yup, the orientalist puppets in Thunderbirds/Fireball XL5 had a better crack at their parts than these poor actors.<br /><br />We seem to be going backwards. Is this how a culture implodes? I wonder if it was the same for the ancient Romans.Madam Miaowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-81572179553575104512010-08-02T13:20:39.308+01:002010-08-02T13:20:39.308+01:00Spot on. Im a bit dissapointed with the series, it...Spot on. Im a bit dissapointed with the series, it doesnt seem to want to recreate any of ACD's excellent original story lines. Which is a shame, because I really admire Mark Gatiss. <br /><br />"the chinese girl" as people will probably refer to her, seemed so passive, and had to be ordered to saftey by Watson, which struck me as odd-what with her being a drug smuggler, you think she'd be able to take care of herself. She was just so weak and feeble and such a complete sterotype of the kind of character from 60's cinema. <br /><br />The other "girl" watson's love interest, getting tied up all seemed a bit cringeworthy and a bit of a regression. Overall, im not impressed with any of the female characters-even the drug lord lady is pretty much the same character as seen in "around the world in 80 days"Lady Emily Waitrose-Selfridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01026308608560944865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-8620567604777308262010-08-02T08:44:47.843+01:002010-08-02T08:44:47.843+01:00I suspect the true heritage of the episode was not...I suspect the true heritage of the episode was not Fu Manchu per se, but the Dr Who story The Talons of Weng Chiang (1977), which drew on equal parts Doyle and Rohmer. It had all the inevitable ah-so indicators, right down to a villain played by a yellowed-up Caucasian and – YES! – the opium den. Must admit I bloody loved it at the time, but I was about nine years old.Tim Fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14681067872556519250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-59708220739224353632010-08-02T07:54:39.092+01:002010-08-02T07:54:39.092+01:00I was totaly left flat and v disappointed given ( ...I was totaly left flat and v disappointed given ( as you mentioned) the talent behind this production.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08915236568015079389noreply@blogger.com