Character and BBC's Sherlock: "I Am Sherlocked" Scene

              To me, a character is someone who intrigues you because of their personality, their decisions, their opinions, and their actions, but most importantly, a great character is one who experiences a variety of conflicts and resolves them in unexpected ways. When deciding a character to discuss, for me, it's elementary, my dear Watson...why Sherlock is such a brilliant character.

             To give a little bit of background information, the BBC's Sherlock is a British crime and detective mini-series which focuses on Sherlock Holmes (a "consulting detective") and his partner-in-crime, Dr. John Watson. Even though the original short stories centered on Sherlock Holmes occurred in the 1800's, this version of the stories occurs in modern London, England. This moment is from season 2 of the show, and Sherlock Holmes, played by the brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch (Khan from Star Trek Into Darkness), recently met Irene Adler--THE woman in Sherlock's life--and for the entire episode, he has been trying to unlock her phone in order to receive some important pictures and documents from her phone which may be of use to the British government. At the beginning of the scene, Irene is speaking with Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother, about what she wants in exchange for the information she has on her phone. Irene thinks she has beaten the two Holmes brother; she thinks she's outsmarted them, as you can see in the clip below, but Sherlock has observed something about her that she trying to hide--her true feelings for the detective:

               By the end of this scene, both Irene and Sherlock develop drastically as characters. First of all, Sherlock starts out as rather quiet in this scene, clearly having a conflict centered around his desire to have what he wants: to be "correct" and to solve the mystery of Irene's phone. He also seems to be experiencing deception as a conflict as he hears Irene seemingly become victorious in this moment, therefore revealing her betrayal towards him (he had trusted her previously in the episode). By the end of the scene, however, Sherlock develops even further when he demonstrates his victorious unlocking of Irene's phone, and seems to experience two conflicts: a physical conflict (man v. man) with Irene, and a relationship conflict (should he ruin their relationship?).

              Furthermore, Irene demonstrates a character experiencing and developing from numerous conflicts. At the beginning of this scene, she has a moment of desire where she wants something in return for her phone. Later in the scene, she and Sherlock have a physical/adversity conflict when he begins to prove that he knows how to unlock her phone--it, after all, was tied to whom she cared about most: Sherlock. And, lastly, Irene experiences a fear conflict when she watches in horror as Sherlock unlocks her phone; you can almost see the thoughts whirring past her eyes as she wonders what will happen to her now. He has discovered her feelings for him (as shown by him flashing back to a previous scene between them when she tried to seduce him), which she desperately tried to conceal, and she is terrified as to what will now happen as a result of his discovery.

             At the dramatic ending of this scene--courtesy of the cleverly awesome "I am Sherlocked" reveal--both Sherlock and Irene have revealed numerous conflicts they encounter in a matter of minutes. As watchers, we observe these emotions and conflicts with them, allowing them to be more relatable and interesting to us as watchers.

"We accept the love we think we deserve..." (Specificity scene)

           The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I have to admit, was one of the first movies I saw before I had read the book; and, despite this rather unusual decision for me as the faithful book reader, I do not regret it. More than anything I've watched recently in the past few years, this movie resonates with me. The plot is relatively simple: it's about a teenager who enters his freshman year of high school after recently experiencing devastating tragedy, and just when he thinks he won't find acceptance anywhere, he finds it in a group of unexpected friends and one inspirational teacher/mentor. In this scene, the main character, Charlie, speaks with his English teacher, Mr. Anderson. Now, I know what you're thinking--how cliché, Ms. Bru, YOU pick a scene about an English teacher. But, alas, I am unashamed because there is one quote from the scene which shakes me to the core with its brutal honesty and how Paul Rudd (Mr. Anderson) delivers it. Even though this scene is under 40 seconds, it is still powerful, as you can see below:

 

When Charlie hesitatingly, and yet somewhat bravely, questions Mr. Anderson about why we allow some people to stay with us, even when they hurt us, that was emotionally moving enough for me. You hear a slight crackle in his voice, as if to emphasize how nervous or uncertain Charlie is about asking this question, but it seems his curiosity wins when he asks Mr. Anderson anyway. When choosing whether or not to respond, as a viewer, you can see how Mr. Anderson momentarily questions his decision to tell Charlie his honest opinion about love and who we choose to love. Anderson nods his head, looks down, then looks directly at Charlie resolutely as if he's determined to tell Charlie the truth he deserves, and says: "we accept the love we think we deserve." In one single sentence, Mr. Anderson, in my opinion, reveals a sad truth to both the audience and Charlie--regardless of what we try to do in life, our relationships are based solely on what we think we deserve. The delivery of that line is why this specific scene from the movie lingers in my thoughts about the movie--it demonstrates the bravery of a young man, an indecisiveness of an adult, and the brutal honesty of a reluctant truth. To me, that is a powerful scene--honest, important, relevant,  and quite simply, well-acted and delivered.