A Mystery History

Guess what? It's NOT Doctor Who, or Disney, or the Scarlet Pimpernel, or any of the sort. I have other interests as well. The title should give you a hint if you know me at all. Any guesses? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Some might guess Nancy Drew. Well that's a good guess because I did read those an awful lot in my past, but that's not it. It's Sherlock Holmes.

Yeah, you probably thought of that as soon as you saw the word "mystery" (or maybe you didn't, what do I know?), but that's with good reason. He is, after all, the most well-known

detective in the world. I'm actually surprised at how many people don't know about Sherlock Holmes. They know he's a detective, but not much more than that. "Oh that guy with the weird hat and the pipe, right?" Well, allow me to enlighten you all.

First-- as it's a tradition in my posts-- I'll start by describing how I was introduced to Sherlock Holmes. Well, like most people, I just grew up hearing the name in pop culture. He's the

popular icon for detective. His magnifying glass and deerstalker cap= detective. Everybody

knows that, right? Anyways, I just knew that Sherlock Holmes was this great detective. Actually for the first probably about 8-10 years of my life I actually thought Sherlock Holmes was a real person. I had no idea he was a made up character in some books.

I found this out while I was in my dad's office and I found an extremely fat book entitled "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle". On the spine it said "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes/ The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes/ The Hounds of Baskerville/ A Study in Scarlet/ And others". Of course, I was a bit confused. I wondered if it was some sort of a biography or something. I flipped through a couple pages and gathered that they were stories. Despite what some people think, I am actually an intelligent person (and was even when I was a kid) and I deduced that Sherlock Holmes was in fact a fictional character. I attempted to read the book, but since I was only about 8-10 years old, it was waaaay beyond my level so I quickly gave it up and put it back on the shelf. I soon forgot about it.

Several years later, I was a sophomore in high school. I, being a picky teenager, was bored with my entertainment. My mom continuously suggested reading a book; advice which I always ignored. One day I was in my dad's office, scanning the bookshelf out of boredom, when I found the fat red book again. Well, I decided to give it another try. To make a long story short, I was hooked after the first couple short stories. I started taking it to school to read in between classes (despite its massive size). It didn't fit in my backpack, so I carried it. It took me a couple months to finish the entire thing. So I can proudly say that I have read every single Sherlock Holmes story ever written (at the least the ones told from Watson's POV).

Now that we've got my background, on with my post. So I've always had an interest in mysteries and intense/suspense plots. I like it when stuff ties together in elaborate ways that makes you go "OH!! That's brilliant!" at the end of the period where you're whacking yourself in the head because you want to know what the heck is going on so badly. (That's why I thoroughly enjoy Doctor Who [especially season 6, good golly!]). The Sherlock Holmes stories are particularly unique mysteries because Holmes is such a genius. In most stories the author tries to make the main character relatable (in other words, makes them like us. Makes them a real person). In mystery novels, the detective or the person solving the mystery often is a person with real emotions and average intelligence with an average thinking process. That way we can follow them and figure out the mystery along with them. Also if the character has these average emotions, other options such as hostage situations, romantic connections, and other suspense situations are available for the author to include in their story.

Sherlock Holmes is different. I don't remember where I read it... some website... where somebody had calculated Holmes's IQ. I don't remember the exact number, but it was abnormally high. He also lacks certain human characteristics that don't allow the reader to connect with him so easily. The point of the stories, however, are not to connect to Sherlock Holmes. The goal is simply to observe Holmes as he unravels the mysteries that fall at his door. Holmes's friend, Dr. Watson, kindly laid out a list rating Holmes' knowledge/talents: "Literature- nil.; Philosophy- nil.; Astronomy- nil.; Politics- feeble; Botany- variable; Geology- practical, but limited; Chemistry- profound; Anatomy- accurate, but unsystematic; Sensational literature- immense; Plays the violin well; Is an expert in single-stick player, boxer, and is a swordsman; Has good practical knowledge of British law." Watson was also shocked to learn that Holmes did not know simple facts such as that the earth went around the sun. Holmes explained that if he ever did know that fact, he erased it from his memory because he only stores information in his mind that is useful to his work... which is a consulting detective (where the police consult him when they are out of their depths).

My favorite mysteries off the top of my head are A Scandal in Bohemia, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb, and The Red-Headed League. There's one more, I can remember the story, but I can't remember the title... oh well. What I like about the stories is that for a lot of them, Holmes doesn't even have to go investigate much. He just hears the story from the witness and draws a conclusion from the details. It's extremely fascinating. The stories are told from Watson's point of view for good reason because then we can follow HIS thought process and be amazed by Holmes's logic and abilities. Excellent writing choice on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's part.

One more thing I'd like to make a remark on: no where in any of the books does it mention a deerstalker cap. So I'd like to know where this tradition started. Who was the first to put him in one and why has it stuck? It does talk a lot about his pipe and I seem to recall him using a magnifying glass on occasion, but what's with the deerstalker cap and plaid coat?

That's one thing I liked about the recent movie with Robert Downey Jr. they didn't put him in the deerstalker hat. Despite what several people have said, I thought that RDJ did an excellent job of portraying Holmes and the story was very true to a Holmes adventure (even though it wasn't based off any specific one). The only difference was that it added a lot of action and violence, but I justified that by saying that the movie had to please today's audiences (also Watson specifically mentioned that Holmes was a boxer in the books). The portrayal of Watson was a refreshing take also. In the past, Watson was always Holmes's bumbling companion who happened to live with him. In the movie, he's younger, more athletic, and more capable of handling himself. Plus he seems more of a friend rather than a colleague to Holmes (as he should be. Although their friendship is a little more sassy in the movie than how it's described in the books). Of course they had to make Irene Adler a love interest to Holmes. I couldn't really justify it since the book specifically said that Holmes never looked at her romantically, but only remembered her because she was the only woman to ever outsmart him. But... it's a 21st century movie, there needs to be romance. However, I can't criticize it too much because the movie was very true to Sherlock Holmes, overall.

Sooo... what has rekindled my love for this detective lately, you might be wondering? Well, you will not be surprised that Doctor Who had something to do with it XD

Two Doctor Who writers came up with a modern-day Sherlock Holmes TV show called Sherlock. Being a Doctor Who fan, of course I heard of another show where the writers teamed up. Sadly, the next season doesn't come out until next year so I've been rewatching the three 90-minute episodes occasionally while up here at college. But maybe I'll make another post detailing the show some other time. Right now, I'm just going to leave this here. :)

My Top 10 Epic Speeches from DW

This is the same as my last post except with some of the Doctor's most epic speeches. Eleven has had the most epic moments so far I think, so he's on this list a lot. Now this is my personal opinion so just because they are his most famous speeches doesn't mean they are the most epic in my opinion. To pass as epic for me, it means they either give me shivers and/or they just make me grin proudly. Well, here we go then :)

#10) Bye!- Given by the Tenth Doctor in The Stolen Earth.

#9) The Devil- Given by the Eleventh Doctor in The Wedding of River Song.

#8) Fear Me- Given by the Eleventh Doctor in The Doctor's Wife.

#7) Genocide- Given by the Tenth Doctor in The Doctor's Daughter.

#6) Don't Blink- Given by the Tenth Doctor in Blink. (It starts at 1:35 in this clip)

#5) No- Given by the Ninth Doctor in The Parting of Ways.

#4) Trap- Given by the Eleventh Doctor in The Time of Angels.

#3) I'm a Time Lord- Given by the Tenth Doctor in Voyage of the Damned.

#2) The Pandorica- Given by the Eleventh Doctor in The Pandorica Opens.

#1) Basically, Run- Given by the Eleventh Doctor in The Eleventh Hour.

Top 10 Funniest Moments of... you guessed it :P

Again, this is just my own amusement. I'm compiling the top ten funniest moments from Doctor Who in my opinion. Like I said in my previous post, the show isn't all seriousness and action, there's some pretty darn hilarious stuff too. It was rather difficult trying to narrow it down and rate them into favorites. So here we go :)

#10) Off With His Head- the Doctor meets Queen Elizabeth I for the first time, but it's not her first time meeting him.

#9) The Judoon- The Doctor and Donna meet the Judoon, but since they are under jurisdiction of the Shadow Proclamation, they cannot use the TARDIS translation circuit. Luckily the Doctor speaks all languages.

#8) The Thing- The Doctor needs a plan. If he keeps talking, maybe he'll come up with one.

#7) Ghostbusters- The Doctor and Rose are going to investigate some paranormal activity.

#6) Look At These People- The Doctor gives a speech about humans... but are they really his words?

#5) The Fez- The death of everyone's favorite headgear.

#4) Rory's Stag Party- Rory has a surprise guest the night before his wedding with some surprising news.

#3) A Target- The Doctor comes up with a plan to figure out what's shooting at him and Amy

#2) Possessed- A woman's spirit has possessed Rose and the Doctor makes her leave her body, but where's she going to go?

And finally, my absolute favorite laugh out loud...

#1) Poisoned- While visiting Agatha Christie, the Doctor gets poisoned. But he can fix that by brewing up a recipe with Donna's help.

New Favorite

Haha! It was only a matter of time before I blogged about this show. As usual, I'll just give you a little background on how I was introduced to it before I begin my post. So I had heard of Doctor Who before, but I had not the slightest idea of what it was. I had just head the name. Then I sat next to my wonderful friend Alex in Trig class, Senior year. I'm not quite sure how she started watching it, but she did and she became obsessed. Knowing how it felt to be obsessed with something, I let her tell me all about it; her frustrations, her excitement, her favorite characters, etc. Very, very gradually I actually became interested in what she was telling me. So rather than just humouring her, I actually took interest in what she had to say. She started sending me clips and stuff over Facebook that I watched. Eventually, I took the liberty of watching the first episode on Netflix instant play. I'll admit, was extremely weirded out. It is a rather bizarre show at first glance, but I persisted and continued watching all the way through the first season. The second season was better as I got to the Tenth Doctor and was used to the atmosphere the show set. By the time I got through the second season, I was hooked. And by the time I got through the third season, I was obsessed. Now, half way through the sixth season (fully caught up) I am fully obsessed.

So, in this post I'm going to explain the universe of Doctor Who in more detail if anyone is at all interested. ^_^

BASIS: It is about an alien who travels through time and space in his time machine/spaceship called the TARDIS. He mostly wants to explore and see the universe, but he always either gets mixed up into other people's problems or people ask for his help. Also, one of his companion points out "You never interfere in the affairs of other people or planets....unless there's children crying." Another one of his companions answers him when he asks "who am I to argue with history?" with "you're usually the first in line".

SERIES BACKGROUND: The show began in 1963 and is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running Science Fiction TV show. It's also one of the first shows to use electronic music. The original series ran from 1963-1989. The "NewWho!" series picked up where the original series left off in 2005 and is still continuing now.

PLOT BACKGROUND: Both the original series and the new series follows the Doctor as he travels through time and space with his human companions exploring history and different worlds. However, in the new series the Doctor is the last of his kind. His planet was destroyed in a war along with all of his people (and the race they were battling), leaving him all alone. It is later revealed that he is the one that "pulled the trigger" so to speak and ended the war, which is why he was the only survivor. In the old series, the Time Lords sometimes gave the Doctor missions, or they punished him for breaking Time Lord law of non-intervention.

THE DOCTOR: The Doctor is the hero (and usually the protagonist) of the show. He is an alien called a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He looks human, but he isn't. Although Time Lords share several human traits, they have some distinctive differences (ex: two hearts, the ability to regenerate [see below], etc.) The Doctor is not his real name, although his true name has never been revealed. There is some dark secret surrounding his real name and he is running away from it. He is often quirky and childlike, but he has a dark side that occasionally is unearthed. He is extremely brilliant in mathematics, history, science, medicine, technology, and so on. Basically, he's a genius. He is full of self-loathing in the new series because of what he did to his people. Because of his guilt, he never feels worthy of another creature's love, thus resulting in his obliviousness to his female companions. At the present moment, he is over 900 years old and is on his eleventh regeneration. The Doctor sums himself up in the episode Waters of Mars when asked to state his name, rank, and intention he answers: "The Doctor, doctor, fun." Also in The Eleventh Hour he says of himself: "I am definitely a madman with a box." One of his companions says regarding him: "What if you were really old and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead, no future, what couldn't you do then? If you were that old and that kind and the very last of your kind, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."

TARDIS: The TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space) is the Doctor's spaceship/time machine. It looks like a police box from the 1960's. This is because it has a cloaking device, so when the TARDIS lands it would disguise itself to blend in with the area. So if it landed in ancient Rome, it would disguise itself as a statue or something, but then at some point it landed in the 1960's, turned to a police box and the circuit got stuck. The Doctor liked the police box so much that he decided not to fix the circuit and keep it. The TARDIS is bigger on the inside. There's practically an entire world inside the little blue box. Apparently it needs six people to pilot it, but only the Doctor drives it (rather poorly according to River Song and Idris [the TARDIS in human form]). The Doctor threw the instruction manuel away because he disagreed with it. He stole the TARDIS from his own people when he was about 200 years old and ran away with it. The TARDIS is not necessarily a machine, it's alive. The Doctor doesn't even know the full power of the TARDIS.

REGENERATION: Regeneration is the Time Lord's trick. It's their way of cheating death. If a Time Lord is dying, but not yet dead, its body can repair itself if the Time Lord does not want to die. However, there is a drawback. The body repairs itself entirely, meaning every single cell is changed and rewritten, resulting in a new face and a slightly different personality. The process is "a bit dodgy" because they never know what they'll end up with. The Doctor has expressed concern about having two heads or becoming a girl. Also, each time he's regenerated, he always makes sure he has two legs and two arms first thing. A Time Lord does not have to regenerate, they have a choice between death and change. Also a Time Lord can still be killed if they are in the middle of regenerating or before they have a chance to start. Apparently it hurts to regenerate according to the Doctor when asked about it. The Doctor has said that regenerating still feels like dying because some new man "goes sauntering away" and his old self is dead. The Doctor has regenerated eleven times in his life, which is why the show has been able to last as long as it has.

The First Doctor was played by William Hartnell (age 55). He died simply from old age.

The Second Doctor was played by Patrick Troughton (age 46). He died because the Time Lords exiled him to Earth for breaking Time Lord law and forced his regeneration.

The Third Doctor was played by Jon Pertwee (age 50). He died from radiation poisoning.

The Fourth Doctor was played by Tom Baker (age 40). To date he is the actor to have played the Doctor the longest (seven years). He died by falling off of a radio telescope.

The Fifth Doctor was played by Peter Davison (age 29). He died by something called spectrox toxaemia poisoning.

The Sixth Doctor was played by Colin Baker (age 40). He died from injuries gained when the TARDIS crash landed after being attacked.

The Seventh Doctor was played by Sylvester McCoy (age 44). He died during a heart surgery because the doctors were not familiar with Time Lord anatomy.

The Eighth Doctor was played by Paul McGann (age 36). The cause of death is unknown since the series stopped and simply picked up with the Ninth Doctor. It probably had something to do with the Time War.

The Ninth Doctor was played by Christopher Eccleston (age 41). He died by absorbing the energy of the time vortex out of his companion, which she absorbed out of the heart of the TARDIS.

The Tenth Doctor was played by David Tennant (age 34). He is my favorite Doctor so far. He died by radiation poisoning.

The Eleventh Doctor is currently being played by Matt Smith (age 27). He is the youngest actor to have played to Doctor to date. No cause of death yet.

DOCTOR WHO: The show is called Doctor Who not because that's his name, but because that's what always comes after his introduction. --"Hello, I'm the Doctor." --"Doctor who?" --"Just the Doctor."

COMPANIONS: The Doctor loves all sorts of creatures, but he has a special fascination and love for humans. Therefore he spends a lot of his time exploring human history, landmarks, celebrities, and so on. On his travels he will often meet people (usually females) that he invites to travel with him. In the original series, it's usually just because. However, in the new series, it's still because of that, but also because he's lonely. Since his companions are usually females, lots of them tend to feel romantically towards him at times. However, he usually remains oblivious to this. Only twice has he actually fallen in love with his companions. Although he has kissed several of them, but for non-romantic purposes (or they kiss him and he reacts in a flustered and/or confused way. This is often for comical purposes).

SONIC SCREWDRIVER: The sonic screwdriver basically serves as the Doctor's weapon. He hates violence. He prefers negotiation and such rather than blasting aliens out of the air. He hardly ever carries a gun himself. Instead, he carries a sonic screwdriver. His own invention apparently. "What? You've never been bored? Never had a long night. Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?". It has a multi-purpose, but it is most frequently used as a lock pick. However it is also used as as a scanner, a tracker, and a remote control, as well as other things. Its only weakness is wood.

ENEMIES: Daleks are the Time Lords' mortal enemies. They first appeared in 1963 and are the oldest and most frequent reoccurrence on the show besides the Doctor and the TARDIS. They are they squid-like aliens that were mutated by a scientist to have no emotion other than hate. They are concealed inside a metal shell-like armour equipped with weapons. Their trademark is their (rather annoying) electronic monotone voice saying "exterminate!". The Daleks are who the Time Lords were fighting in the Time War. Both the Time Lords and Daleks were apparently wiped out. However, the Daleks always managed to somehow survive by falling through the vortex or something and thus coming back to exterminate the last Time Lord.

The Master is another Time Lord. He is the "Moriarty to the Doctor's Holmes". Apparently, he and the Doctor were childhood friends. He is a lot like the Doctor, but he is completely insane. The Doctor explains that the Master's madness originated from his childhood. Time Lords, at the age of eight, were to look into the time vortex as some sort of initiation. Some would be inspired, some would run away, and some would go mad. The Master was one that went mad. The Master is a wanna-be universal conqueror, thus making him a great threat to the Doctor who wants peace in the universe. The Master, being a Time Lord, has regenerated several times in his life, but I'm not quite sure how many since he's had a rather complicated life (full of resurrection, possessing other's bodies, and running out of regenerations, but still being able to live somehow). He has actually died twice, but has been has been resurrected both times. Once by the Time Lords to help fight in the Time War, and again by humans for a rather vague reason.

STORY ARCS: Each season has its own story arc. The new series has been especially heavy on story arcs. A story arc is an extended story which takes place over a large number of episodes or serials, characterised by a gradual unfolding of plot points and introduction of narrative devices which come together in the arc's climax. Some examples of story arcs: Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Mr. Saxon, Medusa Cascade, "he will knock four times", cracks in the universe, and "silence will fall when the question is asked".

The show is not all adventure and seriousness. There's loads of comedy and quirkiness too. I often find myself laughing my head off sometimes. The Doctor especially is just full of quirks and childishness. And of course there are some upright terrifying episodes that give me nightmares for eternity. (Angel statues, double shadows, gas masks, etc). One thing I absolutely love about the show is that it is so full of optimism. Not everything always goes perfectly and the characters will make mistakes, but there is always hope. Some awesome quotes come out of this show.

There is sooooooo much more to this show. I could go on about the different companions, the time vortex, the TARDIS, his sonic screwdriver, time streams, the Doctor meeting his past incarnations, different aliens and planets, expounding on the story arcs and the complexity of the Doctor himself. But if I did that, this post would literally turn into a novel. I'm just going to leave this at... Doctor Who is a freakin' AMAZING show!!!

Click to watch epic trailer :D

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The Tenth Doctor accidentally crosses his own time stream and meets his past self, the Fifth Doctor

Fear

I think most of you would think that this post is being brought on by the fact that I am going to be heading to college in about a week and a half. Well, yes that is a little true. However, this whole thought process you are about to read began because of an observation I made while watching my new favorite TV show, Doctor Who.


Basically what it is, is this alien (who looks human) who can travel through time and space, constantly saving the universe. He has a profound love for humans so he spends a lot of time around Earth and with humans. It's a lot more complicated than that, but that's the basis.

There you have it, now onwards with my post.

Fear. Fear is definitely addressed in this show what with the aliens, monsters, chases, and such. The writers of the show are the gods of creativity when it comes to monsters, particularily Steven Moffat. Moffat has come up with so many monsters and creatures and situations that put the Doctor Who fans (known as "Whovians") into panic when they are on screen. But why? Why are certain episodes so scary?

I'll tell you why. A lot of the episodes are the same. The Doctor and his companion(s) land on a planet, get mixed up in some sort of predicament that could change history or endanger thousands of people's lives, so they run around avoiding the creature/situation while trying to figure out how to fix the problem. Most of the time, the Doctor knows exactly what the creature is and how they can defeat it so the episode is about them trying to avoid the creature long enough for him to get the plan/trap in order. Of course all the episodes are a little intense with the chases and such, but some are extremely frightening for some reason. This is because they address different types of fear rather than just "oh no, are they going to escape?" and "ooh, is it going to work?"

Now down to my observation. The episode Blink is probably the most famous Doctor Who episode. It is also one of the freakiest. This episode is so scary for a number of reasons, but I think number one, because the Doctor is hardly present. As the hero, the Doctor always gives the viewer hope that he will save the day. As I mentioned earlier, the episodes usually are about the Doctor, who knows exactly what he's doing most of the time, dealing with the situation. This gives the viewer some comfort while watching, no matter how intense the situation may be. Blink involves one of the most feared ceatures of the Doctor Who fandom, the Weeping Angels. Statues that move when you aren't looking at them. The episode is about this poor girl living in the present, Sally, who is called upon by the Doctor to send his time machine back to him in 1969 where he is trapped. All the while she must avoid the Weeping Angels. However, this is no an entirely easy task since he is stuck in the past and has to figure out ways to contact Sally and give her instructions. He tells her via recording: "Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast, faster than you could believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink. Good luck." Good luck. In other words, he's saying he can't help her. She's all on her own. The angels are scary enough coming towards you every time you blink, but the fact that the hero of the show can't help the protagonist of the episode is what is truly terrifying.

The biggest fear is when the Doctor is fearful. This is an extremely rare occasion, almost non-exsistant. I can only think of one instant, which is the one time that put a pit in my stomach. It was in the episode called 42. At one point, the Doctor get possessed by a sort of Sun monster that's burning him from the inside. It's trying to take over him so it can kill everybody on board the ship they are on. He knows it's inside him since it's causing him a lot of pain and he knows what it's going to do. He tells his companion that she needs to freeze the monster out of him. While she prepares the freezing chamber, he begins to panic as he fights the pain and realizes that he could kill everybody. Never before has he panicked like that. He has lost his temper, been concerned, and has cried, but he has never panicked. So in this one instance, when he is panicking, the viewers panic as well. The moment that really did it for me was when he told his companion: "I'm scared! I'm so scared!" Kudos to David Tennant (who was playing the Doctor at the time) for that scene. He gave me chills, I wanted to start crying. If your fearless hero is scared, it's guaranteed that you are scared too.

So those are just a couple of examples of my observation. We really depend on our hero/hope. In Doctor Who, the Doctor is always our glimmer of hope because he always knows everything and he always has a solutions and he is completely level headed. So what happens when that hope dims or is taken away? Fear increases.

I hope those of you who haven't seen this show (which I'm sure is about 99% of you) aren't getting the wrong impression of this show. It's not a pure horror, drama, intensity intense show. I laugh my head off a lot of the time. There's a lot of comedy and wit. The Doctor is such a quirky character. There's even occasional romance. Not really though because the Doctor's usually pretty oblivious (besides, he's a 900 year old alien meeting [usually] 20-40 year old humans). Most of the stories are extremely clever and they all connect. And as a plus, everyone speaks with some sort of British accent :D

Now just for fun, if you're at all curious of what to say to freak me out:
Although I think "Are you my Mummy?" should be a little bit bigger D:

Not Disney This Time

That's right, this post will have no Disney reference in it. Although it IS about The Scarlet Pimpernel, so you're not totally off the hook. I'm sorry, but I must take this time to talk about the most underrated British actor of all times. Anthony Andrews. I was thinking about this as I watched The Scarlet Pimpernel for the first time in a long time a couple days ago (as well as reread the book yesterday). He is absolutely brilliant! Brilliant, I tell you! I am only going to focus on his work in the Scarlet Pimpernel since that is the only movie he's in that I've seen in full.

So! Here we go. First off, he was absolutely MADE for the role of Sir Percival Blakeney Bart. of Richmond, England. The book describes Sir Percy as being "a year or two on the right side of thirty. Tall, above the average, even for an Englishman, broad-shouldered and massively built, he would have been called unusually good-looking, but for a certain lazy expression in his deep-set blue eyes, and that perpetual inane laugh which seemed to disfigure his strong, clearly-cut mouth." Mr. Andrews is almost a perfect replica of this description. Although, he has brown eyes and is almost unnaturally lean, but that hardly matters because of a number of other reasons that I am about to give. When he plays Sir Percy, he performs the foppish drawl in exactly the way as I imagined it while reading the book. He has it nailed! The stupid expression he always wears matches the "lazy eyes" description and "[disfigured] clean-cut mouth". Also, (I'm not sure if I'll be teased for this, but) I personally think that he is actually sort of "unusually good-looking" when he drops his facade of foppish Sir Percy and becomes the Scarlet Pimpernel.

You have to give Andrews credit for taking on the role of the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel because he has to play a couple different characters with completely different appearances, voices, accents, and personalities. In the book, Sir Percy is a fantastic actor. He fools everyone into thinking he is a complete idiot who only thinks about trivial things such as fashion and snuff. However, this is not so. He is actually very intelligent. It's because of his acting skills that no one, not even his wife, suspect him of being the Scarlet Pimpernel. So idiot Sir Percy is one role Anthony Andrews plays. In the movie, he also dawns three other identities whilst smuggling aristocrats out of Paris; a coffin carrier, an old hag, and a hunchback (I think that's what he's supposed to be. He hunches over... ??).

So back to the focus of Anthony Andrews, he gives each of his roles such different voices and behaviors that even though you KNOW it's him, it's still hard to tell. I actually remember I was watching it in the car once while my mom was driving. She couldn't see it, but she could hear it. She was listening to Sir Percy disguised as the coffin carrier talking and (even though she had seen it) asked who was talking. When I told her it was Percy, she laughed, amazed at how different he sounded.

The mannerisms for all his characters are quite good. The coffin carrier always has this sort of "my top lip is out of place and I have too much neck-fat" look, (if that makes any sense) and constantly smacks his lips. The old hag plays with her tongue a lot and squints one eye as if she were disfigured. The hunchback always has a monkey-like face as if all that goes through his brain is "duuuuuhhhhhhh". Each voice is also distinctly different.

SIR PERCY



THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL
(The Scarlet Pimpernel and Sir Percy are the same, but he just sort of looks different when he acts serious)



COFFIN CARRIER



OLD HAG



HUNCHBACK


A couple more praises and that will be the end of this post. I love watching him while he's on the sidelines because he is such a good reactor. Just the faces and movements he gives while other characters are in the spotlight are perfect.

The last thing I have to say about Anthony Andrews's acting skills is his ability to stay in character no matter what happens. I imagine he had the least amount of bloopers out of all the actors. There are two instances I notice in the movie where he could have laughed or something, but he ignored whatever was happening/had happened and continued with his lines. Once, when Percy tells his league (after they find out King Louis XVI has been executed) that they are going to Paris, he gets up off the banister he was sitting on, but his coat tail gets caught and he struggles with it for a moment. However, he does a good job of covering it up and making it look natural, he doesn't even look at it. The second time is when Percy and Armand are talking about Marguerite in the garden. Right before Percy says "I shall love her until the day I die" a bug flies into his eye. He merely blinks it away without even coming close to breaking character and proceeds with his lines. Also, just in general, his characters are just ridiculous, especially Sir Percy, and he never even looks like he wants to laugh (while some of the others do at some points).

To sum it up, Anthony Andrews is amazing and I love the Scarlet Pimpernel! :D

Beyond Appearances

So... I've finally noticed a pattern in my obsessions. Disney, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Merlin. I know what you're thinking, what on earth do these have in common? Well, if you noticed the title of this post you'll see that it's called "Beyond Appearances". Yes, that's right. In each of these shows, there's always something that's more than what they seem. This post is dedicated to pointing out the details that prove this point, starting with my TWO-YEAR-LONG OBSESSION (two years D:) The Scarlet Pimpernel.

THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL

It was not just the movies I was in love with. It was the story in general. I was first introduced to it at my school library in 8th grade. I was at the highest level of reading, the white star books. There was a very limited selection of books in that category since not very many people can reach that level before high school. Anyways, I was supposed to pick a book for a reading log. I had never heard of any of the books in the white star section so I just closed my eyes and picked a random one. Of course, it was The Scarlet Pimpernel. I tried reading it, but I was so confused. The language was hard and the french words and names just made it worse. I couldn't get through the first chapter and I was tempted to put it back after over a week of trying. I finally asked my grandpa (since he knows literally EVERYTHING) if he knew what it was about. He gave me a brief outline of the plot and made sure I knew what the French Revolution was (which I did know a little about). Eventually I was hooked. I found a movie version made in 1982 that was absolute perfection! It was exactly how I pictured the book in my mind.
So that's how I was introduced, moving on. The whole point of the story is people (mainly a french actress married to an english aristocrat, Marguerite, and a citoyen of the Republic of France, Chauvelin) trying to figure out the identity of a man who rescues aristocrats from being executed at the guillotine. What does this have to do with looking beyond appearances? Well, the man, the Scarlet Pimpernel, is an English aristocratic fop, Sir Percival (Percy) Blakeney. And when I say fop, I mean FOP! He is like the biggest idiot ever, obsessed with fashion and making up poems. The book says that he would be abnormally handsome except for the lazy look in his eye. In the movie, he is constantly critiquing Chauvelin’s fashion sense. (In fact, one of my favorite scenes involves him completely dissing French fashion and politics. So funny!). However, despite what he appears to be, he is actually a highly intelligent, brave, and strategic man who always knows what’s up. But because of his persona of a lazy fop, no one suspects him of being the Scarlet Pimpernel, not even his wife.


DISNEY
I have divided this into three categories just because I love talking about Disney movies :P These are not the only examples, but they are the most obvious examples selected from my top five favorite Disney movies (5- Beauty and the Beast, 4- The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 3- Aladdin, 2- Tangled, 1- The Lion King).


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

This movie used to scare the bejeebers out of me when I was little (no, really. I would run out of the room crying). Not because of the beast, but because he gets stabbed at the end D: However, now that I’m older, it’s become one of my favorite Disney movies. The most obvious example of “it’s not what it seems” is the beast. He is viewed as a large, scary monster with a short temper. The first impression of him in the movie is his horned shadow looming over Maurice (Belle’s father, for those who are not clued in to this movie). Then he-- with his deep, scary voice-- threatens Maurice, telling him he’s unwelcome, and then throws him in the dungeon. Yeah, not someone you’d want to be best friends with right? Even Belle said so, “I don’t want to have anything to do with him”. Little did she know (or did we know) that he’s actually short-tempered and isolated because he is ashamed of his appearance.
I’ve also determined that he was eleven years old when he was transformed because he has until his 21st year to break the spell and Lumiere informs Belle in 'Be Our Guest' that “ten years we’ve been rusting”. This gives a reason for the beast’s lack of social skills. He grew up isolated from everyone and never really grew up, I think. This fact is further proven when he sulks about how he doesn’t know how to talk to Belle, he acts like a big baby when Belle is tending to his wounds, and he doesn’t know how to properly use silverware. In short, he is actually an insecure little boy hiding beneath his ferocious exterior. At the end of the movie, his true physical form is revealed as he is transformed into a “handsome” prince (I put quotation marks around handsome because I personally don’t think he’s that great. I think it's really the hair that ruins it for me, his face isn't so bad.)


THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

Well... there was a whole lot I missed about this movie when I was younger. Lots of adult subjects in this one. I liked it as a kid, but it wasn’t really my favorite. Now that I’m older, I’ve come to really appreciate everything in it. The music is just epic, the animation is amazing, and the story has been cleaned up a lot from the original novel (believe it or not. The novel is TERRIBLE). The movie begins with Clopin (the jester guy. Nobody seems to know his name, which depresses me, because he is one of my favorite Disney characters) telling the story of the mysterious bell ringer to some children. He tells them to determine “who is the monster and who is the man”. Quasimodo is hidden away from the world because of his physical deformities. His guardian, Frollo, is constantly telling him that he is ugly and that he would never fit in with society. This is in fact proven true when Quasimodo does eventually venture out of the cathedral to attend a festival. He is tied up and pelted with fruit for having “the ugliest face in all of Paris”. I would always skip that part when I was younger, I hated seeing such cruelties to such a sweet man.
Even as a child I clearly saw that these people were stupid for thinking him a monster just because he was deformed.
While he may be ugly, his heart is genuinely kind and full of love. He is extremely agile and athletic, spending a lot of time climbing over the roof and walls of Notre Dame. He also spend a lot of his time building a model of Paris and the people that live there. That shows a lot of talent right there. However, all his talent and potential is overlooked just because he is not physically appealing. Frollo, on the other hand, is a high official in Paris (respected? Most likely. Liked? Probably not). He kills Quasi’s mother and almost kills Quasi because he’s “a monster”. Then he literally burns down Paris, searching for Esmerelda because of his own stupid lustful desires. He sees evil in everything, but himself. By the end, Clopin’s question is answered. Just because Quasimodo is ugly doesn’t make him a monster and just because Frollo looks normal doesn’t make him a man.


TANGLED

This wouldn’t be my blog without mentioning this movie :P This one has several examples of looking beyond appearances. Rapunzel seems to be a strange girl locked away in a tower, but she’s actually a lost princess. Gothel appears to be a loving mother, trying to protect her daughter from the dangerous world, but she’s actually a conniving and selfish woman who kidnaps Rapunzel for her own gain. The pub thugs appear to be violent, scary men, but they are friendly guys who like playing the piano, cooking, sewing, putting on puppet shows, and collecting ceramic unicorns XD. However, I am going to focus on my personal favorite “it’s not what it seems” scenario. Flynn Rider. I know what you’re thinking, “but Kelsi, he’s not ugly. He’s the handsomest leading man Disney’s ever had!” (OK, you probably weren’t thinking that, but I was :P). Anyways, let me explain. From the very start, he seems to be a carefree, sarcastic, overconfident thief, whose only thoughts are on himself and getting himself richer. However, as the movie progresses, his true self begins to emerge. An orphan boy who turned to a life of thieving because he needed something to aspire to. Once he confesses his real name (Eugene Fitzherbert. XD poor guy) and life, we begin to see what he is really like. He’s kind of a sap and a sweetheart, trying to make Rapunzel’s birthday the best it can be even though it was going beyond their deal made at the beginning of the movie. So what seemed to be an egotistical liar turned out to be a sweet guy who was willing to give up his life for someone he cares about.


MERLIN

Boredom can lead to great things as the story of how I discovered this awesome TV show proves. I was extremely bored over, I think it was, Winter Break. I was on my computer, hopelessly searching for something to do since I was home alone for the day and dead bored. I thought, “I should watch a Disney movie I haven’t seen in a while”. I went and found a list of all Disney movies on Wikipedia, hoping to find one that I could look up on Youtube or something. I clicked on Sword in the Stone, deciding that it was probably a good choice, but I decided I wanted to read about it... just because. It had other references at the bottom. One talked about a TV show about Merlin the wizard. I clicked on the link and I read about the show. My curiosity was piqued so I looked up one of the episodes on Youtube. The first one got my attention enough to want to watch the second. After that, I was hooked. I watched a good portion of the first season that day. Now I’m eagerly awaiting the fourth season to come out at the end of this year. Anyways, moving on. Merlin is centered around, well... Merlin before King Arthur becomes king. Merlin is sent to Camelot by his mother as a young man because “he is special” (meaning he was born with powerful magic which is apparently unusual) and doesn’t fit in. Eventually, Merlin meets Prince Arthur, and although they hate each other at first, they become friends after Merlin is made his personal servant. There’s a catch though. Anyone caught using magic in Camelot is executed. (It’s a long story as to why this is. You find out as the series goes on, why King Uther has banned magic). So the concept of looking beyond appearances comes into play again. Merlin appears to everyone as Arthur’s bumbling idiot servant who can’t do anything right, when in fact Merlin is to one day become the most powerful wizard the world has ever known. Only a few know who Merlin really is (Gaius- the court physician and Merlin’s guardian/mentor, Lancelot, and the Great Dragon who is imprisoned under the castle). Lancelot even comments in the season 3 finale that Merlin is “the bravest of us all and [Arthur] doesn’t even know it”. Since magic is forbidden and even feared in Camelot, Merlin admits to feeling totally alone and almost frightened because of what he is. We all know though what he becomes. So what appears to be a bumbling idiot is actually a very special boy with a good heart and great bravery.


So I shall be wrapping up my very long post post on looking beyond appearances with a point. I can’t pinpoint to why exactly I find this concept so appealing, but I do. I guess it’s the intrigue of what these characters really are. Like with Merlin, I know what he is supposed to become, but I wonder when Arthur will find out that he even has magic much less how powerful he is. Or with the Scarlet Pimpernel, I enjoy watching Marguerite realizing who her husband really is as much as I enjoy watching Chauvelin get outwitted by the same man he has declared an utter fool. Disney movies in general are just awesome for a number of reasons, but I’ve noticed that the moral to a lot of them is seeing inner beauty or discovering that it’s what’s inside that counts.

Remember that always. It’s what’s inside that counts. It doesn’t matter if you’re deformed like Quasimodo or have transformed into a hideous beast. You are special. Don’t struggle with your true self like Flynn/Eugene did and someday everyone will see that your special traits are not something to hide or scorn, but they actually make you special, just like Merlin. Everyone has worth. Everyone means something, especially in Heavenly Father’s eyes. Never, ever forget that :)