PART 2 - Constructions of Character – Sexuality portrayed in Sherlock
In the second chosen scene, the mise-en-scene used has given the story a darker twist and changed the relationship between the three male characters. Moriarty is now dressed in a suit to show he’s on par with Sherlock and that he’s not really the clumsy, feminine man dressed in beige shades that the audience saw earlier. We can see it was just a role that Moriarty was playing, including the aspect of him being homosexual. Moriarty’s accent is his own and he plays on the fact that the audience has seen him before, by saying ‘Gave you my number. I thought you might call’ in a very flirty tone to surprise Sherlock. To give the changing identity of Moriarty a bit more impact, the way the camera moves around him at his entrance is very mysterious, a main shot being an establishing shot that shows the distance between Sherlock and Moriarty – in the first few shots, the actual portrait of the character is unclear and hidden, perhaps to signify his own deception of character as well as keep the audience guessing and also interested. In the first scene, there is no music behind the arrival of Moriarty whereas in this scene, the music is tense which adds to the atmosphere and also changes the perception the audience originally had on the character. The sound suggests something sinister in him, as does the dim lighting which only reflects on the glimmer of the swimming pool. The audience quickly understands that Moriarty was playing a character as he says ‘playing gay, did you like the little touch with the underwear?’ and that he was living up to the stereotype of a gay man to fool the audience. The second scene is a slow edited piece which draws out and lengthens the tension between the characters and their situation and also contradicts the seriousness as Moriarty teases Sherlock ‘is that a …gun, or are you just pleased to see me?’ – playing on the idea that was portrayed in the first scene.
In conclusion, Moriarty portrays himself in the first scene as being gay and lives up to the stereotype but in the second scene, he shows his true colours and real identity and also teases Sherlock about his own sexuality. I think Meadows purposely did this and executed these scenes in the way he did to highlight audiences’ general and initial perspective and opinion of sexuality and to therefore challenge it through the character of Jim Moriarty.
In the second chosen scene, the mise-en-scene used has given the story a darker twist and changed the relationship between the three male characters. Moriarty is now dressed in a suit to show he’s on par with Sherlock and that he’s not really the clumsy, feminine man dressed in beige shades that the audience saw earlier. We can see it was just a role that Moriarty was playing, including the aspect of him being homosexual. Moriarty’s accent is his own and he plays on the fact that the audience has seen him before, by saying ‘Gave you my number. I thought you might call’ in a very flirty tone to surprise Sherlock. To give the changing identity of Moriarty a bit more impact, the way the camera moves around him at his entrance is very mysterious, a main shot being an establishing shot that shows the distance between Sherlock and Moriarty – in the first few shots, the actual portrait of the character is unclear and hidden, perhaps to signify his own deception of character as well as keep the audience guessing and also interested. In the first scene, there is no music behind the arrival of Moriarty whereas in this scene, the music is tense which adds to the atmosphere and also changes the perception the audience originally had on the character. The sound suggests something sinister in him, as does the dim lighting which only reflects on the glimmer of the swimming pool. The audience quickly understands that Moriarty was playing a character as he says ‘playing gay, did you like the little touch with the underwear?’ and that he was living up to the stereotype of a gay man to fool the audience. The second scene is a slow edited piece which draws out and lengthens the tension between the characters and their situation and also contradicts the seriousness as Moriarty teases Sherlock ‘is that a …gun, or are you just pleased to see me?’ – playing on the idea that was portrayed in the first scene.
In conclusion, Moriarty portrays himself in the first scene as being gay and lives up to the stereotype but in the second scene, he shows his true colours and real identity and also teases Sherlock about his own sexuality. I think Meadows purposely did this and executed these scenes in the way he did to highlight audiences’ general and initial perspective and opinion of sexuality and to therefore challenge it through the character of Jim Moriarty.
Excellent! A thorough & detailed analysis of how the sequence uses the performance of sexuality. Covers all 4 areas to support argument and explains well chosen examples linked to the question. Impressive. Well done
Terminology can be improved
AAE 18
EX 16
T 5
In these two scenes from Sherlock, the idea and re-presentation of sexuality is being portrayed largely by the mise-en-scene and also the dialogue between the characters. The character Jim Moriarty is clearly the object of wondering sexuality in the first scene as the audience see Sherlock’s first impression of him, by simply saying ‘gay’. Moriarty is presented in tight, low cut and light clothes which juxtapose Sherlock and John Watson’s dark suits and coats, and also Molly’s serious lab coat. Throughout the majority of the scene, the audience is given chances to question Moriarty’s sexuality particularly as you view how Moriarty focusses nearly all of his attention on Sherlock, not his ‘girlfriend’ and also on his entrance – he does not come into the room confidently, with a broad chest and a holding his head high. He comes into the scene with a little smile, and with feminine movements of his hands and a nervous disposition – his voice is also higher in tone, closer to Molly’s than either Sherlock or John’s. The character Moriarty makes a loud clanging noise as he attempts to secretly give Sherlock his phone number. I think this dramatic noise is also used to show the audience that the entrance of this character is important and needs to be acknowledged.
The character Moriarty is definitely presented in this first scene as living up to the stereotype of a young gay man – what with the personal grooming which Sherlock so clearly points out and just the general surface image and style that the mise-en-scene supports. Obviously the close-up shots of Moriarty when Sherlock is explaining his reasons for calling him gay are important to define the character that the audience first sees.