Topic 124: A Curse of Cleverness

Carol:

The Case of the Curse of the Clever Cogitators

Pushing my way through a daily theme topic to actually arrive at a subject is like taking one of those psychological quizzes—the free association game. This morning,  I discarded the first thoughts  to pop into my head, mostly quick images of the ravens, coyotes and foxes from childhood stories with morals about “being too smart for my britches.” Then I thought about one of my favorite television sleuths, the intellectually clever but emotionally stunted San Francisco detective Adrian Monk.
 

The USA network introduced  Monk in 2002, and for 8 seasons we watched Tony Shaloub as the obsessive-compulsive PI  teeter between genius and paralysis as Monk gradually reveals the obsessions, phobias and fears that overshadow his life. Somebody added up all those fears—312 including harmonicas and ladybugs—and put them on the internet.  During Season 2 we were finally introduced to his older brother Ambrose (played by John Turturro), who makes a living   translating technical manuals into multiple languages he has taught himself ( at least 7). Ambrose may even be smarter than Adrian, but he is cursed by insecurities and fears that have turned him into an agoraphobic who hasn’t left his house in 32 years (source: Wikipedia: Monk TV Series).
 

If the story of the Monk brothers and their cursed brilliance sounds a little familiar, consider another pair of siblings known for their logic, problem-solving abilities, and powers of observation. Let’s go backwards about a hundred years to Victorian London. 
 

Older by 7 years, Mycroft was apparently the more gifted of these London brothers.  Apparently, he was most productive when allowed to sit around and think, which may account for his rotund silhouette.  Most often he was ensconced in a comfortable corner of the Diogenes, a “gentlemen’s social club for the unsocial.”  He held a mysterious government job that took full advantage of his encyclopedic memory and deductive abilities His brother was often exasperated at his lack of drive and lassitude but nevertheless spoke of Mycroft’s indispensability to members of the government Ministry: 

They began by using him as a short-cut, a convenience; now he has made himself an essential.  In that great brain of his everything is pigeon-holed and can be handed out in an instant. Again and again his word has decided the national policy. He lives in it (Source: enotes.com).  

Although rarely seen outside his club, illustrator Sidney Paget did capture Mycroft Holmes’ image for the September 1893 issue of Strand Magazine.
 

While the elder Holmes maintained a comfortable anonymity, the younger Holmes  achieved such prominence in his profession that he gained international and enduring fame. His cleverness first came to public attention in 1887, and his exploits continued to fascinate the public for the next 30 years in four books and fifty-six essays, most of which are narrated by his long-time  assistant and biographer who shared a flat with him for many years and who captured his eccentricities with astute detail: 

 …now and again a reaction would seize him, and for days on end he would lie upon the sofa in the sitting-room, hardly uttering a word or moving a muscle from morning to night. On these occasions I have noticed such a dreamy, vacant expression in his eyes, that I might have suspected him of being addicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and cleanliness of his whole life forbidden such a notion (Source: A Study in Scarlet). 

Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the great detective in fiction and in film, known for his cleverness.
 

Tired of watching Monk re-runs? Already seen the latest Sherlock Holmes incarnation with Robert Downey Jr.?  You don’t really need to wait until the sequel comes out next December. Just tune in on Monday evenings to watch a clever but flawed detective in action,  a drug addict, prone to melancholy, a cold façade, no sentimental attachments.  Gregory House. Elementary, my dear Wilson.

Sources:
(1)    from The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans. Enotes.com
(2)    Sherlock Holmes. The Official Website.
(3)    Doyle, Arthur Conan. A Study in Scarlet. Page 12.Googlebooks

Megan:

The Curse of Being Too Clever

I mentioned this topic to a friend of mine and she said, “Well, that will be no problem for you because your posts are always so clever and funny and inspiring and amazing – in fact, they are the best part of my day... my life even. ” Well, she said the first part about it not being a problem, and she may have said the rest but I had stopped listening – completely overwhelmed with the pressure I was now under to compete with myself.  After several days of stress, combined with following the very unfunny news of the world, I have now decided not to even try. Instead, I’m going to do something I’ve never done before – write a review. And to punish my friend for ruining this topic for me, I’m going to review a show she’s never seen.

Last night, as I checked once again to see if The West Wing had been added to Netflix On Demand, I discovered Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip – Aaron Sorkin’s television follow-up to the political masterpiece.

Studio 60 only lasted one season, and according to some reviews was abandoned by viewers after the early episodes.  I watched 4 episodes last night, and have every intention of seeing the series through, but I can see what went wrong. The West Wing raised the bar – for good television and for Mr. Sorkin.
The two main characters on Studio 60 are Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford. After 10 seasons on Friends (a show I loved by the way), Studio 60 feels like quite a promotion for Chandler Bing. But this is not where Josh Lyman was supposed to end up after leaving the Bartlett Whitehouse… directing the fictional equivalent to Saturday Night Live.  Of course, I realize that the actors are separate from their most famous characters, but Josh was my favorite. And although Danny, Whitford’s character on Studio 60, is just as fast-talking, intelligent and intense –  the energy feels misdirected. Rather than helping to craft democratic policy, the best result of all his hard work can only ever be a successful TV show.

Both West Wing and Studio 60 are behind the scenes views of a fast paced and high stressed work environment. Things are continuously going wrong at the last minute and the bantering dialog is usually exchanged between the characters as they are on the way to somewhere else. Loyalty and hard work are valued; drug abuse and impulsive decisions are common themes. The characters in both are well-developed, interesting and flawed human beings. But only in one of the shows do we feel like there are real world consequences to their actions. But one has the President of the United States while the other, only a president of a fictional broadcasting company.  We’re not dealing with national and natural disasters here, but power outages and poor ratings.

Watching The West Wing was my primary form of escape while I lived in England. While I watched that show, Jed Bartlett was my president, instead of George W. Bush. I owned all 7 seasons, and when I dismantled my life over there and got rid of all my belongings, leaving behind those DVDs was my only regret.

If Studio 60 had proceeded The West Wing instead of following it, I’m sure it would have survived its first season for all the reasons I’ve already said. The writing is excellent; the back stage view of a broadcasting corporation is genuinely interesting. I have found comparisons to 30 Rock, which I haven’t seen, much of, but Studio 60 is a serious show with funny moments – 30 Rock seems the reverse. But, while watching a TV show about the making of a government can absorb your attention completely, watching a TV show about the making of a TV show, you never forget where you are.