“Sometimes you need to look hard at something to see its value.”
These lines started the first scene of the second episode of the TV phenomenon Sherlock. The story, constructed around the killing of three people by a Chinese smuggler gang, focuses on yet another adventure of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The episode, in its entirety, has the very mystic element of Chinese culture and the deeply rooted themes of Oriental Culture, one of which is the colour yellow and the Black Lotus Flower. While both concepts have a deep and rooted meaning in the Chinese and Oriental culture, they seem to be transformed into a negative meaning in this episode.
The episode, apart from its parody of the cultural elements of Chinese and Oriental culture, is also significant in its characterisation, since it is in this episode that we come to know more closely about Dr. Watson and how much Sherlock will be surprised, for the first time, by a man who might be the one to complete him.
The colour yellow, in Chinese culture refers to the royalty, glory and wisdom of the Great Chinese Empire. The compass of China, unlike the universal one, has five directions: north, south, east, west and middle. Each directions has a specific colour, yellow belonging to the middle one. Balance being an important concept in the Asian culture, is thus represented with the colour yellow, once again putting emphasis on the colour. China is called the Middle Kingdom; the palace of the Emperor was considered to be in the exact centre of the world. By placing the kingdom in the middle, the royalty and glory is related to the colour yellow. In the Egyptian culture, the colour yellow is associated with gold, therefore it also signifies royalty, dynasty and the empire itself. The gold itself was considered to be imperishable, eternal and indestructible. For this reason, the colour was usually used in the construction of the tombs and the paintings on the tombs. The colour, being an important element of the Asian and Oriental cultures, is used in a negative sense in this episode. It becomes a clue to the code that needs to be cyphered to find out the next killing. Although, it is possible that the colour was only picked randomly, it is also possible that the colour was used in the negative sense to parody the usage of it in the two cultures. Because the story is focused on solving of the crimes, the overlooking of these cultural elements is inevitable. But one needs to look deeper into things, to understand their meaning. Nevertheless, the producers are skilled in sending the message: it is possible for a colour to have more than one meaning. The victims are killed after seeing the signs written in the yellow colour. Another evidence is that the yellow colour is the major clue that helps Sherlock solve the crime. The crimes begins with the graffiti made in yellow, and once Sherlock’s friend shows the same type of paint in the alleys of London to Sherlock, then Sherlock starts to bring together the pieces that will deliver the mystery. In all these scenes, the colour comes to be associated with crime, death, threat and a code that needs to be cyphered or else…While yellow is used in the eastern world as a symbol of life and happiness, in the western world it is beginning to represent death and mystery. This here indicates the difference between the two worlds. This difference, although very trivial and not very important, is significant enough to be used in a series produced by the western world.
The Black Lotus flower is among the most beautiful plants of the botanical world. Its different colours and the way it opens and closes on the surface of a pond is amazing for those who get the opportunity to see it. As a cultural element, The Black Lotus is associated with purity and beauty in religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism and in cultures such as the Egyptian. The black lotus is a flower that slowly emerges from a pond over a three day period and then blooms in the morning until mid-afternoon. Because of this process, the Egyptians have associated the flower with rebirth and the sun. In Buddhism, the flower is related to purity, spiritual awakening and faithfulness- which are important values of the Buddhist culture. Because the flower is able to emerge from murky waters early in the morning and still be perfectIy clean and pure, it is associated with cleanliness and purity. The emergence of the lotus flower as clean and happening every morning is also significant in the religion of Hinduism. The flower represents beauty, fertility, prosperity, spirituality and eternity. Within the episode, the flower is the symbol of a gang operating in the streets of London. This gang, apparently, consists of members who smuggle artefacts and sell them for high costs. The symbol of the gang is a Black Lotus Flower, which is tattooed under the feet of the members and an origami of the flower is left in the pocket of Sherlock. The usage of the flower in this negative sense suggests a new meaning to the flower: the flower is related to gangs, death, and threats. Just like the colour yellow, it is possible that the flower was picked out of random, but one needs to think how it is possible to think randomly of a flower that is not very well know, has a name that is specific and is complicated. The linking of the flower with negative themes once again suggests a difference between the east and the west.
The two different meaning of each cultural elements show the different way of looking into things of the east and the west. While the eastern culture is able to look at trivial things with a positive perspective; the west look at the same things with a negative perspective. The reason for the two different perspectives can be various, but one that comes to my mind is this: the historical background and the richness of the soil have made people of the east more positive in their lives. Despite the severe wars and threats that they have faced, the eastern soil has always been an attractive place to live in. Because of the richness of the land, those who have passed through these areas have been amazed by the land, the people and the prosperity that dwells within. The western lands have mostly been lands of invasion and because of the cold climate, the richness of the soil was mostly seasonal. It was during the spring and sometimes summer that the soil would produce, making the lands attractive only during these seasons. The historical background of the west also suggests that history has had an effect on the way culture and perspective has developed through the ages. The invasions of the Anglo-Saxons, the World Wars and the Revolutions have caused the minds of the people to function towards the negative meaning. However the reasons, cultural elements and the way people look at these elements are shaped by historical, literary, political and social events.
Apart from the cultural themes, another point that stands out in this episode is the role of Dr.Watson. In this episode, we see a more active and efficient Dr.Watson. We get to know that he becomes nervous while solving crimes. and even becomes angry at Sherlock when he takes time to solve the crimes. Dr. Watson is not as calm as Sherlock is when spending time and money, he is aware that they need to earn a living. Which explains the reason why Dr. Watson goes out to look for a job and takes the check from the banker. Dr.Watson, in this sense, is more realistic and rational than Sherlock. Sherlock is a perfect example of a detective as emphasised by authors like Edgar Allen Poe and Sr. Arthur Conan Doyle. The detective comes from an aristocratic background and solves crimes not to earn a living, but to entertain himself. He does not need the money, unlike his sidekick- who is Dr.Watson in this series. In this episode, Dr. Watson portrays a series of actions that asses him as a practical man who is not the equal of Sherlock, but the person who completes Sherlock. The scene where Dr. Watson points the address of the young Chinese woman from the address book, and the scene where Sherlock becomes frantic when the graffiti is erased and he asks Dr. Watson to remember it precisely, Dr. Watson takes out his phone and says that he has taken the picture of the graffiti. These scenes show the practicality of Watson, and how he is able to come up with a solution where Sherlock is sick or is going through a frantic ‘writers-block’, so to speak. Towards the end of the episode, Dr.Watson, rightfully, claims he is ‘not Sherlock Holmes’. He is perfectly right, he is not Sherlock Holmes, but he is a friend whom Sherlock needs and possibly wants by his side. Why would Sherlock, who is unequal in his skill to anyone else, want someone by his side. The answer is simple: Dr.Watson is the part of Sherlock that makes Sherlock human, that connects Sherlock to values such as kindness, consideration, empathy and the like.
The following episode, apparently, will add to the friendship of these two men. They will be going through adventures for sure, but what we will see is the development of their friendship and how this friendship will be effective in healing the wounds of the two men and causing them to deal with their past and move on.