ENTERTAINMENT

Custom Search

"Openly Observing Sleuth Sherlock Holmes' Hermeneutics Involves Implications!"

By Ramesh C. Reddy
Publisher

Recently released on DVD

'Sherlock Holmes' (2009)

Source: http://www.imdb.com.
The movie is rated PG-13  for intense sequences of violence and action, some startling images and a scene of suggestive material .  The run time is 128 min.

Main Cast:
Robert Downey Jr. - Sherlock Holmes
Jude Law - Dr. John Watson
Rachel McAdams - Irene Adler
Mark Strong - Lord Blackwood

TRAILER FOR SHERLOCK HOLMES:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
‘Sherlock Holmes’ is a must see movie for those who love digging deeper into the story. It utilizes the principles of great detective work when OBSERVATIONS are made, then using those observations, INTERPRETATIONS are made, finally from those interpretations, an APPLICATION is made. It reminded me of the Joy of Bible Discovery track where Sherlock Holmes methodology was utilized when I was with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. In this instance though, solving of the crime was the application. The movie is worth watching over and over again because it keeps you on your feet and makes you realize those same principles can be applied in real life when we study any story with characters in it.

PLOT SYNOPSIS:
”Sherlock Holmes” solves the riddle of how an executed man who was pronounced dead comes back to life by providing a trail of clues to lead you to the answer.

PLOT REVIEW:
”Sherlock Holmes” was a very well written script that makes you believe one thing and then shows you what a proper observation of the crime scenes and a proper interpretation of a crime scene can lead you to make an effective application, that of solving the crime.

CONTENT REVIEW:
‘Sherlock Holmes’ is an action-packed adventure with multiple scenes of violence. It addresses issues such as death, occult, magic, and the dangers of misinterpreting Scripture.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE MOVIE:
I liked the movie’s emphasis on observation, interpretation, and application

It reminded me, as stated earlier, of my time with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship where I went through the Joy of Bible Discovery track and took students to that track later. Their approach to Scripture totally changed in an exciting way when the Word of God was studied inductively using the methodology of Sherlock Holmes.

It is not surprising that IVCF used that methodology especially since InterVarsity originally started at Cambridge and Oxford University. Two small groups would meet together to pray and study the Scriptures. Colleges were called Varsities and because of the partnership between these two schools, it became called InterVarsity- between schools. InterVarsity continued to go by this name even when it became an organization in the United States and called itself InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

OBSERVATIONS address the questions of who, what, where regarding characters, circumstances, claims, capabilities, consequences, and core situations. They can be looked at for clues through the discovery of word/phrase repetition, cause-effect relationships, comparison-contrasts, general to specific, levels of degrees, means to an end relationships, etc. 

Think about these as you watch Sherlock Holmes to see if you can solve the mystery before Holmes reveals it in the end.

INTERPRETATIONS address the why of the observations, the significance of the observations, and the meanings of the observations.

There are three important principles to remember to have an accurate science of interpretation which is also called Hermeneutics:

Principle of Simplicity – We look for the natural meaning of the observations, rather than only the literal meaning, for the natural meaning of the observations is sometimes figurative rather than literal.

Principle of History – We look for the meaning the author intends to communicate through the observations, we have made; thus we need to ‘think’ ourselves back into the original situation in which the author wrote those observations.

Principle of Harmony – We look for the consistent meaning for agreement within the whole. Thus, we are able to take into account the harmony with the immediate context of observations with the teaching of the whole observations.

This is something we discover Sherlock Holmes does in the movie.

APPLICATIONS address the WHAT NOW issue based on the IMPLICATIONS of the observations and interpretation. This is where a decision to act in our own lives is made based on the observations and interpretations. It addresses the questions of what does it mean to my own life, what practical thing can I do this week to show my understanding of what I learned, etc.

If an application cannot be made for our own lives after the study, then we have not done proper observations and interpretations because anytime an observation and interpretation is made properly, there will be a main theme to apply in our own lives.

Source: Some of what I wrote about Observations, Interpretations, and Applications is adapted from the 1991 Leaders Manual for Overseas Christian Fellowship (Clayton)

Sherlock Holmes used Observations, Interpretations, and Applications to solve the crime. Watch the movie and see in what instances these 3 ways are utilized throughout the movie.

Next I challenge you to study the Bible this way taking a passage of Scripture and utilizing OIA.

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Joshua 1:8, NIV)

^"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV)

 Questions to Ponder:

1. In Sherlock Holmes, what character do you identify the most with, why or why not?
    

2. In Sherlock Holmes, what character do you least identify with, why or why not?
    

3. Why was Sherlock Holmes intent on using observations, interpretations, and application?
    

4. What happens if one or the other of OIA is skipped, cite examples from the movie regarding what happened to Dr. Watson?
    

5. Why should you approach life using observations, interpretations, and application?
    

6. How has the Lord of the earth utilized observations, interpretations, and applications to save humanity? How is it different or similar to what happened in the movie?
    

7. Why should the Bible be studied inductively using OIA instead of deductively, springboard style, or lecture style?

9. "Street Fighter: Legend of Chun Li' Leaves Audience Analyzing" / Feb 27, 2009 / June 30, 2009

8. "'Confessions of a Shopaholic' Save Friendships Fruitfully!"/ Feb 13, 2009 / June 23, 2009

7. "'Pink Panther 2' Totally Promotes People Fighting Failure" / Feb 06, 2009 / June 23, 2009

6. "Totally Tyler Perry's Picture: 'Madea Goes To Jail' Justifies Forgiveness' Fruit! / Feb 20, 2009 / June 16, 2009

5. “'Defiance' Details Freedom Fighters Nullifying Nazi's! /Jan 16, 2009/ June 02, 2009

4. "Surprisingly 'Slumdog Millionaire' Makes Eight Expensive Oscars Outright!"  /Jan 23, 2009 / June 01, 2009 By Kristen Agnew

3. “'Taken' Tells About A Pa's Persistence!”  /Jan 30, 2009 / May 12, 2009

2. “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans' Unites Underprivileged!”  /Jan 23, 2009/ May 12, 2009/

1. “'LoveTakesWing' Lets Lord's Ways Win!” / Unavailable

REVIEWS OF DVD RELEASES OF 2008:

22. "Dark Knight' Kindles Joker's Judgment, Justifying Satan's Sinister Soul Search" /July 18, 2008 / Dec 09, 2008

21. "Get Smart' Sagaciously Saves People Publicly" / June 20, 2008 / Nov 04, 2008

20. "Incredible Hulk' Helps Humans Have History!" / June 13, 2008 / Oct 21, 2008

19. "'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' Surprisingly Sagged!" / May 22, 2008 / Oct 14, 2008

18. "'Iron Man's' Machine Suit Saves  Citizens Carefully!' / May 02, 2008 / Sept 30, 2008

17. "'Bucket List' Lovingly Leaves Life Laudable!" /  Jan 11, 2008 / June 10, 2008

16. "Flawless' Forgoes Forgiveness For Foes" / March 28, 2008 / June 03, 2008

15.  "Semi Pro' Portrays Sacrificial Success" / Feb 29, 2008 / June 03, 2008

14. "Meet the Spartans' Sends Malignant Message!" / Jan 25, 2008 / June 03, 2008

13.  "'The Eye' Elevates Donor's Deliverance!" / Feb 01, 2008 / June 03, 2008

12. "National Treasure 2' Tests Truth Through Time!" / Dec 21, 2007 / May 20, 2008

11. "'Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian' caringly Christocentric"  / May 16, 2008 /  Dec 02, 2008

10. 'Untraceable' Unabashed Viewing Victims!" / Jan 25, 2008 / May 13, 2008

9. "'Over Her Dead Body' Brings Love's Laughter!" / Feb 01, 2008 / May 06, 2008

8. "'P.S. I Love You' Yells Love's Language!" / Dec 21, 2007 / May 06, 2008

7. "'Hero Wanted' Wonderfully Renders Redemption!" /March 28, 2008 / April 29, 2008

6. "'How She Moves' Makes Sizzling Steps!" /Jan 25, 2008 /April 29, 2008

5. "'Golden Compass' Contradicts Christ's Creation!"/ Dec 07, 2007/ April 29, 2008

4. "One Missed Call' Causes Evil's Eruption!" / Jan 04, 2008 / April 22, 2008

3. "Totally Baked'  Brings Beelzebub's Badness!" /Unavailable / April 20, 2008

2. "The Invasion' Imparts Inoculations Inevitability!" / Aug 17, 2007 / Jan 29, 2008

1. “'Incendiary' Invokes Illicit Sex Sowing Crumbling Consequences Through Terrorism!” / Unavailable / Jan 20, 2008

REVIEWS OF DVD RELEASES OF 2007:

11. "'Rush Hour 3' Renders Renegade Relative Ruthless!" /Aug 10, 2007 / Dec 20, 2007

10. "'The Bourne Ultimatum' Universally Unravels U.S.A's' Undercover Utilities / Aug 03, 2007 / Dec 10, 2007

9. "'Transformers' Thrusts Towards Truth!" / July 03, 2007 / Dec 10, 2007

8. "'Live Free Or Die Hard' Heightens Humans Hurts!" / June 27, 2007/ Nov 20, 2007

7. "Spiderman's search for Salvation saved scorching soul" / May 04, 2007 / Oct 02, 2007

6. 'The Astronaut Farmer' Follows Family's Faithfulness! / Feb 23, 2007 / July 10, 2007

5. "'The Contractor' Creates Catastrophe for Cops!" / Unavailable / July 10, 2007

4. "Hannibal Rising' Reveals Revenge's Radicalism" /Feb 09, 2007 / May 29, 2007

3. "'The Last Sin Eater' Emphasizes Emancipation Enters Endlessly" / Feb 09, 2007 / May 15, 2007

2. "'Illegal Aliens' Assist Earth's Emancipation" /Unavailable / May 01, 2007

1. "'Happily NEver After' Alters Age-old Analysis!"/ Jan 05, 2007 / May 01, 2007

REVIEWS OF DVD RELEASES OF 2006:

10. Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 (2006) / July 07, 2006 / Nov 20, 2006
9. Superman Returns (2006) / June 28, 2006 / Nov 28, 2006
8. "'Captured By You' Yells Greed's Game!" /March 21, 2003 / Oct 24, 2006
7. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) / May 26, 2006 / Oct 03, 2006
6. Last Holiday (2006) / January 13, 2006 / May 02, 2006
5. End Game (2006) / Unavailable / May 02, 2006
4. Swarmed (2005) / Unavailable / May 02, 2006
3. The Detonator (2006) / Unavailable / April 25, 2006
2. The Visitation (2006) / Unavailable / Feb 28, 2006
1. Red Eye (2005) / August 19, 2005 / Jan 10, 2006

REVIEWS OF DVD RELEASES OF 2005:

16. The Island (July 2005) / July 22, 2005 / Dec 13, 2005
15. Fantastic Four (2005) / July 08, 2005 / December 06, 2005
14. Batman Begins (2005) / June 15, 2005 / October 18, 2005
13. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) / June 10, 2005 / Nov 29, 2005
12. Hostage (2005) /March 11, 2005 / June 21, 2005
11. Hitch (2005)  /Feb 11, 2005 / June 14, 2005
10. Spiderman: The Venom Saga (2005) / Unavailable/ June 07, 2005
9. Swimming Upstream (2003) / Feb 27, 2003 / May 31, 05
8. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith / May 19, 2005 / Nov 01, 2005
7. xXx: State of the Union (2005) / April 29, 2005 /  July 26, 2005
6. The Interpreter (2005)  / April 22, 2005 / October 04, 2005
5. In Good Company (2005) / January 14, 2005 / May 10, 2005
4. National Treasure (2004) / November 19, 2004 / May 03, 2005
3. Ocean's 12 (2004)  / December 10, 2004 / April 12, 2005
2. Blade: Trinity (2004) / December 08, 2004 / April 26, 2005
1. Suspect Zero (2004) / August 27, 2004 / April 12, 2005

REVIEW OF DVD RELEASES OF 2004:

1. 'Paycheck' is worth the money / December 25, 2003 / May 18, 2004 

DVD RELEASES OF 2003:

2. City By the Sea' Sinks Family Life! / September 06, 2002 / Feb 18, 2003
1. Blood Work' Pumps Up the Blood!  / August 09, 2002 / June 01, 2003

DVD RELEASES OF 2001:

1. 'Replicant' created to save lives! / May 11, 2001 / October 16, 2001

DVD RELEASES OF 1999:

1. 'Retroactive' is actively time wrapped  / January 1, 1997  /August 24, 1999