Two Men of Note, 1994 Edition

One hundred years ago, people were rather upset.

Sherlock Holmes  had  just died  in December of  1893's edition of The Strand Magazine, and the February chill seemed a bit bleaker in his absence. John Watson died too that day, as Bill Cochran pointed out in the most recent Baker Street Journal. Without Holmes to write about, the readers would have to do without his best friend as well.

Two good men were gone. I would be surprised if 1894 had a more popular pair of friends than Sherlock Holmes  and Doctor Watson. The perfect reasoning machine, man of action, and electric presence on one hand. The stalwart companion, master  storyteller,  and  man  of  honor  on  the  other.  As individuals,  Holmes and Watson were each exemplary  human beings. As friends, as a team, they were near gods.

People wanted to know them better, which was a good part of the tragedy of Holmes's death. Letters came, and still come, to 221B Baker Street as so many tried to make real world contact with the better side of human nature. Others attempted to emulate their example. Intellect, trust, style ... so many lessons were to be learned from these two. And in the years that followed, a good many tried to do just that.

Which brings us, one hundred years later, to 1994.

Bob Burr and I often try to get together for dinner the weekend that the Baker Street Irregulars dine in New York. We did again this year, and over a vaguely Canonical dinner (and the  marvelous  Stilton  and  port  that  came  later)  the conversation covered a variety of subjects, wandering from boa  constrictors  to  strains  of  influenza  virus,  from computer-generated virtualities to kidnapping. And eventually the conversation came 'round to the subject of two famous friends.

Remember, of course, that this is 1994, not 1894. And who are the two most famous friends of 1994?

Not Holmes and Watson. Try Beavis and Butthead.

Makes you sort of sad, doesn't it? In 1894, the dynamic duo of popular culture was a pair of paragons, Holmes and Watson.  In 1994,  the two household names are the lowest common  denominator,  the  MTV  cartoon  losers  Beavis  and Butthead. Holmes was an intellectual marvel.  Butthead can barely read (for some reason I tend to think of Butthead as the smart one, but who can be sure?). Is this how far we've fallen?

Not yet, but it could be coming. In 1894, Sherlock Holmes was symbolic of the hopes of the century to come. Science and technology were just beginning to demonstrate what wonders they were capable  of,  and  Holmes's  brand  of  scientific detective work played upon that promise. Good things were ahead, if we just used our heads like Holmes did.

Now, in 1994, our symbols are two unemployable teenage morons whose lives revolve around the television set. Only this time, they aren't our hopes for the century ahead, but our dreads. Worries of overpopulation and under-education, and the possibility of a whole generation or two of worthless headbangers haunt us more than we'd like to admit.  Yeah, they're funny, but so were the Nazis on Hogan's Heroes.

Before the bleak despair that this  column  is  diving toward causes you to run for the comforts of 1894, consider this: Holmes and Watson yet live. They came back from their 1893 demise, as strong as ever. Their example still shines, untarnished by time. Their followers remain. The hope they gave for the century beyond 1894  is  still  good  for the century beyond 1994, and the one beyond 2094. What was good in man then is still good today. The reverse is true as well. Beavis  and Butthead  may  have  not  been  allowed  to  join Holmes's Baker Street Irregulars, but their predecessors were around in the London of 1894, count on it.

Holmes and Watson survived extermination in 1893. Will Beavis and Butthead make it back from their Reichenbach Falls when such occurs?

Probably so. Crap has a way of floating to the top. But we're not Buttheadians, are we? We're Sherlockians, and as long as we remember why we became Sherlockians in the first place, the higher aspirations live on.