The 2009 Sherlock Holmes movie trailer provides a tease towards the ensuing action and mystery in the film. Analyzing the trailer into the elements of the pentad reveals that Sherlock Holmes is the most relevant agent. Solving a crime involving the mysterious ‘sorcerer’ Lord Blackwood serves as the act. The agency through which Holmes accomplishes his act involves violence and deducing information from clues. The scene occurs in a gritty historical version of London, England. Holmes’ purpose in acting is driven from the thrill of the chase and the stimulation of solving the mystery.
Of the 5 pentad elements, the actor –Sherlock Holmes- serves as the most controlling. His enigmatic personality, wit, and detective skills drive his actions, the manner in which he acts, the scenes and situations he puts himself in, and his curiosity for solving crimes. It is Holmes’ unique characteristics, and pop culture status as a character which set the trailer apart from other mystery action movies.
There is also argument, however, that agency drives the trailer. How Holmes performs his act –through thrilling violence, and clever deduction- controls the other elements. It breaks down to a matter of: is Holmes’ enigmatic personality controlling his agency, or is his agency what gives him an enigmatic personality?
Burke’s philosophy corresponding with agent is that of idealism -that the subject determines their surrounding, and that what you see depends upon the lens of the viewer. With agency Burke links pragmatism –that accomplishing the goal (solving the crime) is the ultimate goal, and how you perform the action determines everything else. When looking at it from these philosophies, agency pulls ahead as the determining element in the trailer. How Holmes’ solves crimes –the violence, wit, and deduction- is what the trailer tries to bring across as the most engaging reason to view the film. While some may view the film because of the character’s pop culture status, the trailer seeks to draw in those looking for a thrilling action movie –hence the focus on violence in the trailer. Therefore, agency is the determining element, because the rhetor is focusing on how Holmes solves the crime as determining the remaining elements and setting the movie apart.
Pop Studies and Rhetoric 