As I read all the assignments for this week I couldn’t help but think of one thing, “Sleepy Hollow. ” Oh I know — your thinking, what? Well, after Reading Marshall McLuhan’s article,“Understanding Media — Media is the Message” and his passage about “the electric light,” I couldn’t help but think of the new television show entitled, “Sleepy Hollow.” Now stay with me here, I promise it’s not too far-fetched. The story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” is not a new one. We all know the tale written by Washington Irving in 1820. The schoolmaster, Mr. Ichabod Crane, moves to Sleepy Hollow and his life is never the same. He is frightened out of his wits by the Headless Horseman on All Hallow’s Eve, so much so, that he’s never heard from again after that frightful night.
McLuhan speaks of an electric light. I assume it to be a light bulb. Henceforth I will call it a light bulb. MCluhan speaks of how the bulb by itself is a non-entity, it has no content but when used, for example, to show the way, lighten a stage, or illuminate a room, it gives meaning or a social effect for that particular use. Each use of the bulb is different but the bulb itself is always the same. So, I find myself watching this new show and finding some similarities to the light bulb and the character of Ichabod Crane as well as the Headless Horseman. The two main characters of “Sleepy Hollow,” by name remain the same in every telling of the story. Poor ol’ Ichabod is still being chased by the Headless Horseman. But the new version of Ichabod Crane and his story is very different from his predecessors.
Character: Ichabod Crane
From 1949 Disney Featurette
(Screenshot from Google Images)
Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane in the 1999 Tim Burton Movie, “Sleepy Hollow”
(Screenshot from Google Images)
He is no longer a school teacher but a soldier, and a hero at that, who fought in the Revolutionary War. He dies trying to save his country, or so we believe as the show unfolds in the plot of the pilot episode. You see, he’s married to a witch (Katrina, whose name is also the same as the original story), and she somehow preserves him for a few hundred years. He is finally awakened in the 21st century but along with him comes the Headless Horseman. No matter what century, the Horseman is there on Ichabod’s heels. The new Ichabod is no longer a coward but a force to be reckoned with and today the plot takes a new twist. During the war he was the one to decapitate the Horseman, which gives more reason for the Horseman to come and find him. It’s not just the Horseman that Ichabod has to worry about. He’s got to worry about a great war between good and evil that could end the world, and how to adjust to the 21st century, he’s doing it all while trying to stay alive. He’s not alone though, he’s got help this time around.
Character: Ichabod Crane played by Tom Mison on
the FOX TV Series “Sleepy Hollow” (2013)
(Screenshot from Google Images)
He arrives at the doorstep of a police detective, and not only is she female but she’s also African-American. The references to Crane’s 1700 mentality, the 21st century lingo and technology are interesting to say the least. In one scene he rails on the antiquated phone he is given. In the pilot episode he makes mention of the detective’s skin color and is in wonderment as he hears his own voice from a recorder as she interviews him. I wonder how Washington Irving would feel about the turn of events or fathom the changes in his little short story written so long ago. Would he turn over in his grave or have a light bulb moment as I did? The essence of Irving’s “Ichabod” is still the same in every version of the character, yet his story continues to change and evolve with each new message or telling. Technology has changed the plot line for Ichabod but he’s still Ichabod, so to speak. Here is where the media is the message stands out for me and why my “light bulb” moment includes a Headless Horseman and a little TV show called, “Sleepy Hollow.”
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