Psychotic Fans

Didn't we kind of have a female Holmes/male Watson in Bones and Booth on Bones?

I mean, I have reservations about Elementary myself: The trailer looks rather generic CBS procedural, they'll have to differientiate themselves from all the Mentalists, Bones, Houses, Monks etc. Then all this "Let's make Watson a WOC and at the same time strip her of the professional credentials the character had in ACD canon!" business. I watch Sherlock mostly because I love that he's so cold and terrifying, so I'm not sure that JLM's seemingly "softer" version will be for me...

But the problem is: The vitriol against the series is so over the top even though it hasn't even aired yet. And that in turn provokes a bit of a defensive reaction against any kind of reservations in some corners. So there's really not much of a place to have normal discussions about either of the new adaptations. It's all very frustrating.

ETA: Yeah, Sherlock as a series is not exactly free from racism and sexism and the gay jokes verge on homophobia (or have already crossed that line?). So it's not like that show is all that progressive. You could argue that casting Lucy Liu already puts CBS ahead on that front. And there can be quite a bit of fetishism when fandom starts slashing two white men (notice how it's two white men most of the time?). So that argument really doesn't hold any water and then it gets ugly undertones because the ire is directed towards the woman of colour, seldom is it about JLM or that they could have gone ahead and made Sherlock female as well or something like that. It's really a lot of focused attacks on Liu.

Everything I've seen is people whining that a female Watson is heteronormative, even though Holmes and Watson aren't a gay couple, and also practically every show on tv is about two dudes.

Luthien wrote:
It's so hard to find a corner of the internet these days where people will accept that there has ever been any other version of Sherlock Holmes in the history of man. It's making me dislike Benedict whatshisname and he doesn't deserve it, I'm sure. This obsession is making me dread the furor that will erupt from his fans when the new Star Trek movie comes out. I think I'd be more interested in the CBS series if they'd made both characters female. I'd like to see a female Holmes.

Paddy Joe, from what I've seen in interviews, has been pretty tactful about the whole thing by saying that JLM is a friend of his and there's plenty of room for adaptations. So he earns more points from me.

Really, I want to backhand Moffatt for saying stuff like this show is going to ruin the brand. As if Doyle rose up from the grave and named him as arbiter of all things Holmes.

Elementary looks like it's gonna be another CBS procedural and in my head Psych is the American version of Sherlock Holmes. But given Lucy Liu and the hate from the rabid nutjobs, I hope it succeeds out of spite.

Basil of Baker Street might be my favourite portrayal of Holmes. Yes, even against Brett

Heresy.

One of the reasons (to me) that the Brett portrayal was successful was not solely due to the Holmes, but to the Watson. He's supposed to be almost as great a mind as Holmes, at least smart enough in his own right so Holmes felt like he was dealing with a near-equal. Everyone else is an idiot. (The storied exceptions being Mycroft, Moriority and The Woman.) Showing off to a dimbulb like Nigel Bruce's Watson is just cruel, he can't appreciate the genius. Downey, Jr. and Law managed to show that dynamic quite well, but I don't think Cummerbatch/Freeman (good as Freeman is) do. Makes me wonder what Cummerbatch's Holmes gets out of the relationship with Watson (assuming it isn't sex, which would be lazy) - How is Watson any more worthy than the clearly sharp LeStrade? (Assuming sex with Rupert Graves = not lazy. Never mind.)

Re Bones: Close, and I thought they had done quite a clever thing by (at one point) having the characters be challenged on the UST, only to learn they'd been aware of it and dealt with it like grownups. Immediately and off-screen. (Later developments notwithstanding.)

Everything I've seen is people whining that a female Watson is heteronormative, even though Holmes and Watson aren't a gay couple, and also practically every show on tv is about two dudes.

Yep. And while on some level I do get complaints about making things more "heteronormative," it's a complaint that would carry more weight with me if it were coming in a less sexist, racist manner from actual gay people. Most of the fans in this case just seem like straight girls who are fetish-sizing gay men and their relationships.

Also, yeah: they're not gay anyway.

Also, I like Cumberbund and Martin Freeman fine but I don't think Sherlock is even very good in the first place ::ducks::

See, I think Sherlock is a great, if clearly flawed, show. But I think what makes it unique is something that large parts of fandom miss or dismiss: It's a dystopian world. London looks cool and hard, most of the characters have rather sketchy morals (and that's just the good guys!), there's a sense of paranoia and cruelty. Sure, there are light moments, but it's not a very uplifting look at the world in general IMO. Looking at some of the fan reactions, though, you would think that it's a show about a poor misunderstood woobie who is always right and his cuddly and always friendly sidekick and their magical true love. Cumberbatch's Sherlock is a holy terror, though, and Freeman plays Watson with an undercurrent of anger throughout and he starts series one and ends series two in total despair. Their relationship is great, but codependent and slightly twisted. Watson is an adrenaline junkie who "goes to war" with Sherlock and Sherlock has found the perfect mediator, enabler and deadly partner in John.

And so to me they don't even seem to be arguing about the actual show, but about some fannish construct that doesn't exist. And then they blame Elementary for not living up to their ideal. All the while forgetting that their beloved show doesn't cater to their interests either.

Then all this "Let's make Watson a WOC and at the same time strip her of the professional credentials the character had in ACD canon!" business

This is exactly my problem with it. If it was Joan Watson, screwed up war vet I'd like it and be intrested. But Joan Watson, disgraced civilian surgeon? They can fuck off.

Ooooo, like if Watson were something like Taraji P. Henson's character in Person of Interest? And Emma Thompson can be Sherlock! (Really, I just want Emma Thompson to be Sherlock. Please be Sherlock, Emma Thompson.)

What I always found funny is how fans make Sherlock into some woobie who is always hurt by the insults and slights that Mycroft, et. Al, dish out. He's not a woobie. He's a dick.

What I do miss with the BBC version is the warmth of Watson and Holmes' relationship -- I really do feel like Granada hit the right notes with how they were. Ritchie's Holmes kind of gets it, but there's that unrequited love aspect of it (and you can't deny it -- I think that with the second movie they really ratcheted the subtext up so high that it wasn't subtext, but text) that I never really felt from the stories.

I dunno if I'd want Emma Thompson as Holmes (no offense intended). Tasmin Grieg (of Black Books) has the right look in my mind. The other idea I saw that I liked was Taraji P. Henson as Holmes and John Cho as Watson.

Admittedly, I'm kind of with producer John Rogers who says that everyone casts Holmes and Watson a bit too old. I like the idea of them being in their early to mid 20s, but that's just me.

Cutebutpsycho wrote:What I always found funny is how fans make Sherlock into some woobie who is always hurt by the insults and slights that Mycroft, et. Al, dish out. He's not a woobie. He's a dick.

What I do miss with the BBC version is the warmth of Watson and Holmes' relationship -- I really do feel like Granada hit the right notes with how they were. Ritchie's Holmes kind of gets it, but there's that unrequited love aspect of it (and you can't deny it -- I think that with the second movie they really ratcheted the subtext up so high that it wasn't subtext, but text) that I never really felt from the stories.

I dunno if I'd want Emma Thompson as Holmes (no offense intended). Tasmin Grieg (of Black Books) has the right look in my mind. The other idea I saw that I liked was Taraji P. Henson as Holmes and John Cho as Watson.

Admittedly, I'm kind of with producer John Rogers who says that everyone casts Holmes and Watson a bit too old. I like the idea of them being in their early to mid 20s, but that's just me.

That actually makes more sense in the context of the original books, since Holmes is just starting out in his career as a consulting detective when he and Watson first let rooms together.

And Emma Thompson can be Sherlock!

I've been giving this all the serious consideration it deserves. Depends on other factors. If you give us Diana Rigg as Mycroft, I'm in.

Even speaking as a Sherlock fan, I have to say the meltdown on twitter and tumblr this evening over Benedict Cumberbatch not winning a BAFTA has been pretty amusing. It's like the end of the world to them! I wonder if the Sherlock fandom is inheriting the crazy fandom mantle from Supernatural.

I think there's some hardcore competition for it. I've also seen some fangirls going "HE IS DEAD TO ME" regarding Cumberbatch's defense of Moffatt "He's not a mysogynist to his wife" (not exact quote. Tumblr is unhelpful in citations).

I'm getting sick and tired of this. By 2013 someone's going to be married to Sherlock on the astral plane.

Because I'm looking for an excuse not to go to bed, I decided to go look for the Twitter BAFTA meltdown. Oh boy. A small sample of what's out there:

"If Dominic West wins. I will hunt him down. And. Slap. Him."

"Benedict, I mean, how the fuck did he not win. Sobbing, and planning a lot of murders."

"I knew that humans were not perfect, but this...? This is not being humans at all."

I don't even know who Mr. West is, and I feel sorry for him. How dare he win an award he has no control over, just for doing his job to the best of his ability!

What alarms me most of all is that a lot of the people tweeting this stuff have handles like "lokibatch" "hiddlesbatch" etc. Oh Lord, they're cross-pollinating!

I don't know this new role, but Dominic West was McNulty from the most amazing (in my opinion) TV show in the history of creation, The Wire. Anything he wins is OK by me.

It isn't like Benedict Cumberbatch doesn't have decades of good work left in him. Why does it have to be this show?

BECAUSE HE DESERVES ALL THE AWARDS FOR BEING SUCH AN AMAZING ACTOR. AND DID YOU KNOW HOW NICE HE IS? AND HOW MUCH EVERYONE LOVES HIM? AND HOW FANTASTIC HIS MUSIC TASTE IS? DID YOU KNOW HE WANTS BABIES AND IS SAD HE DIDN'T HAVE BABIES BY THE AGE OF 32? HIS SHERLOCK IS THE GREATEST SHERLOCK IN THE WORLD AND NO ONE WILL EVER SAY OTHERWISE. DID YOU ALSO KNOW HE FILLS OUT A PURPLE SHIRT VERY NICELY?

Wow. I had more bile stored up against some of the nuttier factions of fandom than I thought.

It's a fucking award. Not a heart transplant.

I always want to tell them: You don't know these people! They aren't your friends! Cumberbatch is a successful actor, he'll be fine without this one award! No really. But that's always the problem with stans like that, isn't it? They are more invested in the actor's life and career than the actor himself. Scary. Same thing the other way round as well IMO. Just because someone's said something in an interview you didn't like, made a professional decision you disagree with, etc. doesn't make it a personal betrayal of all your values. You don't know these people, you can't look into their hearts, they're not your friends, they don't owe you anything. They're just in a show/movie/play you like. That's all.

Also, awards are only worth as much value as you put into them. By buying into the system, you actually make it worse for yourself if your chosen pick loses. It's best to tell yourself the award is meaningless, then only put value in the ones your pick wins.

I will admit I was a bit disappointed that Paddy Joe didn't win the BAFTA award because I liked his portrayal of Sherlock, etc, etc. But I had a big feeling that Dominic West would win for his role as Fred West. I saw some of Appropriate Adult and he was excellent in it, disturbing as it was to watch an re-enactment of Fred West being questioned about murdering those girls. *shudder*

But if I were to go psychotic over anything, it would be Sherlock losing the public vote BAFTA to Celebrity Juice, especially as it lost to The Only Way is Essex reality show the last time! Honestly, BAFTA people, nominate it in the Best Drama category and let's have an end to these shenanigans!!*

*Please note, I have not threatened anyone nor have I actually gone psychotic. I save that for when they're voting on the Eurovision but even then, I'm not as bad as I used to be. That's growth, that is.

Being disappointed is fine especially when the show is up against something called celebrity juice. I totally get disappointed when the stuff I'm rooting for doesn't win. But you also never said you'd find Dominic West and slap him.

I tend to avoid slapping people because I don't want to be slapped back and I don't run that fast so they'd be able to catch me only too easily. Damn my lack of running stamina! I could have been like Zorro or something, slapping my way to BAFTA victory!

See, my psychotic-ness tends to come out in other ways...

I avoided the Tumblr drama as I only look at the Paddy Joe tag when I want to amuse myself with the craziness. But on other tags and particularly on Twitter I saw a lot of "THOSE BAFTA PEOPLE WILL FEEL MY FANGIRL WRATH IF HOTTIE HOTTERSON DOESN'T WIN! I WANT TO SCARE HIM WITH MY OVERWROUGHT SEXUAL DESIRE FOR A CELEBRITY AND THEREFORE HE NEEDS TO WIN!". I want to tell people to chill the fuck out.

And the Sherlock fandom apparently is the gift that keeps on giving. Someone asked Louise Brealey (Molly) for her opinion regarding Lucy Liu as Watson in Elementary. She said it was "gimmicky."

Cue firestorm. People calling her a fauxfeminist for not supporting Lucy Liu and heaping abuse on her via Twitter. Tumblr has some interesting names and gifs.

I happen to disagree with her, but I see where she's coming from -- I mean, it is a gimmick casting (but really, wasn't modernizing Sherlock Holmes the same thing?) -- and how protective she feels given the timing.

Maybe this is why I'm more fond of the Ritchie movies. They seem like they don't give a fuck as to what's going on. They're just out to have a good time. And it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth about people on the whole.