love-in-mind-palace:

shylockgnomes:

junejuly15:

a-candle-for-sherlock:

I’ve noticed a contrast between people who still like Sherlock, and people who think it’s changed in a bad way. I think the ones who are disappointed have been surprised, because they assumed Sherlock would follow the all-too-common arc of shows that let the (white) (male) lead be cruel and petty and dismissive, and people find it funny because he’s the hero! He’s soft at heart! He’s a genius, that’s why he’s so mean–no one understands him! That does happen a lot. And if that’s what the show was doing, it’d be awful.

But I believe Sherlock is actually meant to be a show slowly subverting that awful trope of the genius white guy who gets away with everything. Greg Lestrade lays out the show’s character arc in the very first episode: “Sherlock Holmes is a great man. And one day, if we’re very lucky, he’ll be a good one.” BBC Sherlock is the story of how Sherlock becomes a good man.

That’s why in this iteration of Sherlock, John Watson isn’t a sidekick, not just a biographer; he’s the one who keeps Sherlock right. Who teaches him to change his focus from solving the crime to saving the life. Who repeatedly reminds him to think about the effect his words have; who teaches him kindness and respect and self-sacrifice. Slowly, Sherlock changes, from the man who took to heart Mycroft’s idea that love is a dangerous disadvantage, to the man in Season Three who holds the hands of a heartbroken client and shouts at the man who took advantage of her; who (according to John’s blog) takes a case just to get a woman out of a loveless, abusive marriage so she can be with her true love; who cries on the stag night when a client talks about lost love. Who gives his life for love of John. He’s learning to be softhearted; slowly. He’s not all there yet. This next season will change him again.

Some fans of Sherlock think the show’s lost it’s way. They’re the ones who came for the “pissy white dude” show. They loved his snarky, bitter, biting defensive act in Season One. They thought it was funny. By and large, they’re the ones who couldn’t stand Season Three, because he’s changing; we’re seeing him becoming kind, humble, patient, giving. That’s a part of his character that’s still growing, not fully developed, but slowly unfolding–mostly thanks to John.

We have yet to see what they’ll do with his character in Season Four, but they’ve promised to dig into the ghosts of his past, the things that have made him cold, and closed. They gave us a view of their end goal when they created The Abominable Bride, which textually is all about the ways in which Sherlock’s ignored, devalued and dismissed the feelings, contributions, capabilities of the extraordinary women who surround him, and John’s as well, sometimes; and subtextually is about his inability to show emotion, not to be vulnerable and tender; his claim that it’s a choice, a self-improvement and the reality that it’s a wound and a flaw that needs healing. This is a deep subversion of the hard-edged hero trope. This is turning it inside out and upside down; he becomes who he’s meant to be not by being above everyone, but by learning how much he needs them.

And that’s why I also believe that none of the romantic set-up between Sherlock and John was meant as a joke. What they’re writing is, again, a subversion of queerbaiting, no-homo bromance shows. Any moment that the audience could take as a joke (John’s jealousy of Irene and Janine, Sherlock’s jealousy of Mary and Sholto; John being confronted with his feelings at Battersea, Sherlock being faced with his on the dance floor at the wedding) isn’t funny to the characters. A good look at their faces shows it’s perfectly serious to them–and heartbreaking. And as the “jokes” get more and more serious and the relationship between John and Sherlock becomes more deep, more tender, more romantic and self-sacrificing, the casual audience becomes more and more uncomfortable because it isn’t funny any more. Some of them start to fall in love with John and Sherlock’s love; start to see it. Others leave the reviews we’ve all read about how “this isn’t like Sherlock”–“Why does it look like they’re about to kiss?”

Because they are. Gatiss and Andrew Scott are gay; Benedict’s portrayed gay characters multiple times with sensitivity and depth. Martin’s played a gay man before and kissed men onscreen. Moffat’s written two detective couples before, one explicitly a Holmes/Watson pair, who are queer and in love. They wouldn’t bait an audience. They wouldn’t make love between their leads a joke; they’d make it a mystery, a revelation, a tale within the tale. They promised terror and romance and adventure this coming season. “The story of two men and their frankly ridiculous adventures” is what the audience came for, but the bigger story Sherlock promised at the wedding is approaching its climax now.

That’s an excellent comment and one I fully subscribe to. I’ve been in this fandom since series one aired in Germany and I admire and love Sherlock’s character development and the love between him and John. That this is more than platonic, that this is in fact a wonderful lovestory was clear to me from the beginning. I can’t wait to see what will happen in S4 - not long now, not long …

Originally posted by artemisfowls

Yes all of this! Thank you!

yes