I agree, Harriet.
What speaks against it that on this forum alone there's such a variety of thoughts on Mary. Some like her, some don't, some liked her in the beginning but don't forgive the shooting incident, some of them are Johnlockers, some not....
We come in all shapes and sizes.

Vhanja, I don't want to discuss hermeneutics here. But, for example, you might as well say: "Everybody has their own taste." Probably true. But of not much use in a discussion. Actually, it's the end of discussion. Because everyone has to kind of agree - and that was that. Discussion over 

Last edited by Harriet (April 21, 2016 9:15 am)

No, I don't mean it like a fixed opinion, necessarily.More that our background, personality, experience and opinions will colour how we view something. And once we have made up our mind about something, we tend to interpret future things in a way that will match our already set opinion. 

If we don't like a tv-series, we might view it through a negative filter and be more critical about it than we would about a series we love, for instance. Same with both fictional chraracters and people in real life - if we really like somoene, we might tend to excuse/rationalize/understand them and be more tolerant with their flaws. And if we dislike someone or something, we will have less tolerance and paticence with their flaws. 

It's human nature, we all do it. 

Some links regarding similar issues:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

I just think it's a very interesting topic, although it's getting a bit OT in this thread. 

So, yeah, to get back on topic- I do think this helps explain at least partly why we why have such different opinions on Mary, and can interpret scenes with her so differently.

Well, of course the content of the series plays a part. No use with a filter if you don't have anything to view. ;)

But then I wonder why this is so strong with this character.
We all seem to agree that we like Sherlock and John and very much so, despite our filters.
So either the writers deliberately wanted it that way or they spectacularly failed to convince all fans that Mary is the best thing since sliced bread ( if I take into account what they say in interviews) and that it's the biggest love since Romeo and Juliet.

Sure, but it wouldn't have been impossible to sell this strong plot point (and it was strong, no doubt about that) in a way that everybody could sympathize with it. But the whole context makes it so hard.

I find this here quite telling:

"never forget, mary went ahead with lying to john after he’d been tossed in a  bonfire.  she went ahead with lying to john after CAM sent a threat on their wedding day.  she went ahead with lying to john rather than accepting help from the one person who could have helped her.  she risked john’s emotional breakdown and relapse by shooting john’s best friend.  john’s emotional and physical safety is less important than keeping her secrets."

http://abitnotgood.tumblr.com/post/142478689338/never-forget-mary-went-ahead-with-lying-to-john

oh, cross, mrshouse 

That's true, there might be more to come.
BUT
as I've said before, in the flashback at the beginning of TAB the whole shooting is completely left out. One might argue that maybe it wasn't important for the plot there. But in my opinion this is part of this character and they showed us Mary like nothing happened. Also in the plane scenes. Her nasty past is completely turned into nothing but honorable all of a sudden (working for Mycroft, being extremely skilled).

I feel we are in the middle of the story. I want to withold any judgement and strong opinions on Mary until the show (or the Mary arc) is over. 

If it ends up being ignored for the rest of the show, I won't necessarily like it, but I don't think it will be bother me too much. There is a lot of stuff that gets handwaved away in this show (Sherlock's physical and mental scars after Serbia - and only God knows what else in those two years - for instance). I call it tv reality. And tv reality is often different than real world reality, even in shows that aren't sci-fi or fantasy.

What bothers me the most, is the presense of Mary at all. Not because of who she is as a character, but because she's John's pregnant wife. No matter how she had been portrayed, I wouldn't have wanted her there.