BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012.
1 of 1- SherlocklivesinOH
- Mycroft's Contact
Offline - Registered: January 12, 2014
- Posts: 526
What is it about Sherlock Holmes?
Both as originally conceived in canon and here, that makes people like John Watson, and other fans, in and out of universe get so...into him?
In Victorian England, his disregard for social convention and tendency to snark at authority figures were genuine novelties, but don't we see a lot of that today? Certainly there are a lot of characters in crime shows who have dysfunctional relationships, are loners,are traumatized, are arrogant, break the rules, (or are those characters that way because they're taking off on Holmes...such as House?) And we always hear that arrogance and bad social skills are common among real-life young people.
And I feel his meanness is racheted up from canon. There are insults to those around him in canon, but he doesn't seem to be constantly mouthing off and putting people down the way he does in this series.
The tube scene in TEH is the best concerete example I can think of: the original Holmes insulted Watson's deductive and writing skills, but he would NEVER have led Watson into danger and laughed about it. He could genuinely freak out over the thought of any harm to his Watson.
And although he played dead for a couple of years, he claims it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, that he went to the Falls expecting to die. He didn't have a whole gambit that he concealed from John.
Or maybe I'm feeling that he's meaner because this John minds it more than the original did?
And I while understand that Moffit and Gattis wanted to give Sherlock villains who could genuinely challenge him, it seems like he has many encounters with people who approach being as smart as he is, so his brilliance does seem to stand out as much?
It seems like Mycroft directs a lot of what he does, making Mycroft the main genius, in a way.
Are Sherlock's methods still "cutting edge?"
Didn't John refer to him once as a "charasmatic madman?"
What is it that makes THIS Sherlock "the best and wisest man [ John has] ever known" (and that he still feels that way after almost being killed AGAIN.) "Life with you is more exciting" isn't the same thing.
But it really says something when the character from the 1800s is adapted in every era.
Last edited by SherlocklivesinOH (January 26, 2014 4:19 am)
- saturnR
- Mycroft's Contact
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- From: sydney
- Registered: September 3, 2012
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Re: What is it about Sherlock Holmes?
The best parallel example I can think of that features a character that likes the Sherlockian type is House MD where Dr House says on a date with Dr Cameron:
"You live under the delusion that you can fix anything that's broken. That's why you married a man who was dying of cancer. I'm twice your age & I'm not even nice. What I am, is what you need. I'm damaged."
Of course Cameron's relationship with House is closer to Molly's but the reason he gave for her wanting to date him was spot on. That is very close to the reason why Dr John Watson seems to be attracted to "psychopaths" (according to Sherlock & Mary) 
- SherlocklivesinOH
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Re: What is it about Sherlock Holmes?
saturnR wrote:
The best parallel example I can think of that features a character that likes the Sherlockian type is House MD where Dr House says on a date with Dr Cameron:
"You live under the delusion that you can fix anything that's broken. That's why you married a man who was dying of cancer. I'm twice your age & I'm not even nice. What I am, is what you need. I'm damaged."
Of course Cameron's relationship with House is closer to Molly's but the reason he gave for her wanting to date him was spot on. That is very close to the reason why Dr John Watson seems to be attracted to "psychopaths" (according to Sherlock & Mary)
House was actually BASED on Holmes. Hence the name. Do you remember how that series ended?
But I was asking about Holmes' attraction for people both in-universe and out.
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Thread Starter- belis
- Mycroft's Contact
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- From: Manchester
- Registered: January 13, 2014
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Re: What is it about Sherlock Holmes?
I think part of it may be that he does outregous things and breaks social conventions. We wouldn't do it ourselves but it's fun to watch others do it. Again there is a parallel here with House MD. Doctors like to watch it becouse he constantly behaves in a way that would get you stoke off. From time to time we all want to do things like that but need to supress the urge to hold on to the license to practice. It's a bit of a catharsis to watch someone act out on screen like that.
- Willow
- Consulting Criminal
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- Registered: January 14, 2014
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Re: What is it about Sherlock Holmes?
I think part of it may be that he does outregous things and breaks social conventions. We wouldn't do it ourselves but it's fun to watch others do it. Again there is a parallel here with House MD. Doctors like to watch it becouse he constantly behaves in a way that would get you stoke off. From time to time we all want to do things like that but need to supress the urge to hold on to the license to practice. It's a bit of a catharsis to watch someone act out on screen like that.
Though the guilty pleasure of enjoying him doing things which would get him struck off is assuaged by the fact that he usually does manage to pull his patients from under the wheels of the proverbial ten ton truck; almost a perfect bundle 
I think that is at the heart of why we love this particular Sherlock; he does things which are outrageous but when push comes to shove he is the guy we want on our team. Lady Smallwood would be apprehensive of how he would behave at a formal dinner party, but when she needs the one person who will take on someone with immense power she turns, quite naturally, to him. Anyone conventional would have better conventional sense than to go up against CAM.
There is also the point that this is a young Sherlock; he's changing as he grows older. Visiting a royal residence draped in a sheet probably would not amuse him when he's 50; part of the fun is watching him grow up.
I really do hope that the tv programme Sherlock could do something similar to Inspector Montalbano, which also has feature length episodes and very short seasons; I'd love to watch them in ten years time. I'm sure that thought has crossed the collective minds of Mofftiss 
- Davina
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- From: The Only Way is Essex UK
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Re: What is it about Sherlock Holmes?
Loving the mention of Comissario Montalbano. I am a big fan.
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Don't make people into heroes John. Heroes don't exist and if they did I wouldn't be one of them.
- silverblaze
- Official Blogger
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- Registered: December 4, 2013
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Re: What is it about Sherlock Holmes?
The hints of vulnerabilty that Benedict puts in do also help.
- GemsWatson
- Wrong!
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- Registered: January 26, 2014
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Re: What is it about Sherlock Holmes?
Someone told my friend to tell me to post my video on how my friend is sherlock! So here it is. My friend is 100% Sherlock!
