BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Sherlock: The Loner Genius Myth

**Posted by Vhanja** February 15, 2019 10:30 pm

Hi guys! Haven't been here in a while. *waves*

I came across a video that I liked so much that I wanted to share it here. It's an analysis of BBC Sherlock and how it steps away from the "loner genius myth". Some really interesting and good observations here (although probably not much new for us Sherlockians).

**Posted by Liberty** February 16, 2019 8:25 am

Nice to see you, Vhanja! Thank you for posting the video. I think Moftiss were partly led in that direction by the source material, as Sherlock always did have a "best friend"! But yes, they did expand on it, and show Sherlock functioning better when he connects with people (and other interpretations don't tend to focus on this aspect). Of course some of the portrayals were of real people, and I wasn't sure if the video was saying that the representations were skewed to make them appear more "loners" than they actually are/were?

**Posted by Vhanja** February 16, 2019 6:37 pm

Yes, I understood it like that as well. In reality, there are few loner geniuses who work out breakthroughs in science. It's a team effort, even though it's often portrayed as one single person - to support the myth.

Last edited by Vhanja (February 16, 2019 6:38 pm)

**Posted by Yitzock** February 17, 2019 3:52 pm

Just watched it. Kind of confirms what I thought already, but provides the details to the explanation that I don't always think of in precise terms.
At first I was surprised that they included The Theory of Everything as a film portrayal of the type they describe in the video, because I was thinking he was absolutely not emotionally detached. But then they showed him with his wife at the end as acknowledgment of emotions, so maybe the point was that on the surface it looks like that type but that story turns out not to be when you watch it all the way through.

**Posted by Liberty** February 17, 2019 5:38 pm

I just thought just now of Amadeus, in which Mozart is shown as the opposite of the loner genius. I'll see if I can think of some more, but it looks like Moftiss aren't the only ones to make their genius atypical. It also occurred to me that some of the portrayals of geniuses they have conditions which might affect them socially, like schizophrenia (A Beautiful Mind), bipolar disorder (Van Gogh) or autism (Rain Man). The last two are particularly prevelant - I think there are quite a few real life geniuses who have or have been suspected to have these conditions. Not that makes them loners, at all! But I just wonder if some them are seen as socially a bit different and that is somehow linked to the loner genius myth. (As well as just the fact that it's a romantic idea, of course!).

**Posted by Yitzock** February 20, 2019 2:57 pm

I haven't seen Amadeus in so long, but you might be right about that one. Perhaps another more contemporary example is Freddie Mercury and his portrayal in Bohemian Rhapsody? He tried going solo but was best with the rest of the band.

As my as there are misconception of people with mental disorders (if that's the correct term), sometimes they can be included in portrayals or romanticized. It shows that they are different in a way that's a bit more obvious to us, along with intelligence that is not always as easy to see. Or maybe it's just another excuse to single them out. Not necessarily a negative thing, thou, as showing that people like that can be intelligent and contribute to society could help fight against people's prejudices.

Now I am thinking about Dr. Shaun Murphy on The Good Doctor, who is very intelligent and also a part of a surgical team.