The ongoing investigation of Sherlock Holmes, reported from the Peoria, Illinois outpost of Baker Street's dirtiest half a dozen.
Friday, February 7, 2014
Sex and the single Sherlock.
Sherlock Holmes certainly has come a long way with women in the past two years.
As he was created, many have seen him as asexual or at least a misogynist. There's the "never to be trusted" line, the "I have never loved" line, etc., etc. He warms to them somewhat toward the end of the original Canon, yet never has a real relationship.
In the prior season of Sherlock, he was referred to, without argument, as "the virgin." This season, he seems to have developed some small skills with the fair sex which he uses in his sham relationship with Janine. (Do we believe the headlines from the stories Janine fed the tabloids? They seem questionable at best.) We are left to theorize if he learned said skills from Irene Adler during the hiatus . . . and theorizing has alway been what we're left to on Sherlock Holmes's sex life.
Except in the case of Elementary . . .
"I view sex as an exercise, as do the women I entertain," Mr. Elementary announced this week, after Joan Watson handed his latest overnight guest her morning to-go cup of coffee.
"Yesterday was the archeologist, and last week was the school teacher and the magician," Watson reported, and from all the comments in the first two minutes of the show we learn that Mr. E has bedded five new women since last we saw him, and he adds one more by the time the show is over.
If Elementary was truly a show about addiction, this might be an issue to be dealt with. If Elementary was truly a show about bringing women forward, as their female Watson has always purported to do, Mr. Elementary wouldn't treat them like disposable, interchangeable objects (despite the constant claim that they're all happy with their one-nighters).
But what we are left with is a weird situation where Mr. Elementary (or his writers) seems to love rubbing Joan's face in his constant meaningless liasons while allowing her no ongoing relationship of her own. In a way, she's almost being treated worse than the one-night stands, forced to take the role of the virgin who waits for the moment she and Mr. E finally realize their love for each other. (Yes, she notably slept with his brother, but one could consider that a surrogate for the eventual real thing.)
I once wrote that Elementary hates Sherlock Holmes, but lately I wonder if it hates women worse. Even when Conan Doyle created Holmes as a misogynist, the detective had a very kindly streak in him toward the ladies, and his creator much more so. Sherlock has been giving us strong, fleshed-out female characters from the get-go (even if you don't like Sally Donovan, she's no patsy).
It's seems inevitable that our modern Sherlocks must be sexual Sherlocks. We live in a more open time that Conan Doyle did when he created the sleuth. But sex tends to involve partners, and I'd hope that our modern Sherlocks tend toward partners who are worth their . . . and our . . . time. Otherwise, we might as well go to Starbucks to watch people get their coffee to go.
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And again - thank you for that! The constant claim that Elementary is somehow a forerunner for gender equality has irritated me from the moment when ex-trauma-surgeon Joan Watson turned around at a crime scene as if she had never seen the result of violence before. Because, you know, she is a woman!
ReplyDeleteConsidering that Janine said "Just once would have been nice." and Sherlock said "I was waiting for when we got married" I guess we are still free to believe him a virgin. Or whatever else we want. At least CAM was sure that his sexual preferences are "normal" whatever that means.....
That was addressed in the show, with Miller at one point saying almost the similar and Liu replying that it is not the same thing. However, since the pilot, which had the scene you referenced, she has become as hardened as other investigators to the violence scenes around her. By the way, "Because, you know, she is a woman!" is your interpretation.
Delete"I was taking advantage of our connection" "When....once would have been nice" puzzled look "oh I was waiting until we got married" "that was never going to happen" I read that as Sherlock remaining intact. Regards Mary
ReplyDeleteHolmes was not a misogynist. I wrote a piece for ASH called, "The Case of the Missing Misogynist." I can send it on if you like.
ReplyDeleteDid it appear in the Muse? My memory fails me. Send it along!
DeleteHe was during the first two stories...then Irene Adler came along and convinced him otherwise. Watson even says that after that he had a better opinion of woman - but since this is the third story, there isn't much of his original low opinion in canon.
DeleteBrad, it was originally presented as a toast to Sherlock Holmes at an ASH meeting, and I believe it was included in the Serpentine Muse following. This would have been in the latter part of 2012. I can email you the text if you can't find it in the Muse.
DeleteThanks, Jacquelynn! That's worth a blog post of its own. Coming soon.
DeleteBrad, you may recall Susan Rice's excellent 1999 article on Holmes' non-misogyny, "Entirely To Be Trusted." You can read it in volume 15, number 4 of the Serpentine Muse, if you have it -- if not, it's in Volume One of the Muse Anthology, "Serpentine Muse-ings" (page 19).
ReplyDelete...and if you don't have either one of those, message/email me and I'll do what I can to bring a fellow ASH back in touch with what we've been saying in all those articles all these years. ;o)
ReplyDeleteI've got both in stock for refreshers, Marilynne -- no worries there! Unfortunately, my mind palace is more of the old brain-attic variety, and doesn't directly access the lumber room of my library during my day-to-day musings. (It's all the way up two flights of stairs!)
DeleteGood observations! I've not watched enough of Elementary to have picked up on Holmes' misogyny. Though I don't think one night stands indicate that sentiment (remember "Sex in the City"?), but Holmes' detachment from them as people DOES. And I agree with the treatment of Watson as rather cruel.
ReplyDeleteAs for the BBC's Sherlock, he could be construed as misogynistic (even if he is asexual, which I doubt), mainly because of his treatment of certain women as "useful" (Molly, Janine), but he's much better now. Then, there is his devotion to Mrs Hudson, affection for his own Mum and admiration for Irene. To his credit, he is so bent on liking Mary that he blinds himself to the deduction that she is a killer!
If anything, I think Sherlock's apparent disregard for women is more likely his social awkwardness; after all, he doesn't treat most men any better. As for his supposed asexuality, I agree that this is a leftover, a typical Moffat trick from canon, to throw us off track. Of course Sherlock has had sex--probably not like most people's, but still...
Though we can't say anything definite, Benedict Cumberbatch HAS. In an interview with Elle Magazine UK, he was asked how Sherlock would deal with sex, and replied with a very detailed scenario of Sherlock studying up on ways to please a woman (or man--it wasn't made clear), testing latex (!) and treating his partner to an "explosive"...um...experience. He also states flatly (though he may be joking?) that Sherlock and Irene definitely had sex after he rescued her from the terrorists.
Then, there is all the flurry about his would be or actual love affair with John Watson...Either way, I can't think of another character in film or TV whose sex life is such an integral part of viewers' opinions and fantasies!
You say it is evident that Sherlock needs to be sexual. Why? Aren't there enough sexual characters in the world?
ReplyDeleteAsexuality exists, scientists assume at least 1 percent of the world's population are asexual. That doesn't mean they can't have sex or that their body doesn't "work", research actually indicates asexual people get aroused by stimuli as much as sexual people, it just means they don't feel sexual attraction/think of people in a sexual way or are in any way interested in sex.
Sherlock Holmes is, and has always been, asexual. It doesn't mean he can't get aroused or have sex, it just means he feels no sexual attraction. In this show, he says he sees sex purely as an exercise and is even quite repulsed by it. For "sexual" people they're always looking for that element, but Sherlock doesn't have it. He can be attracted to people and probably fall in love (although not BBC Sherlock who seems to be aromantic aswell), but not be sexually attracted or interested in sleeping with them. Not in the books, not in any of the shows. Movie Sherlock is the closest you come to a sexual Sherlock. Personally, I find it best to keep it that way. The world is so full of sex, it's refreshing with a show without this focus.
It's one of the things I like about Sherlock Holmes, he gives asexuality representation and his lack of caring for sex means he can spend his time doing other stuff - such as focusing solely on solving crime. I never pegged him as a misogynist (if anything, he's equally rude to everyone) but I always pegged him as asexual and I think that is great.