Frith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
frith_in_thorns) wrote2010-09-16 09:55 pm
frith_in_thorns) wrote2010-09-16 09:55 pm
Entry tags:
on sherlock
I've just finished watching the BBC's Sherlock. And I have some thoughts, so I shall proceed to inflict them on you all.
Basically, I'm massively conflicted about this show. To start with, it is oh-so-very pretty, especially Sherlock himself. I usually identify far more with Watson but didn't in this incarnation, which surprised me, but I loved the snappy dialogue between the two and basically most of their interactions, although the 'ha ha we seem gay but WE AREN'T WE AREN'T WE AREN'T' got old very quickly.
Speaking of that... the bit about John's sister, rather than brother, was nice and I liked seeing Sherlock get put off his stride by something he hadn't anticipated. (Although just mentioning gay people and not showing them doesn't get all that many points in my book.) But then so much fail in the third episode - "he's gay because he's well-groomed and I could see the band of his underpants above his trousers" - that was just stupid, even though it did turn out to be Moriaty messing with Sherlock. I already knew, through stuff I picked up in various places, that Jimmy would be Moriaty, but I probably wouldn't have guessed otherwise. Didn't like him - someone said that he seemed to be doing a Graham Norton impression, and I'd say that's a good comparison. He was just irritating rather than intimidating, to my mind at least, which did rather spoil the suspense of the final scene. Wasn't sold at all on him being a criminal mastermind. I didn't specifically notice him being Irish (I have no ear for differentiating accents), but having been told that I agree with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
teh_elb on the probematic stuff behind him being an Irish bomber.
And about problematic stuff. Where the hell were the women? We had a couple of Evil Bitches (like Donovan), damels in distress (like Sarah), and ones who existed only to cater to the men (like Mrs Hudsen). All of them had only tiny moments on screen in which they were either dismissed or saved by the men. None of them had actuall recognisable characters beyond stereotype. I get that this was an adaption of a series of stories set in Victorian times, in which women weren't really expected to appear, but that's no excuse. They managed perfectly well with switching a watch for a mobile phone (Watson's apparent brother thing), but couldn't write in any good female characters? Couldn't, say, make Lestrade female? Seriously? Also everyone went on and on about how the 'woman in pink' had been having an affair, but so had at least one of the male victims in that episode, and one in the next episode, and no one really remarked on those - and when they did it was because it was relevant to the plot. Not just to reinforce how ~wicked the woman had been (and the unspoken 'she was asking to be murdered', which is pretty easy subtext to read).
And good God, the treatment of the Chinese characters in the second episode was pretty disturbing. Look at how ~exotic they are, with their funny clothes and funny mobs and funny circuses!! Ugh. I was also quite turned off by Watson's psychosomatic pain which apparently had been pretty severly affecting his life but obviously wasn't ~real so he should just get over it. And look, he did! Let's give another bit of amunition to people who think that if something's 'just in your head' you should be able to ~think yourself better!
So, yes, very conflicted - I have to say on balance that overall my opinion of this show is pretty negative. But I did really like Sherlock himself, and would love some really good h/c featuring him. And I'll probably be watching next season, if only to see how the cliffhanger pays off (I'm hoping for an explosion...). I just hope that the writers can get their act together and think a little more about what it is they're actually writing.
Basically, I'm massively conflicted about this show. To start with, it is oh-so-very pretty, especially Sherlock himself. I usually identify far more with Watson but didn't in this incarnation, which surprised me, but I loved the snappy dialogue between the two and basically most of their interactions, although the 'ha ha we seem gay but WE AREN'T WE AREN'T WE AREN'T' got old very quickly.
Speaking of that... the bit about John's sister, rather than brother, was nice and I liked seeing Sherlock get put off his stride by something he hadn't anticipated. (Although just mentioning gay people and not showing them doesn't get all that many points in my book.) But then so much fail in the third episode - "he's gay because he's well-groomed and I could see the band of his underpants above his trousers" - that was just stupid, even though it did turn out to be Moriaty messing with Sherlock. I already knew, through stuff I picked up in various places, that Jimmy would be Moriaty, but I probably wouldn't have guessed otherwise. Didn't like him - someone said that he seemed to be doing a Graham Norton impression, and I'd say that's a good comparison. He was just irritating rather than intimidating, to my mind at least, which did rather spoil the suspense of the final scene. Wasn't sold at all on him being a criminal mastermind. I didn't specifically notice him being Irish (I have no ear for differentiating accents), but having been told that I agree with
teh_elb on the probematic stuff behind him being an Irish bomber.And about problematic stuff. Where the hell were the women? We had a couple of Evil Bitches (like Donovan), damels in distress (like Sarah), and ones who existed only to cater to the men (like Mrs Hudsen). All of them had only tiny moments on screen in which they were either dismissed or saved by the men. None of them had actuall recognisable characters beyond stereotype. I get that this was an adaption of a series of stories set in Victorian times, in which women weren't really expected to appear, but that's no excuse. They managed perfectly well with switching a watch for a mobile phone (Watson's apparent brother thing), but couldn't write in any good female characters? Couldn't, say, make Lestrade female? Seriously? Also everyone went on and on about how the 'woman in pink' had been having an affair, but so had at least one of the male victims in that episode, and one in the next episode, and no one really remarked on those - and when they did it was because it was relevant to the plot. Not just to reinforce how ~wicked the woman had been (and the unspoken 'she was asking to be murdered', which is pretty easy subtext to read).
And good God, the treatment of the Chinese characters in the second episode was pretty disturbing. Look at how ~exotic they are, with their funny clothes and funny mobs and funny circuses!! Ugh. I was also quite turned off by Watson's psychosomatic pain which apparently had been pretty severly affecting his life but obviously wasn't ~real so he should just get over it. And look, he did! Let's give another bit of amunition to people who think that if something's 'just in your head' you should be able to ~think yourself better!
So, yes, very conflicted - I have to say on balance that overall my opinion of this show is pretty negative. But I did really like Sherlock himself, and would love some really good h/c featuring him. And I'll probably be watching next season, if only to see how the cliffhanger pays off (I'm hoping for an explosion...). I just hope that the writers can get their act together and think a little more about what it is they're actually writing.
no subject
I read the thing with Jim/Moriarty a little differently -- the show points out after the reveal that Sherlock's deductions are not always reasonable and that his preconceptions can lead him astray. It still made me really uncomfortable to watch, though, especially because of the LOL NO HOMO running joke.
The WE AREN'T GAY thing also felt super shoehorned-in; I can see how Mrs. Hudson might have mistaken them for boyfriends, soooort of, but everyone else? Straight dudes who are friends go out and do stuff together all the time without being questioned about their sexuality, so what's the deal with every person they meet immediately being all "so, you guys doin' it or what?"
tbh I was desperately hoping Molly would turn out to be Moriarty, partially because I hated how the crush was handled, because it would have been an equally good lesson in the fallibility of Sherlock's powers, and because then we could call her Mollyarty and I love ridiculous nicknames. (Also, I really hated how they portrayed Moriarty; he wasn't scary or intimidating in the slightest.)
And yeah, all the women were handled really poorly. I was really disappointed because for a bit in the Orientalism episode I thought they were leading up to Sarah doing something clever and getting them onto the right track, but that never happened, alas. I don't think Donovan will ever grow an actual personality besides meanie-face persecuting bitch, either.
no subject
Yes, I don't think that I would have reacted anywhere near as strongly to the Jim thing if there hadn't been three episodes of "OMG NO GAYZ HERE" previously. As it was I didn't think of it being about highlighting Sherlock's preconceptions until quite a while afterwards - I was trying to decide whether the writers were trying to say "gay people are out to TRAP straight people into relationships" or "people who present as gay are actually criminal masterminds" or "isn't it funny how Molly was so desperate for Sherlock that she ended up dating a gay man without realising it". (Obviously I know they weren't actually going for any of these, at least I hope not!)
I'd have thought it would be the reverse - two gay men on a date who weren't engaging in PDAs would likely be considered by most people to just be friends hanging out. I really don't know why the show kept labouring a joke that wasn't terribly funny in the first place.
I love "Mollyarty"! XD Maybe she is actually controlling Jim and getting him to speak for her, after drugging first to get him high...no?
I don't think Donovan will ever grow an actual personality besides meanie-face persecuting bitch
You forgot "slutty" in there. Ugh. :(
no subject
Maybe they're going to make a big reveal about either Sherlock or John really truly being gay (ha, no, no they're not) and this is all a lead-up to that. :/ one can hope.
Jim is actually Molly's cousin or close childhood friend or something and he's doing her a favor by pretending to be Moriarty; she's masterminding this whole thing to lure Sherlock into complacency. Now that he thinks he knows what Moriarty is all about, Molly can enact her true Cunning Plan. Even if Sherlock makes his way through the first layer of deception her true goals are still hidden. *adjusts tinhat*
You forgot "slutty" in there.
Oh yeah. Shameless hussy, sex is for men! Just, blargh.