#rdj Sherlock holmes

[matterofgayordeath]

Huzzah!!!!

[koalatysleep]

I wish the RDJ Sherlock Holmes / JL John Watson movies were still on Netflix so I can rewatch them whenever I want to!

The last time I rewatched them, I fangirled so hard my heart felt like it was gonna burst

There's so much delicious subtext between Holmes and Watson, and even the action sequences were character-building or plot-advancing.

The piece de resistance is of course the off-the-chart chemistry between RDJ's Holmes and JL's Watson.

And the movies very sophisticatedly shows us Holmes' and Watson's feelings for each other, instead of telling us outright. As they say, "Show, don't tell" - it's one of the hallmarks of great story telling.

There were so many delightfully romantically coded scenes like this one:

I love how much was conveyed about the characters & their relationship in just 1 scene:

- Holmes had eschewed the companionship of all other human beings by choice & secluded himself in his room for weeks on end to wallow over Watson's impending engagement, but an appearance from the one person he treasures above all others is enough to immediately draw Holmes out of his wallow/strop & get him re-engaged 100% with Watson

- Holmes literally crawls to Watson to sit at his feet! This visual analogy shows us that while most people mistakenly think that Holmes holds all the 'power' in their relationship coz he's the intellectual superior, Watson holds just as much sway coz just the thought of Watson's impending engagement has brought Holmes to his knees. (Plus Holmes sitting at Watson's feet hints at Watson being the Master of Holmes' heart, an analogy that is carried into the 2nd movie when Holmes plays his final chess match against Moriarty and Holmes sacrifices his 2nd most valuable piece (the Queen piece, which is an analogy for Holmes' own life) in order to save Watson, the King of Holmes' heart and the most valuable person in Holmes eyes. But this deserves another post of its own, back to movie 1! )

- even though Holmes is sitting at Watson's feet, due to the clever framing, we never get the sense that he is lesser than Watson, and this shows us that Holmes and Watson are equals in their partnership.

- when Watson sits on the chair after handing Holmes the papers, Holmes was propping his arm up on Watson's thigh to read the papers (this is slightly out of frame but one can deduce from the closeness of their positions). Love the casual physical intimacy here, which also establishes the deep bond and absolute trust between Holmes and Watson.

- both of them obviously looks sad thinking about their "last case together"

- Holmes coyly asks to be wooed out to dinner by Watson by playing up his ennui with the dramatic line "there is nothing out there in the entire world for me", then in the same breath, Holmes immediately overturns that with his responses to Watson sounding him out for a night out together. This is Holmes playfully & coyly letting Watson know that he feels neglected and wants Watson's attention ;) Love the witty repartee & dialogue between Holmes & Watson, and how flirtatiously RDJ played this!

- Watson knowing Holmes so well that he knows what Holmes is really asking for (a dinner date), and using that to manipulate Holmes into meeting Mary. Outsmarting Holmes gives Watson a thrill I'm sure ;)

- Watson leaves after revealing that he hasn't proposed to Mary yet coz he "hasn't found the right ring", but this hints at his underlying hesitation coz of Holmes' obvious disapproval. It's very telling that later on in the show, he gives Mary the ring that Holmes gave him - "the right ring" is Holmes' tacit acquiescence

Then we get the dinner with Mary scene which also has delicious subtext:

- while Holmes waits for Watson and Mary to arrive, we see Sherlock getting overwhelmed by the sheer data coming his way. Holmes doesn't usually lose control like this, he's usually able to take in the data without getting overwhelmed. This hints at Holmes' emotional state & anxiety about the meeting with Mary. We see him retreat into his mind to try to block out the overwhelm.

- Watson calling Holmes' name is what brings Holmes out of his overwhelmed state, and John can see immediately that Holmes is not feeling well & is visibly worried about Holmes. In fact, Watson's attention is almost solely on Holmes for the next few minutes - he's watching Holmes exclusively while Mary speaks. This little detail speaks volumes about the priority and place Holmes has in Watson's heart. The dialogue between Mary and Holmes cleverly highlights this -

Mary: "it can seem a little far fetched, making these grand assumptions out of such tiny details"

To which Holmes replies "That's not quite right isn't it. In fact, the little details are by far the most important".

Love the 4th wall dialogue here!

- Then Mary and Holmes engage in a thoroughly entertaining pissing contest under the guise of civil conversation to stake their claims on Watson & one up each other.

Holmes: "Take Watson"

Mary: "I intend to"

To one up this, Holmes proceeds to demonstrate the liberties he's allowed to take with Watson's person as he unsheaths Watson's sword to highlight John's strengths (🤣 not even gonna go into the obvious homoerotic subtext of the sword here), then reaches into John's pocket to pull out the boxing match stub to highlight that he knows John intimately well, gambling warts & all, and he still loves, wants & accepts John even though John's shortcomings have "cost us the rent a few times"

Mary then tries to regain the upper hand by asking Holmes to deduce her, hoping he'll make mistakes since she's a stranger, and it's interesting that she knows Watson hasn't told Holmes much about her, even though she's heard so much about Holmes from presumably Watson.

Holmes quite gallantly tries to dissuade her from this course together with John, but she insists, which Holmes pounces on as his get-out-of-jail-free card 🤣

Love this verbal sparring between Mary and Holmes, and how the subtextual clues of what the characters say and do subtly reveal what they're really communicating to each other ("John Watson is mine, back off!")

- We then find out that Watson was not Mary's first choice for a husband, just like Mary is not first in Watson's heart either. Her first fiance died, and she still loves her first fiance that it still hurts now, just like Watson still loves Holmes.

In any case, I digress. I love the RDJ Sherlock Holmes movies is what I'm saying, coz these are really top notch movies with fantastic acting choices from both RDJ and JL, as well as the supporting cast, great dialogue, spot-on characterisation for Holmes and Watson, and every scene serves to build character, plot, and reveal something about the characters' feelings, which they never need to explicitly talk about, because the subtextual clues like what we have in the scenes above speak loud & clear for anyone who knows how to look, like Holmes himself ;)

Really well done and thoroughly entertaining movies, my favourite films from Guy Ritchie!

If only I can still access the full movies! Would so love to do more in depth analysis like this!

[eastwestholmesisbest]

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson possess the greatest love story of all time. Because no matter what book you read or media you watch, you just know that they're soulmates.

It's in the way that they look at each other, the way Holmes wraps his fingers around Watson's wrist or leans in to whisper softly in his ear.

No matter how you choose to interpret their love, it is beautiful in every form.

[aeterna-auroral-avenger]

Comfort character tag

I was tagged by @marvel-and-dc-geek for this game and since that post was getting kinda long, I’m starting a new one.

Rules: List five comfort characters then tag five people

Alright, mine are a little all over the place, but whatever.

1. Scott Lang/Ant-Man

2. Simba

3. Sherlock Holmes

4. Niles Crane

5. Tigger

No pressure tags: @marvelstuff-iguess @azaraspirit @smolbendyhorn @oldmanwithashield @edelweiss-and-maple-trees

[fandomcentralsposts]

I still can't believe out of the whole 2 hours and 29 minutes of avengers: infinity war we didn't get a sherlock reference.

[kajaono]

What people probably think i will answer when they ask me about my favorite John Watson portrayal:

What I answer instead:

[milksugarjams]

Sherlock Holmes 3

(Part 1 of ?)

I need Sherlock Holmes 3 to open with a setup of Watson seeing Holmes in increasingly ridiculous disguises everywhere he goes in town and thinking "I've finally snapped, I'm losing it. this is it. Mary your husband is insane."

Then when he figures out it actually is Holmes, he immediately throws hands. They start it, but Mary finishes it. She gets over the initial shock quickly because they're making a scene, and by heaven, she's not gonna stand for that. She basically drags them home by the ears, kids in tow, and sits everyone down at the breakfast table like nothing ever happened, but like

Watson is glaring. he has a black eye. Holmes is eating nonchalantly with a split lip and a ripped shirt like "can you pass the jam" and the kids just. hand it to him. Mary pours tea. the kids look at Watson. he doesn't move. is he catatonic? Mary butters the kids' toast, asks them how school was yesterday, did the teache--

"YOU ALWAYS DO THIS TO ME--"

"John, please don't raise your voice in front of the children."

"An excellent rule, madam. If I may add--"

"You were DEAD, I SAW IT, I told tHE CHILDREN you were DEAD"

[moonlightandpalmtrees]

slamming my hands down on the table in front of me and demanding people post about Morans status as a Watson mirror like J Jonah Jameson demanding photos of spiderman.

[kingpepperony]

Spot the difference

[lilmisa]

Hi! I just drew this two And i'm Going to put them on my bulletin board.🕵️‍♂️👨‍⚕️☕🔍

[anolivvvve]

A request from a friend of mine...

[comradeerizo]

People arguing about if jonhlock would become canon first in Sherlock BBC, Enola Holmes or Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes now that the Doyle state is going to fall. Bro, relax, they aren't goin to make it canon in any.

[trixterdark]

Enola Holmes 3 but Sherlock and his new roommate recreate this important moment in SH History

[lilbitofmac]

Man, I wish RDJ’s Sherlock Holmes had more fics in the fandom— the few that people have made are absolutely phenomenal, and I reread them all the time.

But god, you know what would solve this problem? IF THE THIRD MOVIE EVER CAME OUT 💀

[asweetprologue]

I just rewatched the 2009 sherlock holmes film and I don’t care for rdj but you have to give him props for looking at jude law like that

[anneangel]

Is a Asexual/ Queer/ Gay Sherlock Holmes canon? And Johnlock?

An opinion!

Regarding Canon, Sherlock appears to be Asexual in all the collection. He does not show any interest whether romantic, sexual or platonic in ANY woman. No, in the canonical content (books) Sherlock does not have any romantic or sexual attachment or desire towards Irene Adler(in books Irene is in Wedding with a other man, BECAUSE she love the man. Sherlock keeps Irene's photograph as The Woman who beat him intellectually, only). Just as Sherlock has no romantic or sexual attraction for Irene, she doesn't feel any of those things for him either.

Yes, I know that many Adaptations suggest that they had "something" with Sherlock and Irene, but adaptations have creative and poetic freedom to MODIFY the original content (and in general I have no problem with that. But in this case it was just a way for such adaptations to assert a Sherlock Holmes' attraction to women, who in books was non-existent. This is the fear of displeasing the conservative public, and therefore "adapting Holmes to heteronormative standards").

Still regarding Canon, l repeart, Sherlock appears to be Asexual in all the collection. He does not show any interest whether romantic, sexual or platonic in ANY woman. It is not clear if he was equally disinterested in mens, not least because homosexuality was a crime in the Victorian Era and it is not as if Sherlock Holmes could talk about his sexuality openly.

On the other hand, Sherlock Holmes canonically says that "Watson is the only fixed point in my life" and he was also upset by Watson's marriage calling it "the most selfish thing Watson has done in all our years of partnership, I was alone".

These are lines that maintain that, although asexual, he may have developed some platonic interest in Watson (in keeping Watson close, either for his cases or to keep him company).

Watson, on the other hand, was canonically married at least 3 times (taking into account dates) and he himself says he has experience with women on "three different continents". That he likes women is indisputable. However, Watson is also known for being an "unreliable narrator", that is: he admits to purposefully omitting facts that may embarrass or expose clients unduly, for example. But Watson is also a terrible narrator because he has many wrong dates and data in his reports (for example, a case that takes place during the period of Holmes' "death").

With that, many fans read between the lines and assume that since homoaffective relationships were a crime at the time/Era Victorian, Watson would never tell the public anything that would expose Sherlock and himself. And when such fans look "between the lines" they see Queer subtext (honestly, I highly doubt Doyle did this on purpose, so it's just a coincidence that just the books where the asexual detective also unwittingly offers room for Queer assumptions. Very conducive for fans to come up with extra-canonical theories and assumptions).

It is from these things that people assume that Sherlock is asexual (with a unique and exclusive attraction to Watson in his life, and probably platonic, that is, he adore and is loyal to Watson, wants to have him exclusively by his side for cases and companionship, although he feels no need to turn this relationship into something romantic or sexual - that to me is "love platonic" (Even though fans might assume, in extra-canon, that Holmes might want MORE, if it were reciprocated. It turns out that just by taking the Watson reports and probable omissions into consideration, a lot is possible) and that either Watson is 1) a heterosexual oblivious to Holmes' interests, 2) or is bisexual, and does not tell us due to Era Victorian (Honestly? I think the first option where Watson is a heterosexual man who didn't realize Holmes' affection BECAUSE Watson see but not observe, this is more true for Canon. Even though in Extra-Canon fans might assume that Watson might be a humble narrator who doesn't tell us the facts as such).

The question that remains is:

We already have many adaptations that feature a heterosexual Sherlock Holmes (for those who wish to see him that way, even though the canonical book content does not give him any interest in Women). But then why are we in the 21st century and we don't have a Asexual/gay/Queer Sherlock Holmes??

Why not, when this is actually the closest thing to reality??????