#whereas Moffat will just be like 'the answer was love all along' and somehow I eat it up every time | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

isitandwonder · 8 years ago

Text

Ok, this is in reply to this thread started by @1895itsallfine that I can’t reblog because someone in it got me blocked (? I guess?).

It deals with the reasons why S4 went down as it did, why johnlock was abandoned after S3/TAB, and asks if the BBC or ACD trust are to blame.

I’d just like to chip in my 2 cents.

I don’t think so. The BBC produced things like London Spy. They don’t have an initial problem with gay characters. Most ACD stories are in the public domain. Allegedly, the BBC pays the trust anyway. Imagine the trust in 2017 taking the BBC to court because they made Holmes and Watson a gay couple on their show. The public outcry! It would fall back badly on the trust. There might have been a silent pay off instead. The BBC is not some small player, it’s one of the biggest TV corporations in the world. If they wanted to, they could have taken on the ACD trust.

Of course, there’s always politics to consider. The BBC gets critizised by the Torie government a lot. The head of drama changed. And one fandom theory goes that it would be such a big scandal/secret to make Holmes and Watson gay that it was something that had to be fought for, that it was controversial and probably a big reveal, that perhaps some people high up were against it. Which I never understood.

Honestly, I think the first misconception of parts of the fandom - and especially tjlc - was that it would be a BIG thing to make Holmes and Watson a gay couple on a Britsh TV show. It might be in Russia, or China - but not in Western Europe in 2009. It just isn’t. If they wanted to, they could have done it - and no one could have stopped them. But they didn’t want to go there in the first place. That was the second misconception of the fandom (but it was not without reason, it was deliberately fed).

That wasn’t our fault. We were baited. The BBC explicidly wanted a sexy Holmes. Now, if we look at the pilot, it’s stuffed full with gay text - it’s not even subtle. Moffat says now this was some kind of trial run and never made for airing - but the other story goes that they hadn’t really to pitch the series to the BBC. They just bought it as they heard modern Holmes. So why make this pilot if not for airing, when there’s no need for a pitch? Of course, I don’t know, but perhaps it was for airing, and then the BBC said it was too blatant. Not because it was too gay. But it left NO DOUBT who would be shagging by ep 2. And that’s just bad for making money.

How long did X Files or Bones play will they - won’t they? That’s why people tune in. Therefore, the romance has to come slowly. And, in case of Sherlock, something else came into play imo: Why just keep the slow burn to the gay? Why not insert a few female ‘love intersts’ as well, and give them all just enough legibility that it just might happen? That’ll keep much more fans on edge, wanting more, than just viewers shipping johnlock or not caring who fucked whom anyway. So, we got marreid to my work (classic asexual interpretation), and Molly in S1 and Irene in S2. They were there to tease, to broaden the possible fanbase - because they didn’t know at the beginning how big this show would become.

Another love interest was, imo, Moriarty. I think the plan was for a thing between Sherlock and Moriarty. Look at their text in the pool scene for example! Just the text, not the acting. I think they were somehow supposed to be the main gay ship of the show. Only, as it happened, they shared about 10 minutes of sceentime together, whereas Ben and Martin had so much more - time and chemistry.

So, suddenly, there was also the possiblity of johnlock growing stronger. Only, I think the writers truly underestimated the power of this ship. Sheriarty would have been the dark mirror to Sherlock’s arc from great man to good. It would have fueled some fantasies, but, as it would have been an inherently ‘bad’ thing, bringing out Sherlock’s sociopathic tendencies, it wasn’t meant to be if the show should have ended happily. But I truly think that much of the homoeroticism that Gatiss said he’d toyed with was more directed towards this pairing - Sherlock as gay (he says so at Angelo’s while turning John down) and Moriarty as well (Sherlock deduces it while Jim said he just acted, so yeah, a little ambiguity was needed to keep the female ships sailing as well).

But because of the leds chemistry, in S2, they fused some more johnlock into the show as well. Their two leads were going through the roof, as was the whole show - and remember, Moffat said they had no plan past S1. For anything. Not even for Moriarty burning the heart out of Sherlock. They weren’t even sure if the show would be renewed! There was no hidden masterplan for a gay Holmes coming out married to John. They continued to play with it, to tease, but tuned up other ships as well by introducing Irene. They gave every fandom just enough to keep them hooked. It’s called marketing. Not art. Not representation. All this might come in, but at the core is always money - even with the best intentions.

And they were all very successful with it. The show was a massive hit. The leads became A-list stars. They weren’t that much available any more. Now, actors usually don’t have a say in scripts. They just act. They don’t write. Are they to ‘blame’ for what happened, all the tension that went nowhere in the end? But as there was never a plan for more than one season, and the scripts came late, they might as well have gone with what they thought were the show was heading... But remember all the constricting statements here as well, of Ben saying Sherlock shagged Irene etc. while Martin said the show was the gayest on television and a love story. They didn’t know, they were just in it! They just did the best they could to keep everything open. We don’t know how much the actors and actresses knew, how much the directors knew. But the secrecy increasedaas the show progressed. Or was it just lack of a plan, disguised as something clever? It was so hyped that it had to disappoint sometime.

And with S3, the big separation occoured. Mary was introduced in some illfated attempt at feminism. Perhaps the gay had been too much and it would have been obvious that Sherlock and John would shag like in the pilot!verse after Sherlock’s return without a hetero love interest for John? Or just another ship was perceived as needed, to keep the tension? When Sherlock had Molly and Irene, John could get something more permanent than his girlfriends? Remember, the money, they wanted to sell this show to as many people as possible.

Mary opened up the possibillity of Warstan as well as keep John and Sherlock separated - which was needed for the slow burn to continue. And she was another lead, if the male stars weren’t readily available, to fill up the story (or convention panels). Look how much time she had in S4! But that was a huge mistake. People didn’t take to her - even casual fans - because Mary just doesn’t belong in the Sherlock/Watson universe.

You know, another misconception I see in some discussions is that many fans seem to think creators don’t make mistakes. But people do, all the time. The writers just miscalculated. And please, keep in mind, we johnlock shipper are but a tiny, tiny percentage of the fans! We alone won’t keep this show afloat. But we were strung along as every other ship on the show.

I think the emergences of tjlc after S3 was just some form of selfdefence. Fans were unable to accept that johnlock wouldn’t become explicit, but might stay a ship like any other. It was wishfull thinking, and a sign of the dismissial and failiure of the mary Watson character. Fans had been fed so much gay innuendo by now, they didn’t want to believe that the writers wouldn’t just go through with it.

The style of the show added to the possibility of such a reading, beautifully shot scenes that fall apart when you analyse them too deeply, but are perfect for giffing them in tiny bits. This was actively encouraged by the editing, the writing and acting. For example, the greenhouse scene in TAB starts with a conversation about Irene, as does the hug scene - but I always see just Sherlock glancig at John on my dash in johnlock context. Or hugging John, without the Irene bits or Mary. That is perfectly fine with shipping - but it creates a false reality if taken at face value. It creates the overwhelming impression that it HAD to be johnlock (I don’t know if other ships do the same?). But that is how the fans interpret stuff (content designed to allow for this reading, but also for others).

The creators, on the other hand, got shown raunchy art and porn stories. But they have no context for it either They don’t have time to read the brilliant prose, to admire the excellent paintings, or even read some of the in depth analyses. It’s not that they don’t want to (I think) - it’s just two different spheres. And, btw, if fans send death threas to actresses or stalk the actors or claim their marriage is a sham etc - I wouldn’t interact with people like that as well. Of course, this is not the majority, but these are the instances that stick out and are remembered. On the other hand, creators/actor/actresses need the fans, we create the hype, we buy the stuff, we make them. So, it become some kind of hated co-dependecy - you depend on people that you kind of despise or not understand.

The role of Sherlock Holmes is especially dangerous to fall pray to this over-enthusiasm. He’s an icon. Because deep down, many people perceive him as a real person, not as a ficitonal character. And therefore people ask how Holmes would function in their world. Rathbone had to setp away from it. Brett struggled. Yet audiences project on them and throw their hopes and fantasies at them. And sometimes that just runs riot.

And the series happend too far apart. People just lost interest (see the dropping of the vieweing figures, nearly halfed from S3 to S4). TV is a fast art form. New trends emerge every day. BBC Sherlock, for its first two seasons, was at the peak. It was some of the best television of its time. But the writers thought what was needed was MORE, BIGGER, LOUDER, to keep the audience interested - only, that doesn’t seem to have worked. It didn’t get them the audience back. Sherlock shrunk from a PHENOMENON to just a TV show. As I said, people make mistakes - and audience tastes change and differ.

Coming back to johnlock, that reading is as old as Holmes stories. It was mostly underground, of course, as long as homosexuality was illegal, and is therefore not well documented, but it was there from the beginning. And I’d say that every adaption over the last 40 years had strong homoerotic undertones. Yet, they all got stuck at the desperately unspoken. Because, in the end, Holmes stays an enigma. That has proven bigger than the need to extrapolate his sexuality. And if it’s just kept as subtext, anyone can take away from the adaption what they like. Only, BBC Sherlock went over the top and made it text - without seeing it through by delivering the consequence. That’s why it feels so shallow now.

Perhaps that’s were BBC Sherlock failed the most spectacular. They wanted to explain Holmes, who he was, how he became himself. Therefore, they also had to address his sexuality in a contemporary adaption. But, with all the ships introduced, that became increasingly difficult. Other adaptions, who didn’t want to explain Holmes, could get away with the desperately unspoken (or with thrilling cases, or the 100th Irene Adler story). But the BBC version had so strongly invested in the characters and their relationships that there had to come something off it in the end. Which happened in S4 with Warstan and platonic parentlock.I don’t like it, but that’s what happened. Everything else is interpretation - but the facts are Warstan and parentlock without sex. Because that’s what we are shown.

But the problem is - so many other interpretations are justifiable from the text we got - Adlock, Sheriarty, Sherlolly and Johnlock. Shit! There were just too many possibilities due to inconstistent writing, lack of plan and the tendendcy to keep all parts of the audience hooked. They wanted to make money and sell it all over the world. Plus, Moffat has the tendency for not following through. This created a very muddled narrative, that was made up as they went along with it, and culminated in big disappointment because it was simply impossible to deliver on every hint made over the whole show.

And fandom had it’s share in it. After S1 aired, people openly addressed the homoeroticism and asked about it. And Mofftiss answered, telling openly that they toyed with it, but that it would never happen. I’ve never seen a statement that said: We will do Johnlock! But I have seen some that said: We like to explore the possibility but won’t go through with it. Those are the facts - even if I don’t like them. They hinted, but when asked openly, they denied. But I didn’t believe them. Which was my decision. And maybe I could make an rgument and say: But look at your show! Yet, they never explicitly promised Johnlock. That was my reading. I refused to believe that people would write a gay show but not see it through. I was wrong, apparently, as people are idiots.

And this is where the conspiracy became dangerous. To be fair, Mofftiss had been pretty straightforward. They didn’t lie about it. We just hoped they did. Because they were so secretive regarding plot twists - but they never lied on a grant scale.

I see S3 onwards as Mofftiss becoming sick of denying. Show, don’t tell. They gave us Mary, but some/me ignored her (because I think she was boring and badly written). And, as it was suddenly a secret conspiracy, johnlock shouldn’t be mentioned anymore. Fans stopped openly asking about it after S3. Why? Is it something raunchy, something bad, something ridiculos to be ashamed of? No. But fandom, and some BNF’s, unwillingly perpetuated this notion by telling other fans not to ask about johnlock as it had to stay a secret. Again, why?

Where is the problem with a gay Shelrock Holmes in 2009, 2010 or 12017 in a Western country? Sure,it would have caused some outcry, but that’s also publicity. The actors are too famous to be touched by it. The creators write gay characters into their other shows. If they wanted to, it would have been possible with Sherlock as well. But they didn’t want it. And they said so - while still delivering their gay jokes! That was a mistake - but see above, people make mistakes, and they had lost the touch with parts of the fandom, and perhaps weren’t aware of how advanced (in a good, progressive way) our discussons had become.

And they did win awards up to TAB. Everything went in their favour. Why change anything? They thought, maybe, they were infallibe? And they do many other projects than just Sherlock. No one involved focuses on it 24/7 like we do.

But I don’t think there’s still need fo a big conspiracy theory, or that someone forced their hands. We had enough of this. Johnlock, sadly, was never intended on BBC Sherlock. They queerbaited the hell out of the show (like they teased other groups with Sherlolly or Adlock, or Warstan even, which were left hanging just like us) - that was wrong. And they turned around too late. I don’t sense much johnlock in S4. I hoped for it - but I can only see it when I squint and ignore portions of the text. Which is ok to do so for a ship. But, sadly, I still have to rely on a few seconds footage of a hand touching a nape! I mean, it’s 2017! I saw a rimming on prime time television in 1999 in Queer as Folk. I just don’t want to be fed these little bits anymore. That’s what makes me so angry. At myself as much as at Mofftiss.

It would have been time. It would have been possible. They didn’t do it. They wanted some strange feminist version, not a gay version. Just because Gatiss is gay, that doesn’t mean he has to make everything gay (I think that’s incredibly sexist, btw). But he could have.

In the end, their version wasn’t just as contemporary as some of their viewers.

It’s sad what happened. Some things make me still really angry. But this adaption is over. I’m still struggling to love parts. I’m still writing ficiton - because I love Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. I always have. I’ve been shipping johnlock for over 30 years. I can continue. I only hoped for a while I didn’t have to just ship it.

As long as we as fans continue to spin conspiracy theories, there will be no honest exchange with the creators (if such a thing is even possible with fandom and writers). The illusion created by twitter etc, that there is a contact between fans and creators, an understanding, is just that. An illusion. They don’t know us - we don’t know them. I doubt an exchange of ideas is even possible.

Yet, fan attitudes change - not so much as creator attitudes. They still guard their creations, while fans want to engage with and transform the characters. That’s the only resolution. BBC Sherlock will not change. It has aired. Perhaps there will be S5, or specials. But it will stay as it is, ambiguous. And even if not - after this S4, I won’t believe in johnlock, even if I saw it. It would be by the grace of Holy Mary, after John did beat Sherlock up and Sherlock sacrificed everything for him. I have to say, as the dynamics on the show played out, I don’t care much for the last instalment of this adaption any more. I try to ignore it. Or do my own. On good days, it works.

@monikakrasnorada because I saw you in the post that triggered this looong outpouring.

#sherlock #s4 #johnlock #tjlc #what went wrong #there is no conspiracy #queerbaiting

38 notes · View notes