Epic Friendship in Sherlock S4 (so far) vs Cursed Child
I saw Cursed Child again last night ♥ ♥ ♥ It was still atmospheric and exciting and beautiful. One of the phrases I keep using to talk about Cursed Child is Epic Friendship, with those capitals. It’s a phenomenon I’ve seen before but I hadn’t thought of it in quite those terms before. So to define: Epic Friendship, to me, is when the relationship itself is a grand story, given great and likely central weight in the narrative in all its nuances, strong and affirming and wonderful. And also when the friendship is central to the fight against evil.
So think of Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles, and them joining themselves to fight as one at the end of S4. The Doctor bringing all his companions back to help him. Everything about Steven Universe, most obviously in gem fusion (although that also has a sexual & romantic subtext, of course).
Cursed Child is full of this. Harry’s grand hero line: “I’ve never fought alone and I never will!” Scorpius saving the world by finding the right allies, and by thinking of Albus. “You three, you shone.” “Without Ron and Hermione, I wouldn’t have survived Hogwarts. I wouldn’t have survived at all.”
So Sherlock s4 should be making me super happy: Sherlock & John is certainly central and given time and nuance, and it’s vital to fighting crime. Yet I find myself irritated by the writing in a way that makes it hard for me to go with a hurt/comforty, self-sacrificial friendship story I’d generally love - even though I’m definitely enjoying the episodes overall. I’m still not sure why. Strings are too obvious? I do wish that Moffat would let go of external VOs that Explain The Thing, a la Clara at the end of her first season etc.
But I’ll be able to embrace it in fanfic, I should think. I don’t read Sherlock fanfic much but I love h/c and vulnerability and in fanfic I won’t have the same problems, because I don’t think fanfic has the same level of responsibility and because I don’t have the lingering mistrust of the writers.
Because I think basically what spoils Sherlock’s Epic Friendship for me is the queerbaiting. They haven’t done it this season and thank God for that, but the bad taste in the mouth lingers: the story teased it and joked about it, then mocked fans who ‘fell’ for it. It damages the Epic Friendship for me.
I adore Cursed Child and its focus on (parents and) friends, including Epic Friendship that helps you save the world. I love the focus on adult friendships as vital and sustaining and helping you become the best version of yourself - and not pale replacements of romantic or familial relationships, much as marriages and families are central to the play.
So that should translate to Sherlock, surely? I think the last episode will end on an affirmation of the John/Sherlock relationship, given John’s very in-character belief that romance would “complete [Sherlock] as a human being”, and that belief from a romantic partner would help Sherlock be his best self, the person that partner believes he is, the way it did for John? I mean, for Sherlock that person is unambiguously John. John absolutely does that for Sherlock. (Sherlock is not always thus inspired, eg shooting a guy in the face, but John showed we all have our failures, our weak and selfish moments.) Sherlock seems clearly aromantic, and I think what’s likely is John realising that relationships like that don’t have to be romantic; friendships can be inspiring and life-changing too.
Except the previous seasons of queerbaiting have sort of wrecked that for me. If that hadn’t happened I’d adore it, but when you deliberately tease queer subtext and then run away from it while mocking the people who ran with it? Being all ‘YAY FRIENDSHIP’ is good in a vacuum, but here it has a definite taint of the cheap and cowardly. That’s particularly true given the focus on romantic relationships as the source of completeness, happiness, real life, etc - as opposed to Cursed Child, which is a story about parents and friends and hammers on those themes. The only solution to Sherlock’s problem here, to my mind, is canon queerness.
I resent fanfic for killing off women for male emotional growth whether or not it’s in the name of slash, and I’d feel similarly , about this. (My god, can you imagine the transgression of it if they’d actually gone there with poly bisexuality? Auntie can’t even say the bloody word.) But it would still help. A lot.
Seems unlikely, but man, the only time I’ve ever given a smidge of credence to the Johnlock Conspiracy business is when John was explaining that Sherlock needed a romantic relationship to be complete, one exactly like the relationship between the two of them. So despite all this bellyaching, I’ll close on saying I’m happy for the Sherlock/John shippers. :) I hope you have a whale of a time writing them bringing up Rosie and having angsty sex.
This was originally posted at http://lokifan.dreamwidth.org/352836.html. Comment wherever you like :)
So think of Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles, and them joining themselves to fight as one at the end of S4. The Doctor bringing all his companions back to help him. Everything about Steven Universe, most obviously in gem fusion (although that also has a sexual & romantic subtext, of course).
Cursed Child is full of this. Harry’s grand hero line: “I’ve never fought alone and I never will!” Scorpius saving the world by finding the right allies, and by thinking of Albus. “You three, you shone.” “Without Ron and Hermione, I wouldn’t have survived Hogwarts. I wouldn’t have survived at all.”
So Sherlock s4 should be making me super happy: Sherlock & John is certainly central and given time and nuance, and it’s vital to fighting crime. Yet I find myself irritated by the writing in a way that makes it hard for me to go with a hurt/comforty, self-sacrificial friendship story I’d generally love - even though I’m definitely enjoying the episodes overall. I’m still not sure why. Strings are too obvious? I do wish that Moffat would let go of external VOs that Explain The Thing, a la Clara at the end of her first season etc.
But I’ll be able to embrace it in fanfic, I should think. I don’t read Sherlock fanfic much but I love h/c and vulnerability and in fanfic I won’t have the same problems, because I don’t think fanfic has the same level of responsibility and because I don’t have the lingering mistrust of the writers.
Because I think basically what spoils Sherlock’s Epic Friendship for me is the queerbaiting. They haven’t done it this season and thank God for that, but the bad taste in the mouth lingers: the story teased it and joked about it, then mocked fans who ‘fell’ for it. It damages the Epic Friendship for me.
I adore Cursed Child and its focus on (parents and) friends, including Epic Friendship that helps you save the world. I love the focus on adult friendships as vital and sustaining and helping you become the best version of yourself - and not pale replacements of romantic or familial relationships, much as marriages and families are central to the play.
So that should translate to Sherlock, surely? I think the last episode will end on an affirmation of the John/Sherlock relationship, given John’s very in-character belief that romance would “complete [Sherlock] as a human being”, and that belief from a romantic partner would help Sherlock be his best self, the person that partner believes he is, the way it did for John? I mean, for Sherlock that person is unambiguously John. John absolutely does that for Sherlock. (Sherlock is not always thus inspired, eg shooting a guy in the face, but John showed we all have our failures, our weak and selfish moments.) Sherlock seems clearly aromantic, and I think what’s likely is John realising that relationships like that don’t have to be romantic; friendships can be inspiring and life-changing too.
Except the previous seasons of queerbaiting have sort of wrecked that for me. If that hadn’t happened I’d adore it, but when you deliberately tease queer subtext and then run away from it while mocking the people who ran with it? Being all ‘YAY FRIENDSHIP’ is good in a vacuum, but here it has a definite taint of the cheap and cowardly. That’s particularly true given the focus on romantic relationships as the source of completeness, happiness, real life, etc - as opposed to Cursed Child, which is a story about parents and friends and hammers on those themes. The only solution to Sherlock’s problem here, to my mind, is canon queerness.
I resent fanfic for killing off women for male emotional growth whether or not it’s in the name of slash, and I’d feel similarly , about this. (My god, can you imagine the transgression of it if they’d actually gone there with poly bisexuality? Auntie can’t even say the bloody word.) But it would still help. A lot.
Seems unlikely, but man, the only time I’ve ever given a smidge of credence to the Johnlock Conspiracy business is when John was explaining that Sherlock needed a romantic relationship to be complete, one exactly like the relationship between the two of them. So despite all this bellyaching, I’ll close on saying I’m happy for the Sherlock/John shippers. :) I hope you have a whale of a time writing them bringing up Rosie and having angsty sex.
This was originally posted at http://lokifan.dreamwidth.org/352836.html. Comment wherever you like :)