The Abominable Bride reminds me again why I don't bother with Sherlock

[ljlee]

I'm not a fan of Sherlock. The show has clever references and is visually well-crafted, but Watson's Throwing Off the Disability in the first episode turned me off big time and I have seen little from subsequent, passing views that there is anything there to interest me.

Nevertheless, when my visiting mother-in-law wanted us to watch The Abominable

Comments

[loopy777]

I'm a huge fan of the original Holmes stories, but I've been wary of Sherlock. Part of that comes from the only thing I hear about it being the slash shipping, which is fine for people who are into shipping as a reason for watching a show, but I'd want a focus on Sherlock himself as a crime-fighting character and truly clever mysteries.

I was kind of interested in this special because I was under the impression that it was simply the cast of Sherlock doing a more classic adventure for fun/ratings, but given this description, I won't be checking it out. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[ljlee]

In a way it's brilliant positioning because slash shipping is so big, but it's not my thing either. I'd have been all for a modern Holmes that brought the clever puzzles of the original stories to the 21st century, but all the navel-gazing with the characters soured on me. To me it seems like a moë version of Sherlock Holmes.

That's another thing that gets me about TAB, the advertising was deceptive. It seemed to be a return to the spirit of the classics, but even setting aside the mansplanation it was just a return to the same old navel-gazing as in the show itself. I'm guessing a lot of the people who tuned in were probably expecting a classic Holmes adventure, too.

Given how I ended up dissuading at least one person from seeing Dragon Blade in a theater with my last review, I seem to have gotten into the business of telling people not to see stuff. I really should start posting about stuff I genuinely like (Steven Universe, Deep Space Nine...), but it's so much fun to rag on bad shows. XD

[loopy777]

Well, I have yet to find a reason to watch either Steven Universe or a Star Trek series, so at least you'll have a viable target.

"Moe version of Sherlock Holmes" is one of those phrases I never thought I'd read, and now wish I hadn't. XD

[ljlee]

*gasp* HEATHEN! Yes, I must devote some blogging time to these worthy shows. :D

What's so ironic to me is that you seem like more of a Star Trek person than a Star Wars person--I mean, you glommed onto the most plebian guy in the main cast of ATLA, the one without supernatural powers or noble blood, a scientist and joker who brings some common-sense humor into all the supernatural solemnity of the goings-on. But then again Star Trek has its own sacred cows in its earnest dedication to science and democracy.

[lb_lee]

I watched a little of Sherlock in the beginning, but couldn't stand it because Holmes was such an ASSHOLE, and I have a deep loathing of the Jerk Genius trope. (I mean, I went to Harvard. Trust me, I have met enough people who think their raw intelligence should trump any and all shortcomings, be it cruelty, complete lack of social grace, or incompetence.)

--Rogan

[ljlee]

Yeah, the whole worship of dickish white men can stop yesterday kthx. There was also a discussion about white male abusers sold as True Love to teenaged girls that I really liked. It's prompted by Star Wars but goes on to cover Twilight, Anne McCaffrey, and other fantasy/YA works. I mean is the fantasy genre--and I firmly count Star Wars as fantasy--a clusterfuck or what?

Edit: I thought the linked discussion included the racial aspect of the male abuser as romantic interest in fantasy and YA, but that may have been in a different post. It certainly came up a lot wrt Kylo Ren versus Finn. Still, it's not hard to recognize the racial dimension just from the works and characters cited.

Edit 2: To be fair, Star Wars got a LOT better with the new movie and it wasn't the writers selling Kylo Ren as a love interest (at least they'd better not be, because otherwise I'm burning down the fucking theater) but fans, especially teenaged ones, treating him as such due to their exposure to the larger culture.

[lb_lee]

Yeah, it's really a trope that only white guys can seem to get away with. (Though I have seen SOME with white women, or brown guys, but it's pretty uncommon.) And I think it's a very specific nerd boy power fantasy: you don't need to be nice or think about anything you say, because really, you're SO FUCKING SMART that you can get away with fucking ANYTHING.

But it's not my power fantasy. And I've found I'm growing less and less respect for the book smarts those things so valorize. I'm really starting to think that "genius" is overrated.

--Rogan