welovethebeekeeper:When johnlock becomes realised to every viewer of BBC Sherlock, it will change...

welovethebeekeeper:

When johnlock becomes realised to every viewer of BBC Sherlock, it will change things in the Holmesian world, as it will the world In general. The world is one huge audience now, very different to the small national markets of years gone by, and the impact of a global show plus the PR generated by it, will influence opinion and image. Children will grow up only ever knowing Holmes and Watson as a couple. New adaptations will need to expand on the homosexual marriage, retreating to a straight version will seem uninspired. Once our two men are together, the realisation will hit the public that they always were. Major events on film and television change cultural perception, history is rewritten, icons change, their history passes into academic study and the revised version is the generally accepted reality. In the distant future people will be shocked to hear that Holmes was ever considered anything other than gay. Mark and Steven have woven the past into the present, gathered up the cultural paraphernalia of Holmes and Watson and made it all one with their Sherlock and John. We are witness to that cultural shift of image. You will tell your grandchildren. It’s bloody brilliant. 

I’m not sure it will eliminate all future interpretations of Sherlock and Holmes as a purely platonic friendship, though I do think future adaptations will have to address the sexually head-on rather than it all being assumed platonic as part of a heteronormative expectation. For example, having Holmes be more vocally asexual or having flings with women, etc. Because that elephant will always be in the room after this.

 I would hope it would make H/W as a romantic couple a very real and valid (and obvious) interpretation that may well be taken up by future versions. It will certainly make us all look at past versions in a new light. Those of us in the fandom already see the Granada Holmes and others as having that shade of pink, as it were, but the general audience doesn’t.

What I’m excited about is that it will make a long-term gay romance arc a thing which may be imitated with other characters and shows. I also think people will study this show for decades digging into the use of subtext and the pacing and all of that. Heck, I know people who have written PhD thesis on much lesser things like video games. It will be very exciting when the whole world sees the long range plan for sure.

XA