Meta: Neoliberal Holmes, or, Everything I Know About Modern Life I Learned from Sherlock

[magnetic_pole]

Every age gets the Holmes it deserves.

Everything I know about the twenty-first century I learned from Sherlock (BBC, 2010):

*

All problems have solutions.

All solutions are rational.

Everything that is rational can be comprehended, analyzed, and discarded.

By you.

You know everything worth knowing.

You are the master of the universe.

*

Merit rises to the top. Raw intelligence, that's what matters.

You can't look for intelligence in the Metropolitan Police Force. Why even bother? The private sector is where insight is found. Trust the consultants.

The state is there to facilitate your work. And defuse bombs. And take the bodies to the morgue.

*

People respond to intelligence. They desire intelligence. They answer the text messages that intelligence sends. They fetch things for intelligence. They are willing to put up with the rudeness that occasionally accompanies intelligence. They ask intelligence out on dates.

Intelligence is sexy.

Intelligence is power.

*

It used to be that clients would show up on your doorstep with a story, a plea, a mystery. This used to be how the game started.

Now victims show up dead.

Easier that way, to assess their problems.

More efficient.

Besides, you'd rather text than talk.

*

Look at London. Bright lights, big city. It's beautiful.

The light is beautiful. The colors are beautiful. The clothes are beautiful. This whole show is beautiful.

*

London is safe. Clean. Well-lit. Seen through a plate of glass, a kaleidoscope of reflections.

*

This is a city of well-maintained classical buildings (distant past) and high-tech modernism (present and future).

No one of interest ever lived or worked in something built in the sixties, anyway.

*

Some people say London is a battlefield. You see it more as a playground.

*

Money is no object.

*

Buses and subways are for people whose time is less valuable than yours.

*

The vast majority of people in London are white. People who are not white are statistically more likely to be blood-thirsty, murdering villains. Or dead, victims themselves.

What? You're just counting. Numbers, hard numbers, that's what you want.

*

You just happen to be white.

*

Did that man just call his hostage a "stupid bitch?" Did he really? What right does anyone have to call any woman...

But, wait. He's a psychopathic murderer. That's how we know he's crazy.

Because no sane man would ever say that out loud.

*

Once, famously, a woman got the best of you.

Now, you get the best of the woman, every time.

Freak. Ha!

That was then, this is now.

*

Women protest that they don't want to take care of you, but they really do.

*

He taught me, rather than he learned me.

I was, not I were.

Hanged, instead of hung.

The man has killed his wife in a brutal stabbing, but what really rubs you wrong is his dialect.

Nothing like a death sentence to cure someone of being working class.

*

Homeless people, your "eyes and ears" around the city, emerge when they might be useful. Otherwise, they are invisible. Disinfect yourself after contact.

*

It doesn't help anyone to care.

*

Sometimes a disguise will gain you entry to an important place. Discard it as soon as possible. Don't even bother to keep up the pretense. You don't want anyone to mistake you for a working man.

*

On the other hand, people may assume you're gay. Don't worry. Don't protest. We won't go there.

*

Text flashes before you. Clues flash before you. Fast. Disorienting. Don't get distracted. The crucial details here are not factual, not for anyone except the master of the universe.

The key to this show, for lesser mortals, is character. Watch for Sherlock's expression. How does he feel about the situation at hand?

You spend a lot of time watching Sherlock's face.

Sometimes, you watch John watching Sherlock's face.

Funny how riveting a cold man's face is.

*

Selling drugs is dangerous; you can get out of your depth before you know it, in trouble, in debt, you'll kill your near-brother-in-law on the off-chance that you'll be able to sell something of his for a profit. Selling drugs leads to a life of crime.

Buying drugs and occasionally enjoying them, on the other hand, would be entirely fine. It would be interesting, actually. It would add to your mystique.

But of course, you're clean. Did everyone hear that? You're clean.

*

You are untouchable. Your friends are untouchable. The law exists to facilitate your investigations. When it's convenient.

The state itself is outdated. You have the world in your hand, on a mobile or a laptop. The new order is conflict-free and flexible.

*

Even when someone dies, it's not your fault.

People die, that's what they do.

Oh, sorry. Other people die. That's what they do.

*

You, on the other hand. You solve problems. Lestrade and Donovan and Dimmock have tried, but your methods have been tested in the open market, proved to be the best.

No problem is ever solved collaboratively. No assistance is helpful. No other types of intelligence are acknowledged.

There is no such thing as society, only individual problems, and individual problem solvers.

They should take your word as gospel.

*

People are taken hostage. Bombs are detonated. People are killed. A child's life is on the line. A roommate deals with loss. A woman grieves the man who would have married her. A man shakes in terror. A head sits in the refrigerator.

Their names and stories pass by too quickly to catch. None of them really matter, anyway. Only ninety minutes, total. Still two mysteries to go. Real problems are abstract, logical, and impersonal, unconnected to daily life, personal experience, local knowledge, or the vagaries of chance.

This is the great game. The one thing that matters in this game--

No, it's not that we win. We always win.

The one thing that really matters is that Sherlock Holmes might...

God, is that John?

He's got a vest! He's covered in explosives!

...the one thing that really matters...

Look at Sherlock Holmes' face. Watch carefully for any register of emotion. This is what we've been waiting for: a hint of anger, fear, or compassion. The show has been training you to do this for more than four hours, training you to search for the slightest sign of emotion in this man's face. You are riveted.

...the one thing that really matters is that Sherlock Holmes just might have a heart, after all.

Because that's what important. The master of the universe loves and suffers like the rest of us.

*

P.S. Thanks to rose71 for listening and, well, being rose71.

Comments

[stewardess]

Thank you. You nailed something I felt but couldn't explain: that as the audience we're cast as caretakers for the white male genius who treats everyone (us, too) like crap.

[magnetic_pole]

*nods* And to think I thought Donovan was a potential antagonist after the first episode, with a role as a critic and counterweight ahead of her! Little did I know. Thanks for reading! Maggie

[radioactivepiss]

I was linked to this, in case you're wondering how a random stranger found it, heh.

It's pretty... breathtaking. That's definitely the word. You cut right to the heart of it in really very few words. And I should say up front I am actually a huge, massive fan of this show, but this is exactly the issue with it. Perfect. Immense. Wow. It's everything I was trying to articulate to friends and fellow fans about why yes, I love it but oh god so problematic.

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks so much. I'm a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes myself and didn't exactly dislike the show--it just seemed like such a culturally and politically specific adaptation whose main messages seemed to be slipping under the radar. I'm delighted to see it help revive the fandom and hoping that at least some of us imagine things differently. Thanks for reading! M.

[summerskin]

I've been meaning to watch this Sherlock since people have been writing about it and there's so much meta going around because of it, but I have yet to muster the patience.

The post is very powerful. It gave me a shiver just reading it.

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks for reading! Maggie

[syredronning]

I actually don't think that's all that different from the original books where Holmes clearly is the most important/intelligent/clever person too...?

[magnetic_pole]

Ah, but I think they made a thousand small but disturbing decisions about how to conceptualize and express his intelligence and contextualize it in contemporary British society. But thanks for reading. Maggie

[cycnus39]

I found it very faithful to the original material and, for that reason, I liked it despite its, sometimes quite offensive, modern day flaws.

Btw, small point, I don't think it was his wife the guy stabbed to death.

[magnetic_pole]

Ah, good point! I'd just assumed, between the domestic nature of the fight and the fact that he was a Briton living abroad. I should edit that or address it.

Thanks for reading. M.

[semielliptical]

Great analysis of the series. I finished watching episodes 2 & 3 last night, and was thinking a bit about why my interest in the show had decreased the more that I watched. I think if there had some attempt to show the pov of supporting characters like Donovan or even Lestrade, I might have been drawn in despite the problems. But the perspective that you outline is so solid, no significant cracks or corners for difference or doubt.

[magnetic_pole]

There's something so insidious about the cultural politics of this show, Semi, particularly by the third episode. As rose71 said in another context, the pefect melding of form and content, so tight we can't quite see what's going on.

*nods* I was convinced that Donovan was set up as a foil early on, but she just degenerated into a joke (and a painful one to watch, considering what attitudes women of color on the police force must have to put up with). Hipster conservatism?

Thanks, as always, for reading. M.

[billie]

Just finished the series. Googled a bit. Read the blogs.

Wound up here via irisbleufic's recommendation post.

I'm blown away. This is marvellous. Thank you.

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks so much for reading! Maggie

[hl]

This is awesomely written. (linked here by sqbr)

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks so much for reading! Maggie

[mercredigirl]

I don't watch Sherlock; I don't know Sherlock, and am more familiar with the critiques of the original and of the Mary Russell pastiches. But this -- whoa. This is really powerful and beautifully lyrical. And biting and wicked! Love that. Love the sharpness. Love the anger.

Thank you for this post.

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks for reading, especially since you're not invested in the remake. As epicene says below, somehow this version managed to be even more problematic and closed off to The Other than the original stories were, which is saying quite a bit, and I'm hoping that fandom will eventually tackle some of these issues. M.

[epicene]

Late to the party, but I just found this through journal hopping, and oh, wow. Perfectly captured a lot of my feelings of discomfort, not just with this show, but with the whole sprawling genre of "here's the straight white male character, watch him be the center of the universe and glory in his superiority to lesser beings" stories.

I especially liked these two lines, which go a long way toward explaining why I find this update even more problematic and closed off to The Other than the original stories were (quite aside from the fact that, you know, it's 2010 and it should be way better at this stuff than something written in the Victorian era):

It used to be that clients would show up on your doorstep with a story, a plea, a mystery. This used to be how the game started.

Now victims show up dead.

...

Once, famously, a woman got the best of you.

Now, you get the best of the woman, every time.

Pretty much says it all.

Your post also made me realize that one of the main reasons I read Sherlock Holmes fanfic is to see this hierarchical power dynamic get shaken up and deconstructed. Fandom being what it is, it doesn't always work, but when it does, it's incredibly satisfying. Maybe it was too much to hope for the same from the new show, but it seems like the creators were drawn to exactly those problematic dynamics and said "yeah, except we need more of that."

[magnetic_pole]

why I find this update even more problematic and closed off to The Other than the original stories were...Maybe it was too much to hope for the same from the new show, but it seems like the creators were drawn to exactly those problematic dynamics and said "yeah, except we need more of that."

Yes, exactly. And I'm amazed at how well it works here (or at least how smoothly the transition from late 19th c to early 20th is) and how obligingly we've all said, "That's just how Sherlock is!"

I *adore* fic that deconstructs some of the power dynamics and characterizations we see in canon. Have you found any in this fandom? M.

[monanotlisa]

This is fantastic: spot-on, mesmerising.

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks for reading! M.

[scintilla10]

This is a really excellent post. Thank you so much for writing it.

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks for reading! M.

[lysanatt]

Here (late) via a link from ariadneelda.

I've just dipped a toe into the murky waters of Holmes fandom (haven't watched the recent series) due to some absolutely brilliant fics in said fandom.

This post was truly interesting. I am going to bookmark it, because it is powerful, insightful and, I think, a useful tool how to interpret, enjoy (and eventually write) Holmes. I am actually happy that I read it before sitting down to watch the latest series. Also, I agree with people here, who to variable degrees find it possible to like the stories/episodes despite the obvious problems/issues. I find that is the case when I read BL manga, too - so many hard-to-manage-and/or-comprehend issues which I am still able to ignore for the time it takes to read/look at an otherwise well-turned story.

As one poster said: this post applies not only to Holmes but to other stories/films/etc.

Thanks for writing this.

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks for commenting. For what it's worth, I'm also wondering if/how to write Holmes, and I've continued to read in both the Holmes fandom generally and the Sherlock/BBC universe specifically. (A bit selectively, but don't we all, in all of our fandoms?) Ironically, the most problematic aspects of this universe haven't really made their way into fic--that is, the fic has its own problems, but for the most part they seem to be the usual issues that seem endemic in the in m/m slash genre. (I suppose the conventions of fic writing are stronger than the specific world the BBC folks envisioned, which has largely dropped by the wayside.) Happy reading and writing! M.

[stellastars]

Journal-hopped my way over here...

I watched Sherlock earlier this month. I liked it. I *wanted* to love it, but between the sexism, the racism, and (IMHO) bland storytelling, I just couldn't. It was, in fact, the final scene of the final episode that salvaged the entire series for me.

Thank you for articulating so many of the reasons I found the show to be problematic, as well as why the final scene sucked me in (or perhaps suckered me in) and left me liking the story. I couldn't really put my finger on why my opinion of the show changed so much in those final moments, but you spotted it and expressed it quite eloquently.

I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on the series. I think this is one of the most beautifully-written meta posts I've ever seen!

[magnetic_pole]

Wow, what a final scene! Like you, I felt the storytelling had been bland or too cute or poorly paced at points, but not during the final scenes, when I was sitting on the edge of my chair and holding my breath. (I also felt profoundly manipulated at the end, as you saw here, but all other issues aside, it's pretty darn effective storytelling that makes you hold your breath.) Thanks for reading and commenting! M.

[sobota]

very late to the party (having just watched all episodes last night), and i completely agree but i adore all versions of sherlock, from the books to all TV and film adaptations, and i hate that i do sometimes, because i'm a female poc and so you can imagine exactly how i feel about that.

i read a review of the second episode before i watched it and it actually warned me about how the chinese characters were reduced to stereotypes, but as i watched it, i felt more sympathy for them being caught in the post-colonial trap of smuggling--they wouldn't need to smuggle if it weren't for the british men.

ugh. i like cumberbatch as an actor, so i feel he did a brilliant turn as a legitimate sociopath, and sociopaths are (can be?) racist/sexist/misogynist but society is fascinated by them (re: dahmer, the boston strangler, etc) so we were watching a sociopath that decided in all his magnanimous glory to help the state like a child that doesn't know any better, and that's why we are fascinated.

i actually sided with watson a lot of the time, which is what i do anyway when i am reading/watching sherlock, and martin freeman was much more likable in his middle-class way. but, of course, as a middle class former soldier, he has his own racist/sexist/misogynist baggage. and then, as i do with all characters who are soldiers/former soldiers/of military background, i think of my father, and so my feelings re: watson are like my feelings re: my father, which wow, i guess you can see how that might be complicated.

and, finally, because i don't usually meta about meta, after watching the american elections from france and being an american myself, i feel bitterly opposed to the notion that the State can do anything, seeing as we voted people who are directly in opposition to helping the people.

blahblahblah i'm really sorry, you don't know me, i found this post in a delicious bookmark.

p.s. the jewish museum curator bothered me the most re: cultural appropriation because of course a jewish person only cares about the money, right? although the golem reminded me of an old james bond villain, like dr no or the man with the golden gun, and i'm really going to shut up now. thanks for letting me blather.

[magnetic_pole]

Sorry, I'm embarrassed to come back to this comment some three months later, but I wanted to say thanks for taking the time to leave it, and I hear you on the mixed feelings. I've been trying to find fic that makes me feel better about the show--I really wanted to enjoy it, having been such a Holmes fan when I was young--but I've been largely unsuccessful. Although I really, really love what this fic did with one of the original stories (it predates the tv series): The Third Student. And I enjoyed Sally and Molly getting together and moving past their issues with Sherlock here: <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/107889>Other Things to Do After Buying a Cat.</a> Oh, right, the curator and the golem! I didn't even think that one all the way through. There's something of the hipster racist about this show--a sense that if you're joking or treating something ironically or referencing something else, you can say anything you want. M.

[out_there]

I really enjoyed this. Meta, but so close to a fic... I can't explain it but it was fascinating.

The man has killed his wife in a brutal stabbing, but what really rubs you wrong is his dialect.

Huh. I always assumed it was Sherlock trying to judge the man's temper -- by constantly interrupting and correcting until the man hit the table with his fist. To test the link between anger and physical violence. But looked at it that way... that's a bit chilling.

The show has been training you to do this for more than four hours, training you to search for the slightest sign of emotion in this man's face. You are riveted.

Interesting and very true.

[magnetic_pole]

I always assumed it was Sherlock trying to judge the man's temper -- by constantly interrupting and correcting until the man hit the table with his fist.

Yikes! Somehow that's just awful, in its own way.

Sorry about the ridiculously long delay in response, but I wanted to say that I appreciated your comment (from the author of Let Me Kiss You, no less! I enjoyed that one so much!). M.

[srevans]

Late, but thank you for this.

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks! M.

[tellytubby101]

Duuuude. Absolutely love this. Amazingly, AMAZINGLY in-depth. And so observant! This is most definitely one of the best metas I've seen around the fandom. ♥ Fantastic work!

[magnetic_pole]

A late reply, but thank you! M.

this is a long and possibly useless comment, and was written while 80% asleep.

[cartoonheroine]

This is completely brilliant and absolutely true in every way. It's everything that disgusts me about this series and every series. And yet despite knowing that, despite having known it from the start, despite being a Jewish feminist lesbian and a rather ardent independent liberal, I'm entranced by this show and its cast. Completely entranced, and the spell has continued for months. I think some part of the answer to my continued enjoyment of Sherlock comes in three chunks.

I think the first chunk of it is because the whole thing is such a trainwreck — such a bleak, fucked landscape of the world we live in. The world is fucked, these characters are fucked, and the characters and the world are stuck on a repeating loop, forever destroying one another. Sherlock is a product of his environment; the environment is a product of men like Sherlock. In a way it's almost a dystopia, grey and violent and everything going wrong at once. And everyone loves a good trainwreck. Everyone loves a good dystopia. Watching makes you sick, but you can't look away. On its own, this wouldn't be enough to keep my attention, though, which leads to

The second chunk of it, which is the last line of your critique: The master of the universe loves and suffers like the rest of us. I suppose I was led into this perfect trap by the writers of the show, but it's a hard one to escape: much like the love of death and destruction, the deep longing to see a merge of god and human seems inescapable. Watching Sherlock in those final scenes is like watching a stone be infused with blood. Similar moments in other TV series and films, featuring both male and female characters, have always fascinated me completely.

The final chunk is a sort of combination of the first two, and resides in the realm of fandom. Needless to say, the realm of fandom itself has plenty of its own problems, some of which have been brought up in this post's previous comments (most notably, the ever-complicated question of why nearly all women in fandom tend to express themselves through male characters, and why any of us relate so closely to them in the first place). But placing those problems aside for the time being, I've found many of the authors in the Sherlock fandom to be some of the most intelligent and insightful authors I've seen in a long time. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of horrible tropes and potholes of ignorance to be found, but more than anything else, the incredible re-tellings and re-toolings of this story are what's continued to fascinate me. With certain backgrounds stitched in, readings of certain characters can become entirely different. The terrible, wrong ugliness and the discovery of love can be combined in a safe space where one doesn't insult the other.

But am I insulting myself by looking to alternate constructions of this story in order to satisfy my fantasy, when the story itself was so clearly insulting me in the first place? I guess I'm the dumped girlfriend who's still in love after getting smacked around, so I find a rebound who looks just like my ex but treats me like a princess. And now I'm trying to justify why this is perfectly healthy to my friends (AKA you).

Honestly I am nearly asleep on my keyboard right now but I found this post through irisbleufic and it hit me really strongly, I just had to reply and it turned into all this rambling bullshit. To summarize: you are right about everything, in every way. I agree with you completely and always have, and I feel this way deeply about many other shows I watch. And yet here I am, a looney dyke who just wants to see Sherlock find a best friend he loves. I tried to explain it, to myself and to you. It took a long time and I don't think it worked very well. I'm gonna go to sleep now.

Re: this is a long and possibly useless comment, and was written while 80% asleep.

[magnetic_pole]

No, no useless at all! I had conflicting feelings, too. As you might have seen in previous comments, I read a kids' version of the Sherlock Holmes stories when I was very young, and I've loved him ever since. I enjoyed these episodes, even as I reacted violently against this version of Holmes and the message they were sending. Culture is complicated. :)

I didn't realize that the creators of this series were also the creators or writers of the new Dr Who, and friends tell me this explains a lot about the themes of human and superhuman and the peculiar, shorthand kind of character development we see. I do know that this scenario--organizing an entire movie or show around the explanation of and excuses for a man's bad behavior--is all too common.

I *do* think that you can read and write these stories against the grain and find something new and wonderful in them, and I don't think that makes you (us) bad progressives, or bad lesbians, or bad people. But I just wish we didn't have to, you know?

Thanks for such a long and thoughtful comment, cartoonheroine. M.

[arallara]

Thanks very much for this post! Linked here by...er, someone on my friendslist or DW reading page??

I love, love, love Sherlock in so many ways, find it absolutely compelling as a slash fan, but this post really says it all from a cultural/media criticism perspective. Even as I was loving the performances and the chemistry and the gorgeous tv-making, I was definitely skeeved out by all of this (though without articulating all of it to myself so well as you have here), along with the sketchy race issues in especially the second episode. I'm bookmarking this for future reference and balance when I need it. :)

[tilda]

Wow, and there I was thinking the only problems with Sherlock were the Ep 2 racefail. Consider my eyes opened. Thanks. I will look harder next time :|

I saw this linked on my pinboard network btw, tho i have seen you round tarte's too :)

[stewardess]

Thanks. Sent here by mecurtin. I really needed to read this after seeing season 2 episode 1, which was about 90 straight minutes of Women protest that they don't want to take care of you, but they really do.

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks for the comment, all these months later. I'm sitting here stewing over Belgravia as we speak. *frowns, pulse racing, and not with love* M.

[chironstar]

Amazing work and hits home on so many levels. I watched all 2 seasons of Sherlock and I was dazzled by the stylistic modern adaptation, but after thinking more closely about it, I realized that the way they portrayed women and POCs in general just rubbed me the wrong way.

Thank you for this fantastic meta. ♥♥♥ You've expressed the problems with the show so eloquently and powerfully, this is going straight into my Mem/Bookmarks!

[majoline]

Thank you for sharing this! During season 1 I ended up reading a lot of the fic before I saw the show and ended up watching it. It's one of those things I like in theory but have a hard time sitting through without critiquing or even just talking through it.

When one lays out the episodes like you have, it's chilling. That's what the discomfort was. I realize that Sherlock Holmes the books is not a canon without problems, but sometimes I just end up tired that of course there had to be all of these problems tacked onto the original text.

What really strikes me is the fact that this meta is about the first season and yet we find:

"Once, famously, a woman got the best of you. Now, you get the best of the woman, every time."

We haven't even gotten to Irene Adler at that point and yet... :/

Here via a whole slew of links to metas, sorry I can't be more precise.

[delphi]

I am so glad you linked this from the reccing meme, as I missed this the first time around. Wow - you really nailed it. And even before the Irene Adler episode that prodded me over the line from "ugh, but..." to "OH HELL NO."

[magnetic_pole]

Oh my word, D, had I known going in who the showrunners were and what folks had to say about their other work, I think I might have skipped the entire thing, all my love for Sherlock Holmes aside. It's not just problematic, but precisely the kind of problematic that sets me off.

Thanks for reading! (And I'm just now catching up on comments--I've been wanting to respond to your insightful comment about houses and sorting for days.) M.