Thoughts on Sherlock
Jan. 20th, 2014 01:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valarltdI haven't seen season 3. So bear with. This is less about the show than about my reactions to it.
I hear a lot about "Elementary" is so much better because special snowflake guy gets called on his bad behavior.
Er, no.
That's not why I watch Sherlock.
I watch Sherlock for the same reason I watch Sons of Anarchy: Because he gets away with it most of the time.
I was raised "be smart, but don't show how smart you are or people won't like you." I am regularly accused of intellectual elitism, and my usual response is "Of course. Everyone would be if they had anything to be elite about." I doubt whether those with an IQ of less than 120 should be considered human. All of this puts me out of step with my raising and the people around me.
I watch Sherlock, because here is homo superior being obvious about it. He thinks rings around the homo sapiens who surround him, and makes no bones about calling them stupid. " Dear God. What is it like in your funny little brains? It must be so boring."
I don't WANT him called on his arrogance. I don't want the norms around him bringing him down a peg. This is the same way I feel when people talk about a redemption arc for Jax Teller. No, no, no. I'm tuning in to watch him do horrible things: kill people, run prostitution rings and porno studios, kill people, make underhanded deals and kill more people. After 6 seasons of this, I don't think there can be redemption.
Sherlock is not a good guy. "Oh, I may be on the side of the angels... but don't think for one second that I am one of them." He knows he's a sociopath. He manipulates, he condescends, he flouts social convention. He gets away with it. And that's what the viewers want, or at least this viewer.
After all, "What's the good of being clever if you can't prove it?"
I hear a lot about "Elementary" is so much better because special snowflake guy gets called on his bad behavior.
Er, no.
That's not why I watch Sherlock.
I watch Sherlock for the same reason I watch Sons of Anarchy: Because he gets away with it most of the time.
I was raised "be smart, but don't show how smart you are or people won't like you." I am regularly accused of intellectual elitism, and my usual response is "Of course. Everyone would be if they had anything to be elite about." I doubt whether those with an IQ of less than 120 should be considered human. All of this puts me out of step with my raising and the people around me.
I watch Sherlock, because here is homo superior being obvious about it. He thinks rings around the homo sapiens who surround him, and makes no bones about calling them stupid. " Dear God. What is it like in your funny little brains? It must be so boring."
I don't WANT him called on his arrogance. I don't want the norms around him bringing him down a peg. This is the same way I feel when people talk about a redemption arc for Jax Teller. No, no, no. I'm tuning in to watch him do horrible things: kill people, run prostitution rings and porno studios, kill people, make underhanded deals and kill more people. After 6 seasons of this, I don't think there can be redemption.
Sherlock is not a good guy. "Oh, I may be on the side of the angels... but don't think for one second that I am one of them." He knows he's a sociopath. He manipulates, he condescends, he flouts social convention. He gets away with it. And that's what the viewers want, or at least this viewer.
After all, "What's the good of being clever if you can't prove it?"
