And here they left out my favorite subtextual Holmes gay ship with someone other than Watson: Holmes and the butler from "The Musgrave Ritual." You can't tell me there was nothing going on there.
Given not only the various adaptations but also the mountains of Holmes pastiches, I think most people can be forgiven for not really knowing what Holmes's character is really like. Most fandoms aren't played out in public, published books the way the Holmes fandom has been. I think the classic case is that of Irene Adler who, I'm sorry, just based on "Scandal in Bohemia," I do not see as a great detective/criminal or Holmes's great nemesis/romantic interest. It's just not there. It's all over the pastiches, though. But I think all of this fanon that's built up around her (hem Mary Sue hem) obscures the elegance of her character--that she's not a great figure, but that she refuses to be a victim and outwits Holmes. For the love of someone else, even. I can't see his admiration really going beyond intellectual.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 09:31 pm (UTC)Given not only the various adaptations but also the mountains of Holmes pastiches, I think most people can be forgiven for not really knowing what Holmes's character is really like. Most fandoms aren't played out in public, published books the way the Holmes fandom has been. I think the classic case is that of Irene Adler who, I'm sorry, just based on "Scandal in Bohemia," I do not see as a great detective/criminal or Holmes's great nemesis/romantic interest. It's just not there. It's all over the pastiches, though. But I think all of this fanon that's built up around her (hem Mary Sue hem) obscures the elegance of her character--that she's not a great figure, but that she refuses to be a victim and outwits Holmes. For the love of someone else, even. I can't see his admiration really going beyond intellectual.