The Sherlock Fandom

Hopefully this picture makes up for what you're about to read...

I would be the first to admit that I am a Sherlock fangirl. (That's the show, not the character, if you were wondering about the italics...) Not the worst, but not as far from it as I'd like either. But something about this fandom really drives me insane - and it isn't Benedict Cumberbatch. Now, don't get me wrong, I think he's a good actor and in all probability the best choice for the role. But that's just it; most of my fellow fans seem incapable of getting any further than staring witlessly at the screen every time he so much as blinks, let alone appraising his actual performance merit. I find it ceaselessly frustrating that I seem to be one of the only people watching this show for other reasons than hormonal, that's all. By all means, continue as you are! But please, show a little mental diversity? Would it kill you to look beyond the face and appreciate the plots, the effects, the acting, the scripts, anything else at all? This rant, incidentally, is inspired by just such comments about the very picture you see above, to which the primary response on a particular popular-but-waning social media site was to the effect of 'Lucky teacup!', followed by far too many emoticons (if that is still the term du jour for such symbols?)

Personally my favourite character in the show is Mycroft. Maybe he doesn't have cheekbones you could cut yourself on, or hair that belongs in a shampoo advert, but the depth and complexity of his character is infinitely more rewarding. Watching the character develop, learning more about him and coming to understand the thoughts behind his actions has made the show a far richer experience for me than it would have been otherwise. But let's look at the others for a moment: Sherlock, the isolated-but-secretly-craving-friendship 'sociopath'; John, the I-couldn't-be-closer-to-the-stereotypically-loyal-sidekick; Moriarty, a crude and predictable semi-inversion of Sherlock who with every episode drifts further away from the deviously captivating original of Conan Doyle's imagining... and I won't even begin to mention Molly, who beggars description. Send her out into the world and let her fangirl with the rest of them. At least Mrs. Hudson has more than two dimensions, but her character is nowhere near central enough to make the most of this.

The show saw a radical shift in the latest series, but few seem to have noticed - and even fewer noted - this. Of course they haven't. Maybe if you took your eyes off that purple shirt for five seconds...? But it isn't nearly fresh enough in my mind to delve into that particular discussion right now, so I'll apologise for my one-sided irritability and sign off. Please don't excommunicate me, fandom?