In Which There Is A Test (And I'm Pretty Sure I Fail)

[amalnahurriyeh]

So, it seems that everybody on my flist is super into Elementary. I am excited for all of you! It really seems like the leaked pilot is hitting everybody's buttons and is well-done to boot. This is awesome! I am happy!

I have no idea if I'm going to be able to watch it.



I'll admit, I rolled my eyes a little when I heard we were going to get another contemporary Sherlock Holmes adaptation, set in the US (and in New York, of course in New York, we set everything in New York because we have no sense of place in this country), hot on the heels of the success of Sherlock. I rolled my eyes, because I liked the original Life on Mars and I liked the original Being Human and I thought it was absurd how much American TV executives seem to like the idea of stealing BBC shows and waving their hands over them to set them in America. I think it's tired and uncreative.

But, fundamentally, the Holmes canon is infinitely adaptable. If I rolled my eyes, I forgot about it immediately afterward. And I was pleasantly pleased to hear that Lucy Liu had been cast as Joan Watson, because Lucy Liu is awesome, and I like crime dramas with awesome ladies. (I also had a minor eyeroll about the "ooh, a lady Watson, how novel!" rhetoric that floated around, and agreed with the people who said "no, you know what would have been actually novel? LADY HOLMES." Because, let's be real, the world needs MOAR LADY HOLMES.)

And then, this thing happened, where I fell into Sherlock like I was falling off a cliff OK, that's a bad metaphor in this case but you know what I mean. It's not just that I happen to ship the central pairing (though I do), or that I happen to enjoy watching the show (though I do), but that something flipped in the way I feel when I watched it. It isn't just fun for me to watch anymore; in fact, it's painful at times, because I have complicated emotional responses to the characters. I care about them, really profoundly. But more than that--and more than any show since The X-Files, and this is totally weirding me out, FYI--I found a set of fictional characters with whom I could painfully and completely identify. I don't just feel for them when I'm watching the show, I feel as them, which means that everything hurts or is glorious in turn. I get that I'm overidentifying and projecting, and that this isn't precisely healthy or normal, but it's a thing I sometimes do with fictional characters, and it's really synonymous with being in a fandom for me.

So, OK, I'm in Sherlock fandom, and that's fine--it's a little weird to be hanging out the edges of a slashy mega-fandom, but it's also cool, and I've been enjoying it. But then along comes Elementary, and it seems that there's a choice to be made here. Apparently a bunch of Sherlock fans, and some of the creators, have been shitty and dismissive about Elementary. That sucks. Even if you think it's derivative, that's no reason to be shitty about it, and there's no point being excessively critical before the damn thing has even aired. Plus, you know, if we're talking about adapting Holmes canon, that ship has sailed in terms of originality. io9 gave really good recommendations to the American Being Human, so even a direct adaptation can still be interesting. (American Life on Mars sucked and made me livid and I only watched one episode, but that's just me.)

And so I'm seeing people I know, and like, and whose fandom-politics are very much like mine, starting to post about Elementary and they're…either defensive or…gloating? Like, not gloating, but "see how wrong the haters were? Hate on, haters! Ours is awesome! And it has ladies, and shows with ladies are better, amirite?" And…I get it. And I am so glad people are liking it. And I agree, more ladies! I am on team More Ladies And More Racial/Ethnic Diversity In Television If You Please! And I am also on Team Sherlock This Show Is Way Too Fucking White Okay Can You Please Not Have There Be One Regular Character Of Color And Then Make Her A Bad Guy Seriously Shit Is Fucked Up Do I Need To Show You A Demographic Profile Of London For Realz! All of this is stuff my brain, and my heart, and my feelings agree with!

And I overproject like a motherfucker onto the face of Benedict-Cumberbatch-as-Sherlock-Holmes and, let's be real, onto the leg of Martin-Freeman-as-John-Watson (and OK also his face sometimes). And I worry that, if I turn on my TV and there are other people with these names, who are not the versions that I have all these complicated emotional relationships with, I won't be able to stand it. That it'll hurt, and not the good way that watching Sherlock hurts.

And I worry that, if I don't like it--if I don't prefer this version of it--I am one of those people that my friends--who are actually my friends--are annoyed at. I don't want to be one of them. I don't watch to begrudge them their enjoyment of Elementary, or even engage in some kind of low-level fanwank about which show is better on whatever measures. Fundamentally, it doesn't matter which is a "better" show by whatever rubric. My reaction to Sherlock isn't about quality, except insofar as a truly awful show probably wouldn't be narratively compelling enough to suck me in like this. It's about the buttons it hits, which are deeply idiosyncratic. Elementary may well be better. I support this possibility.

What I'm saying is, there is a right answer here, which is to make room for Elementary in my personal fannishness, and let it nudge aside Sherlock, maybe even replace it. But, ow. Ow ow ow ow ow. I don't want to cut Sherlock out of me, right now. I like him where he is.

If this is a litmus test, I fail it. (And I don't think necessarily think anybody wants it to be one. Maybe some people do. I don't know. But it still feels like one, to me at least.) I still don't know how to reconcile this, except that the existence of this failure hurts.

But less than cutting out Sherlock.



I guess what I'm saying is this: I am excited that Elementary appears to be awesome from the pilot. If I'm not watching it, it's not because I don't support its existence and wish it well. And if I don't comment on your reaction posts and thoughts about it, it's not that I don't care. And if I keep talking about Sherlock, it doesn't mean I've picked my side.

Comments

[jae]

If it helps any, I'd probably feel exactly the same way you do in that position.

-J

[amalnahurriyeh]

I am pretty sure I am not the only person who is Overwhelmed With Feelings Because Of People's Faces. Sigh. It's a bit of a hindrance at times. (The XF2 posters in my subway stations were distracting as hell.)

[lilacsigil]

I really liked Elementary and cannot stand Sherlock, but I think "I like one better than the other" is a long, long way from being one of those asshole fans. Most of the celebrating I have seen was about having such a well-written Asian woman in a lead role and/or backlash against the vitriol directed against Lucy Liu's casting. Not watching Elementary doesn't make you a Bad Person. Watching it doesn't make you a Good Person. Even though fandom does seem to try to cut down those lines sometimes.

[amalnahurriyeh]

I'm hoping my feelings settle down some so I can actually watch it, because it's nice to see so many people excited. (There was a great joke on the yuletide comm where people were talking about nominations: "Is Elementary too big a fandom yet for Yuletide?" "I think we can keep it under 500 fics for the next couple weeks, if we try really hard." Iiiii'm pretty sure this is going to be epic.)

I suppose my thing here is that I do think there are better and worse choices to make when picking shows to watch, and that those choices are morally meaningful. But at the same time, there's also a way in which being emotionally fannish (as I do it) involves a certain level of emotional involuntariness. (I mutter about this in this old meta about how Fox Mulder owns my brain and this is kind of problematic for my feminism. Just do a find/replace for "douchebag Sherlock Holmes" and it applies in this case too.) So what's the ethically defensible way to navigate between these two points?

I know, I'll just have my wife buy the whole season of Elementary on Amazon, and then I will have no moral compunctions about it. *g*

[lilacsigil]

So what's the ethically defensible way to navigate between these two points?

Avoid the "eat your vegetables" approach (or litmus test)! Maybe you don't have space in your imaginative landscape for another Holmes and Watson right now. Maybe there's something about an arrogant douchebag genius that really appeals to you (you're obviously far from alone there!) Maybe something about Elementary will click for you fannishly and you'll adore it forever more. But the only thing that I'm sure of is that the "eat your vegetables" approach (as opposed to the "try something different, maybe you'll like it" approach) isn't good for the fannish soul and breeds discomfort and resentment. (see: my efforts to watch Nikita)

I think you're already taking the ethically defensible path, which is to enjoy what you enjoy, try new things when you feel ready, and don't harsh other people's squee in their spaces. And, of course, buying the whole thing on Amazon!

[wendelah1]

Yeah. Okay. I don't see many people from your fandom crossing over into Elementary territory. A few will give it a chance. Your discomfort about the show is noted, and given how you feel about Sherlock BBC, it's entirely understandable.

They seem like really different shows, and for me, that's all to the good.

[amalnahurriyeh]

Hmm, really? Why do they seems so different to you? I look at them, and I see 1) procedural crime drama 2) central pair of characters who are the emotional heart of the show 3) meant to be at least a little thinky 4) hip and agressively contemporary in their framing. Not to mention 5) derived from the same source text. At the level of casual viewing, they should appeal to the exact same people. (In fact, in the abstract, Elementary appeals to me a lot. This is partially why I am feeling so weird about it--this is a show I should be watching, but then weirdness.)

I guess, when I'm not just flailing about because feelings, I'm interested in the way fandom creates these spaces where our minds and our hearts get tangled up in wanting different things--the ways in which we relate to our fannish objects that doesn't follow any particular sort of logical thread, even emotional logic. I don't really have a clear way of expressing this yet--probably someone else has, though.