Unpopular Opinion Time - Sherlock

[sdelmonte]

I finally saw the premiere of the new BBC Sherlock series.

I didn't care for it much. It has a lot going for it, but I did not like Sherlock himself at all. And I have other qualms as well.

From my brief research on the topic, I am the only person on Earth who didn't like it.

This is not the first time I was part of a small minority on such matters. And now I wonder if should either blog more about such matters, or poll my f-list to see who else has that one (or, in case, more than one) thing that just don't get.

That is all.

Comments

[yakalskovich]

I know that there are one or two Milliwaysers who either dislike the new BBC Sherlock like burning, or have serious and well-argued qualms about it.

I'm not one of them, even though I can see the point people make (just as I can about Supernatural), but you're by no means alone with your opinion.

[sdelmonte]

What is really perplexing is that the critics - who I still take seriously, Lord help me - also loved it almost universally. How often does that happen? (The Social Network also got that treatment, but I have no interest in seeing it regardless of reception.)

Though when that happens, I almost never agree. I like to think that I am not being contrary just to be contrary, but sometimes I wonder.

[yakalskovich]

Well, fandom defines itself as 'group of people that love the same media output', originally. One is inclined to like what other people like.

But in meta-fandom like Milliways, overlap is only minimal. Anybody is entitled to their own opinion on the separate media phenomena people like. My eyes glaze over at discussion of the DC and Marvel superhero comics, and I go look at cat colouring charts instead (for example). I did read the graphic novel Madb took her version of Sir Nicholas from, because I was curious, but while the story itself was interesting and the artwork gorgeous, all the meta of all the charries being somebody else from the mainstream of superhero stories, and the fun in recognising how they'd been changed to fit the ideas of the time, went completely over my head.

That doesn't take away the fun my charries keep having with DC and Marvel characters in the bar since forever; but such are the special joys of Milliways.

[mtgat]

I didn't care for it much.

*waves hand*

And we shall have our own little corner where we grump together.

[sdelmonte]

Feel free to join me!

Wanna watch the 1980s Holmes with Jeremy Brett?

(For the record, I have no problem with updating Holmes to be in the present. How can anyone who reads comics starring heroes created in 1939 object to such things?)

[dewline.livejournal.com]

We can rationalize these decisions very easily. At the drop of any chapeau you care to name.

We are still human.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

While I loved it tremendously, I do want to drop a note saying "Yes, please absolutely expand on your contrary opinions."

I LIKE contrary opinions -- even ones I disagree with. I learn things from them, and get a better handle on my own opinions from the challenge. And you always write well and reasonably enough for this to happen.

[sdelmonte]

Well, if I am to expand, I have three major areas of contention.

The most overwhelming is, as noted, Holmes' sheer unlikeability. I give Cumberbatch a lot of credit for playing it well, but I never felt like this was a hero I wanted to spend any time with. It's not the first time I've seen that - TBH, Bruce Wayne in the batsuit can be just as much of a jerk but only in print - and it's not the first time I have been unsatisfied. Even Monk, a show I liked, tended to shove me away in a similar fashion.

I also was very put off by the visualizations of how Holmes' mind works. He tells us what he found anyway, so it struck me as unnecessary as well. (I didn't quite care for similar tricks in the recent film, either.)

Lastly, once Holmes chose to go with the cabbie and be all cryptic-crazy, the story lost me. It was true to the character as written but not very believable. It worked for me only insofar as it did give us lots of good stuff with Watson. And Martin Freeman, whatever else, was amazing.

[vivien]

Awwwwww you're allowed to dislike what you don't care for and write about it! I have many unpopular fandom opinions. ;-)

[innerbrat]

Really didn't like it. At all. I assume the episode you saw wasn't the horribly racist one, but... yeah, I choose to leave it.

[sdelmonte]

No, just saw the pilot. Which at least didn't have anything I objected in that way.

[badninja.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it because I cannot be brought to be interested in any way. If I want a good literature detective I'll watch Nero Wolfe. Nothing I've heard about it gives me much confidence, so Ill just not give it the chance to slant my viewpoint. :/

[wakeupnew]

You are not alone; I strongly disliked Sherlock.

[ashen_key]

Not inclined to watch it - something about it irritates me, and that's without all the fail going on (Watson's injury is all in his mind? REALLY? Nice one, writers)

[bigfluffball.livejournal.com]

I loved it, but I know it's got a few fexex arrows in, and I don't mind if other people don't like what I like so long as I still get to watch it without getting a hard time for doing so.

And vice versa there are some things I know everyone but me liked - I utterly loathed Lost and couldn't get past episode two because of the continuous references to crashing planes. And I'd rate Dark Knight the worst film I've ever seen at the cinema.

[the_croupier]

I liked the pilot, but the second and third eps lost me completely. The second was boring and predictable, and the third was incomprehensible (if you thought the pilot got confusing...). And the poor judgment shown in the portrayal of Asian characters was just stupidly tone deaf for a series in 2010. I have the annoyed suspicion Davies thought this would be a way to evoke an aspect of Holmes' Victorian origins, but it just makes one want to smack him (or whoever) upside the head for being an idiot.

I did like Cumberbatch's Sherlock (though I couldn't tell you exactly why I found him sympathetic), and I liked the visual effects because I felt they were offering an insight into Holmes' method we hadn't seen before. But I also have to say, I thought there was a touch too much of Davies' 10th Doctor in this Sherlock (particularly during his outbursts of excitement), which made the portrayal seem less original than it might have been.

Yes, please more contrarian opinions, Alex. It's always good to see them.