prefacing this post by saying that there is brief mention of rape !
BBC’s Sherlock is a crime drama series that puts a contemporary spin on Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Novels. This show is loved globally, as well as in Britain , and it’s easy to see why. For those outside of Britain, this show perfectly represents how Britain is portrayed through stereotypes and for those inside, it conforms to the Albionic Englishness that Gilroy says Britons find comfort in.
As this show is set in modern day London, it would be safe to assume that it would be representative of the cultural mixing pot that London is. However, in 1o regular recurring character across 4 seasons, there is only one who is non-white.
Paul Gilroy says that Albionic Englishness is media’s preoccupation with British tradition as a further response to postcolonial melancholia (the British Empire has dissolved so the media churn out reminders of World War victories to compensate their depression.) Something which Sherlock is very much guilty of.
A direct connection to the World War victories in Sherlock is John Watson’s military past which we are introduced to straight away with the 1x1 opening scene being a flashback to his time in Afghanistan then again when Sherlock makes his first deduction on John in their first meeting by asking “Afghanistan or Iraq?” Throughout the show, John makes many references to his military career, probably most strongly during 3x2 when we see Sherlock and Watson attempt to solve the murder of a grenadier guard and John uses his military status to gain access and respect within the walls of Buckingham Palace. While he isn’t really hailed as a hero at any point in the show’s run, it is clear that there is great respect for John Watson’s experience.
Ahead of this blogpost, I asked people I knew to describe the average British man. there was a stark difference in the answers of those from/living in Britain and those who said they had never been. The latter group described the British man as tall, white, brown hair and a strong ‘British accent,’ dressed and behaving smartly whereas the general consensus from those from or living in Britain was that the average British man is white, bald, overweights and obsessed with drinking and football. Using this research, Sherlock falls into the category that perpetuates external stereotypes about British men with Benedict Cumberbatch, actor of title character, being tall, white, brown hair and a strong ‘British accent,’ dressed, somewhat, smartly.
1x1, A Study in Pink, first aired in 2010 and the final episode to date, 4x3, The Final Problem, aired in 2017. I watched both of these episodes to compare the representations in the many years between these episodes and was incredibly disappointed t find that there was little to none improvement in diversity and representations of minorities in society. Significant events, in terms of social change, in these 7 years include the legalisation of gay marriage and the Me Too movement.
When Mrs Hudson, the landlord of 221B Baker Street first meets John Watson, she assumes (as do many people throughout that first episode) that he and Sherlock are in a relationship. When John denies this claim she tries to comfort him by saying “oh don’t worry, there’s all sorts round here. Mrs Turner next door’s got married ones.” Even though Mrs Hudson’s comment was to assure her new tenants that she is accepting of all different kinds of people, including gay people. By using the terms ‘all sorts’ and referring to married gay couples as ‘ones’ almost trivialises the identity of gay people and further pushes stereotypes that to be gay is to be outside of the social norm.
While I would expect to able to say that the final episode of season 4 would present more up to date ideas about society, I am not. In a visit to his sister, Eurus, Sherlock finds out she has had sex which opens up questions about the circumstances considering she has been locked away in a maximum security unit for the majority of her life. The conversation is as follows
E: I’ve had sex
SH: How?
E: One of the nurses got careless, I liked it. Messy, though. People are so breakable.
SH: I take it he didn’t consent.
E: He?
SH: She?
E: Afraid I didn’t notice in the heat of the moment and afterwards well, you couldn’t really tell. Within the context of the show, Sherlock’s question of consent may tell audiences how he views his sister and what he imagines she is capable of and willing to do but based on the town with which it was said, it seems like such a nonchalant comment which may lead people to assume that Holmes finds rape an insignificant topic and consent, or therefore lack of, isn’t really that relevant when it comes to having sex. This interaction is also interesting in the way that Eurus reacts when Sherlock assumes that the person she had sex with is a man. This is interesting because we know that, other than her brief escape to play various characters in John and Sherlock’s lives, she has been away from society since childhood. The fact that she is shocked at Holmes’ assumption suggests she is either implying she isn’t straight or is suggesting that Sherlock should be less should be less comphet in the day and age we see this episode take place in.
Throughout the series there are also smaller signifiers of Englishness such as cushions with the Union flag on them and a love of chip shop chips as well as a title sequence which implies a pride of the nations capital, and setting for Sherlock, London.
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