Martin talks about Sherlock, “the interview” and its repercusions and Benedict. Extract from the full 53 minute podcast
Ok, so he doesn’t hate Sherlock, and he’s read some cool fanfic, but Martin still denies that he and Ben ever played it as a gay relationship.
He’s a very very good liar (unlike Ben) so it’s always bizarre to hear him, he sounds so sincere. But, yeah, no. You’re way too good an actor to have that all be unintentional, even if you were wildly in love yourself. And too smart not to be aware of basic tropes in fiction as well. Yes, men can be close, but honestly you’re out of your mind if you’re claiming friends would ever grieve like that, be that sad at the others wedding, be that jealous, come back to life, etc, etc.
And his claimed blindness isn’t just about their performances, its also not being aware of historical context (queer readings since the stories were published), and claiming only supposedly deluded mega fans “imagined” the romance. Knowing it’s been a topic of discussion since the start could actually support the argument he was making, so maybe he’s actually ignorant—he could say that we’re projecting based on long held beliefs, and say that people project on every adaptation, it’s not just theirs. And it’s just not believable to say that casual fans didn’t see it as well—reviews said it from the start, and things like just kiss him already at that awards show. Yes some of it could be taken as a response to their “joke” but anyone seeing how strong that was, from the start, could have (would have) toned it down a bit if it wasn’t intended. Instead they ramped it up. So, yeah, you’re a liar. I don’t know why, but you’re a liar.
Is he aware of the fact how ridiculous he sounds? I don’t believe that Martin is such a shitty actor who can’t tell a difference between two best friends and two men who are pining for each other for years. He isn’t an idiot, he knows what he was doing in the pilot episode, in the Angelo’s scene, in “staff that you wanted to say” scene, in TSOT, and the tarmac scene, and the scene with Janine, and TAB, for God’s sake.
I believe what I see on the screen and I can’t care less about his words, especially such bullshit.
I do understand that he can’t (doesn’t want) tell the interviewer something like “yeah, I totally aware that we played something more than friends”, but why this blatant refusal? Martin, even Mark himself told us about using of homoerotic subtext and gay jokes that went too far. Where is the truth?
@freebatcharchive Well I think he over sells how well made and great Sherlock is, which suggests that someone from the Sherlock team has been in touch. We know that whenever a cast member [usually Ben] says something about the show which is not towing the party line, that they either have to clarify/retract or one of TPTB give a contradicting statement to the press. Moffat did this during s4 when Ben let it slip too early that it seemed like a good place to stop. Moffat quickly corrected it by saying there may be a ‘pause’ but not a hard stop. That continues to be the official line on the matter. Martin has been asked to make it clear that he may be back. Also MF clearly loves John Watson, he’s very determined and honest about that. He’s also being truthful about Ben and his regard for Ben in the role and his enjoyment of working with him.
He tries to mitigate how he feels over the issue of stardom and the fan base. Martin is a private person, think about it, his every move, word, facial expression, has been analysed by fandom and that must seem very intrusive. He has heard, albeit not completely correct imho, via Amanda about her experiences with fans, especially the negative ones. He knows Ben had a scary stalker on s4 and that Ben came to him worried over it. Plus Martin lurks on social media, and he does know what we say on here. So we have to take this into account, that his lived experience of fandom is very different to ours. In fact it must feel like ‘doxing’. He’s exposed by us. Would any of us really want that? So he’s doing his best here to not change his previous statements on fandom spoiling his work life, yet to be more diplomatic.
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