Elementary Creator Defends Decision to Make Watson a Woman

soooo excited, as a fan of both elementary (yes, already!) and sherlock i’m ready for the fandom wars to end. hopefully this will calm down all the nastiness between the small group of fans looking forward to elementary and the sherlock fans who are against it. keep calm and love all the sherlocks (and watsons)!

Truth be told, I’m not really impressed by anything I’ve seen and/or heard regarding this series (and yes, I am an avid BBC Sherlock fan). I don’t care if people decide to remake it, but it honestly looks and feels like they’re trying to cash in on the Sherlock high.  I also don’t think they’ll be able to evade the Will They Won’t They trope that these kinds of story lines have because we already see it with BBC’s Sherlock, as well a the Sherlock films that are heavily laden with bromantic themes and undertones. I like Miller, but I don’t care much for Liu. The only thing about this show that has me the least bit curious is Michael Cuesta, if only because he had a connection to a few Dexter episodes.

I think it has potential. It might be an epic failure, but…if the writers portray Watson well, this could end up being a really fun take of the character, and a nice chance to see a female character in an active role. (Particularly if they really come through on portraying it as a deep friendship, instead of something like Moonlighting.)

Then again, I’m not one to be up-in-arms over weird adaptations of classic literature. One of my favorite cartoons as a kid was Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, in which Holmes had been cryogenetically frozen only to be revived in…well, the 22nd century. Also Watson was actually a robot meant to just look and act like Watson (since the real one was long dead) and Lestrade was the descendant of the Lestrade from Holmes’ time (and a woman) and most of the series was just an excuse to do adaptations of classic Holmes stories BUT WITH FLYING CARS! so…yeah, in comparison Elementary doesn’t seem all that strange.

Elementary is clearly jumping on the Sherlock bandwagon which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…however, I’ve never been impressed by Lucy Liu, the producers will DEFINITELY make Sherlock & Watson an item in a few seasons, the actor playing Sherlock in the trailer seems to completely lack any sort of charisma or interesting quirk and his deliveries remind me of Prince Valium, and the real question that should be asked is, “Why didn’t they make Sherlock Holmes female?” or “Why isn’t he a pregnant Asian senior citizen with psychic powers?” or “Why isn’t the entirety of the show set in an Oz populated by Munchkin Bob Fett enthusiasts that never remove their helmets?” or “Why should I care that they’re creating another procedural television show?” or “Why the Hell isn’t Lucy Lawless in a  new series yet? She died in Spartacus last year for chrissake.”

Not excited at all just another show cashing in on the Sherlock high plus it will fall into that same old trope of will they won’t they we can all see it coming. If they don’t I’ll be surprised but to capture a large audience they are going to have to move in a direction. Also this has all just become a trend its nothing ground breaking in its own right, we have shows about people drug addictions, homosexual, & interracial marriage plus the issues that come with it. Gangster life styles have become today’s children’s modern cowboy’s and Indians its nothing new or taboo so what’s ground breaking about this series other then making a male character into a female character? Its been done before, Indiana Jones is Tomb Raider as a prime example of taking a male action role and making it for women. Plus writers and directors don’t ever have a say in what a show is going to be like, the producers are the ones who call the shots because they are the ones forking over the money and if they are loosing ratings they are going to go with what works. Just doesn’t feel anything new, and with it being on CBS I can’t see it becoming something that will not have a huge following because its on a network that is family oriented programming anyway.

I had reservations about the show not because of the genderswap, because let’s face it, this is not our first rodeo with Sherlock Holmes and genderswap (I’m looking at you, fanfiction). My irritation is with the character assassination that went along with it. Why is Liu’s Watson stripped of her medical license? Why is she not a veteran? To me, these things are intrinsic to the character of John/Joan Watson, and I’m not thrilled that CBS decided to give us a female Watson without that background. I’m also not thrilled that Watson’s effectively *assigned* to Holmes, rather than introduced and then makes the conscious choice to become Holmes’s flatmate. 

Whether these changes have anything to do with CBS trying very, very hard to keep their distance from the BBC’s Sherlock is of course not completely clear, but to me that seems to be the case.

However, I did watch the (unedited, unmixed) pilot a couple of weeks ago, and I will go out on a limb and say that it has some potential. Her backstory is still problematic (I watched it with two doctors who ranted about the loss of her medical license as “that is not how it happens!”) but if they’re clever with character development, it’s salvageable. JLM’s Sherlock is delightfully deranged, though they definitely need stronger writers to make the cases more compelling and less ridiculous and deux ex machina (the case in the pilot is weak, the solution weaker).

At the moment, Elementary is a bland procedural that wastes its talent. But I’m going to watch it, and hope that with better writing and a better explanation of Joan’s backstory, that Elementary becomes more than it is.

At least it gives us something to do until Sherlock Series 3. (Moffat!!!!)

There’s nothing wrong at all with changing Watson’s gender, I don’t like Liu for the part though. 

This show may be okay, but they had a chance to make it great and give it a reason to exist and they either missed it completely, or else they chickened out. I would absolutely LOVE to see a good actress have a shot at playing Holmes. That would be must see TV. It would be unique and it would be incredibly progressive. A female Holmes, brilliant and she knows it. Completely uninterested in making people like her, or worrying about how fashionable she is. She would be very threatening to anyone the least bit misogynistic. It would be wonderful, fascinating television. 

I think a female Holmes would be more fitting.

Has anyone read the Laurie King novels where SHerlock actually gets married? He does treat her like an alternate Watson, after the dr moves on.

Even if they are just cashing in on the Sherlock-high that’s going on there’s nothing wrong with that.  All it does is give us another layer of one of literature’s legendary characters.

Just think of Vampire Diaries.  They were trying to cash in on the Vampire Craze and as a result, a well written and critically acclaimed show came out of it.

If they can pull off something like Mulder and Scully in X-Files (I ship/shipped them, but I also see them as an amazing friendship), I might like this. 

Currently, what’s important to me is the fact that it’s another step forward for Asian actors in leading roles in mainstream television. I spend so much of my time giving all of my love to shows such as BSG, H50, and Lost because they featured strong, fleshed-out, less stereotypical characterizations of Asians. The fact that Grace Park and Yunjin Kim are women is a definite plus. I am uncertain about whether Elementary can pull off a strong story or well-executed characters, but there are plenty of mainstream TV shows that are neither deep nor clever, but have popular appeal. No one should underestimate the impact that can have on future casting decisions.

I am extremely excited for this year’s TV, and the slow, but steady steps Asians are taking to get on screen. There’s Elementary, there’s Sullivan and Son (which looks like it can be absolutely horrible, but is worth a shot), and there’s the casting of Mulan in Once Upon a Time.

No matter what people want to dislike about Elementary, they have to realize how important this is for certain people, like myself who would love to have strong characters of their own ethnicity to relate to.

Not to mention, it would be fantastic to have a platonic female/male relationship going strong on TV. We don’t have nearly enough of those.

Not interested, just like I wasn’t interested in the reboot of Battlestar Galactica where they made half of the original male characters female.  It’s obvious that at least part of the gender swap is so they can ramp up the sexual tension between Holmes and Watson without having to “deal with” the fact both characters are male.

It’s a shame too, because I like both actors.

I tend to think that Liu is too strong of an actress for this role. She’s exotically beautiful, not commonplace; Watson is us, he’s the ordinary person, the audience view into the mind and friendship of someone whose mind is on fire. Liu is not us, not on screen. She’s like Absinthe when the drink needs beer. Watson as a woman is no issue; Watson as a woman, though, ought to be someone who’s had a couple of careers and been successful at them, someone not quite so pretty. Someone with character, someone a little older than Holmes - and Liu is beautiful but doesn’t yet have the age for Watson. The past, the careers. Holmes is the pretty one, the younger one, the energetic one. The weird one. 

Whereas this Sherlock isn’t quite strange enough, from the trailers; Sherlock in the books, in the common perception, is a right jerk and a nutter and a bit pretentious and a genius. This Sherlock seems rather doe-eyed. I do hope to be proven wrong, and trailers are not the show. But this is Hollywood and Hollywood sucks at writing female characters. 

Anyone who thinks Liu isn’t “strong” enough or “average” enough to play a genderbent Watson has obviously not watched Southland’s last season where she played a street patrol officer with ambitions of becoming Captain.  The character was definitely not the “Dragon Lady” character that she can get pegged into.  I was so disappointed that she left after only one season, but I am super excited for this project.  Why doesn’t everyone shut their gobs and wait until we have some actual evidence (i.e. trailer, a pilot, an episode or 6?) before we start passing judgement.  We certainly don’t have enough substantial information to draw conclusions at this time.  Sherlock would be ashamed at all the sloppy deductions people are making. 

And YES, OF COURSE they’re riding the Sherlock high that’s going on.  Television studios wish to make money, they pay attention to popular trends — therefore an American version of Sherlock.  Stop saying it like it’s a bad thing.

Really? Fans get all upset about the goo in TMNT being changed to alien in origin, but the entire gender of one of the most beloved stories in recent history changes and this is the article we get?

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE Liu as an actress and I REALLY LOVE strong female leads doing more than looking pretty and giving the guy someone to pine over. But, I also think creative license can only take you so far. What next? Holmes is an alien?

Yeah those women are getting out of their place, I tell you what. 

Now come, let us club us up some dinner and perhaps discover fire.

What’s so ridiculously story-destroyingly different about women and men? I know that ‘Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus’ would beg to disagree but we’re not actually aliens as you seem to be implying. I mean the original was set in Victorian England this is set in modern day New York. Surely that’s a bigger change? 

 Um, do you know what blog you are reading right now? A blog dedicated to celebrating women in geek culture?

Love Lucy Liu so excited for this. And so glad it wasn’t another “these two men are so close and look at all theses gay jokes we make about them but NO HOMO haha” show. 

Celebrating or promoting? If the latter, then by whom? Who is benefiting? Seems more like pushing some Cultural Marxist agenda that women should become men while real men are vilified.

 Not really. 

And, lol, u mad.

Speaking as a guy who got upset about the removal of Tom Bombadil from the Lord of the Rings movies, I have to say I’m not super excited about the idea of a genderbent Watson.  I remember seeing the first commercials for it and thinking, “Oh boy, Americanized Sherlock Holmes.”  I’m really just more of thinking that there is no way that it will be better then the BBC’s Sherlock, anyway.

I will say my first thought when I saw Lucy Lui as Watson was, “Oh, he’s a woman now, so…no gay, brah.”  But if they say they are going to keep it a deep friendship without any of the romance, that would be a pretty good point in it’s favor.

 Yes, those are my exact reservations about the show as well. Also I think it’s weird that Holmes is still British but not in London. Sherlock is not Bertie Wooster, equally at home on either side of the pond. Or it it The Pond? Anyway.

 Both. And the more we celebrate peoples achievements regardless of gender, the better off everyone is. We should all aspire to be the best we can be regardless of male or female or what society thinks each gender should be doing.

 Holmes and Watson have been dogs, cats, and robots… clearly a woman is worse.
 
/I REALLY LOVE strong female leads/ saying it does not make it true. No even in caps.

I cast a fireball at the troll.

Frankly your entire reply is ridiculous. I wouldn’t like any of those versions either. You are not psychic, no matter how much you think you are. I do love strong female leads, no matter how much you say I don’t, even if you say it with snark. Your implication is what? That anyone who disagrees with a gender swap for Watson is somehow anti-woman? Can’t possibly enjoy watching women in leading roles? Does that mean I was anti-alien because I didn’t like them making the TMNT’s aliens? 

Here is a blog, please read it. http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/

Hugh Laurie should totally play Sherlock Holmes! Oh, wait…

What a load of crap. Doherty’s justification makes it abundantly clear that Watson’s identity has nothing to do with this decision. It’s all about “Holy shit, Holmes has to play with girls? How’s he gonna handle that nightmare? Surely not with a lot of mild chauvinism that gets played down as part of his irascible charm?”

If they wanted to try something new, instead of just one more story about a pretty woman playing second fiddle her smarter, more interesting, more dominant male partner, how about swapping Holmes’ gender?

I think that when people point out that they’re trying to ride a high, they’re trying to point out that, most often then not, when studios ‘jump on the band wagon’, their purpose IS to make money, not necessarily to produce something fantastic and well written. I feel like if they wanted to write a new Sherlock series that would be genuinely interesting, they would have done more than (presumably) take the BBC series and change the gender role of one character. You’re right, we don’t have much. But when people try to sell t.v. series, their job is to make it seem appealing to the masses, ASIDE from the fact that it’s Sherlock redux. BBC’s Sherlock got away with it because it was genuinely new and innovative and the way they were marketing it was intelligent. What are they doing here? Watch it! Watch our redux because there’s a CHICK playing Watson instead of a DUDE. Oh. And it’s in modern settings. BUT THERE’S A CHICK.

I find it hard to get excited over this.

“I had reservations about the show not because of the genderswap, because
let’s face it, this is not our first rodeo with Sherlock Holmes and
genderswap (I’m looking at you, fanfiction). My irritation is with the
character assassination that went along with it. Why is Liu’s Watson
stripped of her medical license? Why is she not a veteran? To me, these
things are intrinsic to the character of John/Joan Watson, and I’m not
thrilled that CBS decided to give us a female Watson without that
background. I’m also not thrilled that Watson’s effectively *assigned*
to Holmes, rather than introduced and then makes the conscious choice to
become Holmes’s flatmate.”

That’s a fantastic point. Why did they feel the need to change her background? Why did they need to change their meeting? Why would they want to distance themselves from the BBC Sherlock that they would alter the very things that made Watson what he is? 

John Watson, to me, is a practical, every day man who is a doctor and who has the training to fight and kick doors down when Holmes would rather pick the lock.  I was looking forward to the idea that Joan Watson would be exactly that.

By women, and men who like women, dumbass. 

I don’t mind that Watson is a woman.
what I do mind is that they’re creating a series on Sherlock Holmes when they’ve taken nearly everything about him that we know and love. it’s come to the point that it might as well BE another character.
and with so many detective/crime shows on TV, what I’m looking for now is quality than quantity.

I honestly don’t understand why they just didn’t go the whole 9 yards and give us a complete genderswap. Female Watson AND female Holmes! That would be an interesting and unique take to try and pull off.

Look, I love a new perspective on an old story. And I love a strong, female lead. But this is just a blatant attempt to sex up the story — you know there’s going to end up being all kinds of romantic tension between the two. And while that isn’t an inherently bad thing it is very, very different from the original spirit of these stories.

Is the show going to suck? No idea, haven’t seen it yet so I can’t judge its quality. But as a Sherlock Holmes remake I feel that it’s going to fall horribly short based on how many serious changes they’ve made to the story and characters. This is one change that I just can’t forgive.

There needs to be a different Sherlock Holmes adaptation on every channel, 24/7.

Contrary to the dismissive whining of fanboys who are mostly just pissed it isn’t Sherlock series 3, Elementary is well-written, well-acted, fun, engaging to watch, and not in any way dumbed down for American audiences. In some ways I daresay it’s even better than Sherlock. Bernard is a gifted actor but his take on Sherlock has absolutely no sympathy in it. He does NOTHING to make the character show anything that could make him grow on anyone in real life. Johnny gives Sherlock more relatability. He’s still the brilliant borderline socopathic genius, but Johnny’s Sherlock shows little bursts of humanity, regret, even occasional humility when he knows he’s crossed a line. Neither Sherlock is at all good at relating to other human beings, but Johnny’s at least is aware of the problem and makes occasional awkward attempts to rectify it.

Also, Sherlock basically blew it’s load after two series and only 6 stories. Moriarty and Adler have already come and gone. While Elementary is letting it’s version in Sherlock’s world grow and develop, and not rushing into the things that some people think Sherlock MUST have. Hell they’ve only just dropped Irene Adler’s NAME in the show, and only as a “What the hell happened with her to screw him up this bad?” appetizer. I doubt we’ll even see HINTS of Moriarty til the end of it’s second season should it survive that long, and honestly it’d be a travesty if it didn’t.

And above all, Liu as Watson is EXCELLENT. No, she should NOT have played Holmes. A female Sherlock could work, but Liu is not the actress for THAT part. But as Watson, Liu shows us a troubled, human woman, with foibles and fallibility, who nonetheless, like Sherlock, is trying to overcome, grow, and move past her demons. She’s clearly not just the “hem hem, brilliant Holmes! How DID you deduce it?” sycophant Watson is often portrayed as. She’s damned smart, and she’s learning from Sherlock mostly by observing him. Her own powers of deduction are sharpening, but at a believable pace.

I’d like to think Elementary has stifled it’s critics, and that it will continue to have a chance to grow and entertain. And I don’t think it will EVER hook Johnny and Lucy up as a couple.

I’m amazed they did Watson. I don’t think they’ve matured enough yet to allow themselves to picture a WOMAN being as relentlessly brilliant yet completely sexually disinterested as Holmes. Baby steps.

She didn’t LOSE her license. She was suspended and CHOSE to let her license expire because she began to second-guess her ability. And as her assignment to Holmes is a temporary one, she WILL be given the opportunity to CHOOSE to stay with him. Be patient, and pay better attention. And as for the military background, that’s superfluous at best. Watson HAS the personal trauma she needs to have personal demons of her own to conquer, it didn’t absolutely NEED to be military in origin.

Well, Sherlock Holmes is not supposed to be relatable, he’s supposed to be awe-inspiring.

He’s not a guy next door. He is antisocial and arrogant, yet supremely intelligent. He is aware of his superior intellect and makes no effort to hide it. He can rarely connect to other human beings on an emotional level, let alone empathize with them.This is what makes him unique. Forget being humble, he can come off as a jerk at times, yet we as the audience are in total admiration of the man and are inspired by him.

If Doyle had made Holmes have any of the qualities you mention (showing humility, regret etc), he wouldn’t have been a character which has continuously been visited and picked up for numerous adaptations, even after the passing of more than a century. The man is supposed to be one of his kind (with the exception of Moriarty, but he is on the other side of law). He may not be likeable as a human being, but he is great at what he does.

And how exactly is Watson a sycophant?

Er… nice try but no. You clearly never actually read any of Conan-Doyle’s work. The Sherlock he wrote was far closer to Johnny than Benedict. And guess what? He still IS anti-social and arrogant. He’s just also 3 dimensional. People keep going back to relatable characters. Your woefully misinformed opinion is noted, and dismissed.