Cumberbatch May Not Believe Sherlock Is Asexual. Why It Doesn't Matter

Details: Category: Entertainment; Published on Saturday, 05 May 2012 21:32; Written by Lara Landis; Hits: 695

Asexuals have adopted Sherlock, but they have done so on the basis of the evidence provided by the author. There is no problem with this modus operandi. It has been adopted for other fictional characters. People have believed that two Canterbury Tales characters, the Summoner and the Pardoner, were Gay. There may or may not be evidence to support this. The author has not read the Canterbury tales.

Fans speculate about the character. The people who play the character also have their own opinions. Problems can come about when the person who plays the character and the creator of the show have different opinions than the fans.

Doyle never said that Sherlock was Asexual. Scholars do not know if he would have, as one of the current usages came into existence well after the author’s death. Speculating about a character’s sexuality is often pointless unless the author feels it is necessary for the individual to know. The Lorax, for example, may be a polyamorous Pansexual, but it is simply not important to the story.

Benedict Cumberbatch does not have to think Sherlock is Asexual. He simply has to play the character in a manner that pleases the directors and producers. If the directors and the producers wish the show to remain on the air, they need to please the fans as well.

Cumberbatch may or may not think Sherlock is Asexual. Cumberbatch has complained about being typecast as upper class slightly psychopathic Asexual characters, but his comments did not attract the same attention as comments made by Moffat regarding the character’s sexuality.

It would be nice if the actor who played Sherlock thought that he played an Asexual character, but no one can force him to view Holmes as Asexual if he himself does not see it.