Sherlock fans are — to put it generously — “dedicated.” A passionate woman showed her appreciation for Benedict Cumberbatch (a stalker left creepy messages at his house). Theater-goers wanted to digitally document something they paid a lot of money for (put down your goddamn cell phones). Martin Freeman and his wife received death threats for giving “Benedict and all his fans a bad name. They both seriously just need to shut up and f*cking die already” (can’t really put a positive spin on that one). But the thing Sherlock (which returns for season four soon) viewers are the most zealous about is: Sherlock and John sitting in a tree, s-n-o-g-g-i-n-g.
Last year, creator Steven Moffat made it clear that Sherlock is not gay. Or straight. Or anything sexual, really. “Everyone wants to believe he’s gay,” Moffat said. “He’s not gay. He’s not straight. And Doctor Watson is very clear that he prefers women. People want to fantasize about it… But it’s not in the show.” Those three simple words — “he’s not gay” — weren’t good enough.
The topic came up again during last weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con, where Moffat was on a panel about how homosexual relationships are depicted in media, specifically on science-fiction television shows. “A few comments were being taken by some in the Sherlock fandom as confirmation that a certain ‘ship’ (‘Johnlock’ – John Watson and Sherlock Holmes) would not only definitely happen in the series,” according to With an Accent, “and that Moffat had actually confirmed the pair would lock lips in the season four finale.”
Yeah, about that.
“It is infuriating frankly, to be talking about a serious subject and to have Twitter run around and say, ‘Oh that means Sherlock is gay.’ Very explicitly it does not We are taking a serious subject and trivializing it beyond endurance.” (Via)
Co-creator Mark Gatiss added, “He explicitly says he is not interested. Doesn’t mean he couldn’t be. Doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it. I’m a gay man. This is not an issue. But we’ve explicitly said this is not going to happen… No matter how much we lie about other things, that this show is going to culminate in Martin and Benedict going off into the sunset together. They are not going to do it. And if people want to write whatever they like and have a great time extrapolating that’s absolutely fine. But there is no hidden or exposed agenda. We’re not trying to f*ck with people’s heads. Not trying to insult anybody or make any kind of issue out of it, there’s nothing there. It’s just our show and that’s what these characters are like. If people want to do that on websites absolutely fine. But there’s nothing there.”
That denial still wasn’t good enough for some fans, who claimed the interview was staged. Gatiss had to tweet, “The [With an Accent] interview is real, was conducted at ComicCon and is entirely accurate. Thank you.” Wait until Johnlock shippers learn Sherlock is actually Khan. The internet will explode.
https://twitter.com/martinfreemvn/status/758703342105296900
https://twitter.com/hehehiddles/status/758710340699820032
The thing is…it already exists for those with open hearts and eyes to see#Johnlock pic.twitter.com/Fq3YJcMT7O
— ۞ Lady_of_the_Lake ۞ (@Cumberfan77) July 28, 2016
https://twitter.com/audreyvivienne/status/758660261708312576
https://twitter.com/GAYPIL0T/status/758654956832305156
Without johnlock the show is just another interpretation of Sherlock Holmes – a good one, yes, but intellectually it means nothing
— erica (@femmemins) July 28, 2016
if they don't want to make johnlock canon don't, i get that but don't lead on fans and 'joke' about it and then blame fans for shipping it
— meg (@jamiesyouth) July 28, 2016
"Johnlock won't be canon" pic.twitter.com/YAXCDQ6hc0
— 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙨 (@LORDM0RIARTY) July 28, 2016
https://twitter.com/LyndaHoneyPunch/status/758634779906572289
(Via With an Accent)