Sherlock BBC and Queerbaiting 

i hate it when tv shows show clear signs of a characters sexuality and then make fun of fans for ... reading the signs lol

10:11 That's what I think everytime John says "I'm not gay" or when someone tells me "John can't be gay bc he has been married with a woman" It's incredible how easliy people forget about the existence of bisexuality :/

All these comments like "Oh, what if Sherlock's asexual?". That doesn't mean he's aromantic. Not wanting to do the sex doesn't mean he couldn't have romantic feelings for John.

The biggest problem I have with Sherlock is how much the show loves to torture John Watson. It seems like the show keeps trying to one-up his suffering with each season. It's like they're playing a game: how much suffering can John take before he breaks?

I had also completely forgotten they had also queerbaited Irene Adler, then forced her into the heterobox. Her being gay was merely used as straight kink.

I'm surprised you didn't mention how hard they queerbaited Moriarty.

Am I the only one in the community that didn't even care about LGBT representation and is just angry because the show portrays them as a wannabe couple but never actually delivers?

I was so pissed when the day came that I finally realized that every joke about Sherlock and John being together was just that.... a joke. It's literally the writers laughing at us for thinking that they could be a couple as if they weren't the ones deliberately making references to it. It's such bullshit.

This video got randomly suggested to me and its actually great and hilarious. Good work!!

Sherlock is the worst adaptation of the character to date due to the terrible writing. Moffat lulls people into thinking his shows are clever when really they aren't at all. The original Irene Adler was a woman who outwitted Holmes and in that story Holmes was kind working for the bad guy while Irene was a woman who just wanted to marry the person she loved. In the show she's a dominatrix who is a baddie and also attracted to Holmes and ends up needing to be saved by him. Moffat basically took a character that in the books challenged Holmes' preconceptions of women and was the only one to outsmart him and turned her into an awful mess.

personally I really related to Sherlock, being ace myself. but they just would not let him be ace. his lack of romantic or sexual feelings were constantly being demonized. they keep making his lack of sexuality a sign of his lack of humanity. his lack of sexuality was such a problem. he needs to get with someone to show his humanity. I hate it. let him be openly ace dammit.

There's this little kid I'm teaching English to (we're Italians), and we watched Sherlock's first episode together because he was really enthusiastic about the character. Once we finished he had the guts to look at me and ask “Why don't they kiss?” honestly I was confused, but then he clarified “Sherlock and John, why don't they kiss if they're in love?” and well, I think about that a lot.

I'd kill for a slow burn gay romance on TV somewhere.

Okay but I also want to mention something else: It's Mrs Hudson, Angelo and Mycroft who are being like "Oh is John your boyfriend?" aka the people who have known Sherlock the longest. This is something that AreTheyGay pointed out and ... it's just so fucking true.

Wow, I had heard about the queerbaiting in Sherlock, but I had no idea it was this bad.

I’m so glad that all of us who were obsessed with Sherlock in middle school are now old enough to realize that the show was kind of garbage the whole time

The fact that the most noteworthy thing about this show is whether Sherlock is gay or not is an indictment on the show itself.

Sherlock has a *big* problem with its audience surrogates. There was an episode late in the run where people who were trying to figure out the mysteries in this mystery show were shown as crazy people, representing the fans that cared enough to try to make sense of the plot instead of just basking in Holmes's kewlness.

I’m a bit late but honestly I feel like if your going to hint and joke about gay concepts then don’t pretend like we’re crazy for thinking they could be in a relationship. For Christ’s sake they’ve been teasing John and Sherlock’s sexuality for years give us a break!

The show codes Sherlock as Aromantic asexual while simultaneously endlessly queerbating him with John. I've personally reconciled this by reading them as queerplatonic or imagining Sherlock as demiromantic but the show never canonically acknowledges this on screen. And it never will.

When I watch Sherlock now all I can see is missed opportunity. So now I can't even stand to watch it. It went from my Favorite show to shit in 3 weeks. Great job. Thank the universe for Yuri on ice for showing how its supposed to be done.

i was aware of queerbating in this show but thanks for making a video which perfectly expresses how it feels to suffer through a script that dismisses AND mocks the queer angle WHILE STILL using extensive planting and payoff to establish an underlying romantic tone. Like. What john says to his therapist is so telling of how much the writers hhhhhaATTTEE their audience. They used one of the most emotionally charged moments in a characters timeline ( johns grieving) to set up... a joke romantic reveal... waited for the characters to part ways... introduce the payoff.... then just flip off their audience. Thats how much work they put into fooling and laughing at their fans! imagine how much cool character and plot related things they could have introduced with that same set up! maybe it goes like this : John is emotionally distressed after Sherlocks death, he tells his therapist that hes having flashbacks of the war again , that he feels guilty about "leaving a man behind". This ..sets up a brotherhood. It introduces the theme of survival guilt , which is reasonable for john watson to feel as an army medic. It takes them a season to work through it! john is overprotective which gets in the way of their work, sherlock doesn't see whats wrong with self sacrifice at first. Over time its made clear that sherlock was close to being beaten and if he had just worked with john as a team the whole thing could have been avoided. The season focuses on their work relationship , john learns to trust Sherlock to not do stupid shit , Sherlock learns to respect john as his partner and ask him for backup. When sherlock goes to leave, both of them know they can rely on one another. John tells sherlock about feeling like he had abandoned one of his men at war after his death. Sherlock tells him that he had been in the wrong by walking out of the trenches. They both say goodbye knowing they'll see each other again, opposite to the end of Reinbach falls. The loop is completed , with john leaving Sherlock behind , this time on completely different terms. my point is: you could have ... developed a platonic brotherhood WHILE furthering their character growth by using..... THE SAME TACTIC that was INSTEAD used to SPIT IN FANS FACES FOR THINKING IT WAS GUNNA BE GGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY

You are so goddamn right... The queerbaiting in this show is really aggressive and in your face - When you have watched everything till Abominable Bride it's getting really depressing. Sherlock is either a show about (A) two queer guys stuck deep in the closet and making terrible life descissions for no apparent reason (like John marrying Mary *Beatrice Kiddo* Morstan) [everything fine with John being bi, but marrying Mary even though the love of his life had just returned from the grave is not....) Or (B) it is a sadistic, patriacharic show about a het guy that is so "unmanly" and lacks so much of a spine that everyone thinks he is the gay doormat of an excentric detective. In this case Sherlock himself were an emotionally confused asexual, using John to look not so asexual anymore. By the way, Mycroft teasing his brother as being afraid of sex doesn't help at all. The only character that is allowed to be not-straight is a cackling, manic supervillian that just shoots himslef for ... fun??? Wow... great role model... So the only non-straight left is a *lesbian* dominatrix crushing on Sherlock like a school girl ... oh I think I get a headache... What is so difficult about depicting a bi/gay detective duo with a positive releationship!?!

sherlocks sexuality is the greatest mystery of the entire show

can we talk about how almost every character in the show ships them. like mrs. hudson, moriarty, mycroft, angelo, irene, MARY even mary talks about the two of them as if they were a couple. like all of mofftiss’ characters ship them

I thought Sherlock was asexual too BUT I WANT IT EXPLICITLY. That's what we all want, for it to be said.

I didn't read John and Sherlock as having romantic chemistry but I was really confused by Irene having an effect on Sherlock since I had filed him under aroace from the first episode on. It's funny how everyone has a different read on Sherlock but we're all damn sure he's not straight

WHAT ABOUT THE POOL SCENE???? THE POOL SCEEEENE????

they also queercoded Moriarty- who the writers describe as a 'psycho' implying his queercoded behaviours are equatable with being 'mentally unhinged' aka mental illness (there is also another point to make about equating mental illness with 'evilness'). Oh yeah, and the only explicitly lgbt+ character is Irene (who they completely fucked up but anyway...) and SHE IS ALSO A VILLIAN. So done with Moffat- he should not have creative control over any series- he can write a good episode but that's it.

Didn't even mention the explicit Moriarty/Sherlock kiss that was cut away from

Now you just have to analyze supernatural's queerbating and the subject will be conplete

I didn’t personally read any chemistry between John and Sherlock, but I definitely read Sherlock as queer, and I found it frustrating that they never let that be canon.

"PLEASE LIKE ME" IS AN AUSTRALIAN LGBT TV SHOW ON NETFLIX WOULD RECOMMEND

Creators: Sherlock and John are not gay Me: so... Sherlock is aroace and John is biromantic/heteropositive? Creators: what? No, that’s not- Me: queerplatonic relationship, got it.

"but i'm not actually gay." "well I am..." did i hear this wrong?????

my boy Watson repeated "no homo" so frequently that one could accuse him of being in denial

I am actually mad Gatiss as a queer man himself decided to queetbait sherlock

YES IM SO GLAD YOU MENTIONED HOW HE RESTART HIS OWN HEART FOR JOHN. Even if they are platonic friends, there is something much deeper between them that is undeniable. Sherlock, who's supposed to be the heartless sociopath who doesn't care about anyone, clearly loves John more than anyone else in his life

"Sherlock restarts his own heart with their first night together!!!! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO SA-"

God it’s not just that they never made it canonical that they were gay, but the fact they end up effectively DESTROYING their FRIENDSHIP by having John beat the ever loving shit out of Sherlock and abandon him is just… fuck that shit. Their relationship, platonic or not, was the core of this show and it wasn’t a joke.

I can understand when people don't see john as gay/bi. I for one don't see it much. what with the string of girlfriends , getting back with his wife after she shot sherlock and then beating the hell out of sherlock. I didn't see gay love from his side. Sherlock on the other hand, there is no doubt about it, he's gay and in love with john. He only cared about john and everything he did was for John. He nearly died three times for him. The way I see it, it is an unrequited love story.

I laughed because this video is awesome but then I cried because I hate queerbaiting. :)

"Bisexuality exists, guys" God I hope so otherwise my girlfriend will dissapear

Anyone can see the chemistry between the two. I'm straight and I saw it first thing. I thought finally Sherlock and John come out after 200 years, but no.

This video has just become even more relevant. Thank you.

as a straight woman, and someone majoring in creative writing, watching all those clips strung together just made me so fucking mad. they are CLEARLY just trying to create sexual tension with cheap tricks. moffat is a good writer. he is horrible, repeat FUCKING HORRIBLE as a showrunner. he's very good at making the main character (the doctor, Sherlock) so mysterious and important, but all the while he fucking shits on the original premise of the show, and makes (especially Sherlock) mysteries impossible to solve, and when they are revealed it's in this strange convoluted way that no one would have guessed. he's good at stringing us along with a great lead up with terribly disappointing results. fuck me.

bumpy ride

Okay. So now I've watched 37 of the 48 TJLC videos by Rebekah and I am amazed both by the intricate details of her videos, and also by all of the imagery and subtext and mirroring etc. etc. that I never noticed thruout the series. She (and the TJLC community) make an unambiguous argument that Johnlock was indeed the endgame of the producers, and now I don't have a clue as to how I would include season 4 into that equation. I don't think that you are wrong for believing that Sherlock was gay (Altho not acting on his desires) and I now really believe that there is good reason to believe that John was EITHER bisexual or gay (with some self-hatred included regarding his sexuality). Indeed, Altho I wasn't familiar with the term until a few days ago, queerbaiting seems to be the ONLY explanation, unless Sherlock continues for at least one more season and has Sherlock and John get together without any ambiguity whatsoever. Considering the extraordinarily detailed videos I just watched, I am now horrified that Johnlock isn't a definitive couple. (And I remain further horrified at how very much I missed in my (likely) dozens of times watching each episode. I'm not sure if I'm just incredibly stupid or simply didn't realize just how different my watching television shows might be next to a gay or bisexual individual. Maybe I've spent my entire life not seeing details in various shows b'c I, apparently, have a skewed heteronormative view of life. Or something like that. And my idea that I WOULD/ DID understand shows about gay characters [bc I watched QAF, Glee, and OITNB] is simply wrong. Perhaps I missed huge amounts in those shows as well b'c of a skewed perspective (albeit Kurt was the reason I watched Glee for all six seasons, and I THOUGHT I was looking at the show correctly. ) And, actually, Brian and Justin (well Brian) was the reason I watched QAF, so I now wonder about everything I missed while watching that as well.) Perhaps Rebekah can write up videos for those shows as well, giving me an in-depth view of things I should have noticed. I should probably comment on her video site... I'm now completely indignant that Johnlock is not a couple. I think 'queerbaiting' should include the entire alphabet soup of individuals, b'c while I don't have the same rationale for wishing to see queer representation, I certainly expect shows of a certain caliber to follow thru on their promises of long term gay couples if that's how they write the show. I mean, it's 2017 now -- people expect there to be both straight and gay couples on TV, in the same way they would expect to see the whole range of different ethnicities in, say, NYS. Where I live. But, either way, I can easily see your annoyance and/or outrage. (Those videos are amazing, by the by. I remain awed by the research that was included in each one. )

Season 4 was so bad that killed my love for the serie...

I don't really like when partners always end up in a relationship. I feel like a good strong friendship is enough sometimes. Like between Joan Watson and Sherlock in Elementary. I don't know feel like sexual and romantic attraction between partners is sometimes used as a way to force chemistry.

"Did people want Scully and Mulder to get together?" I LOST ITTT

Why did this take me 3 years to find. This is...thank you. I’m gonna watch this video 1796 times, internalize it, roll around in it, wear it as a hat, introduce it to my kids, adopt it into the family, buy it a burial plot next to mine, leave it everything in my will...

I will always love Mrs. Hudson saying “A wOmAn!?!?!” 😂 I swear she’s the best character in the whole show

Girl, same. On a lot of things. There is humourous queerbaiting in the first two seasons and serious queerbaiting in the second two. Of course someone else can see it as platonic and sibling-like. But if a villain shall ask Sherlock to choose who can live by killing the other --SPOILER-- his brother or his best friend, and his brother actually tried to manipulate Sherlock to choose Watson because Sherlock functions so much better when he’s with Watson, that’s quite heavy. There are far more orientations than straight and gay. Like aromantic or asexual. Which Sherlock was probably the latter and Watson could be seen as bi. I think showrunners of a popular show making the protagonists gay fear losing their viewership and the outcry it would cause to a heteronormative society and from “purists” who assume that every interpretation of Sherlock was straight - when there have been many versions throughout history and queerbaiting is definitely not a modern tactic. All in all, they’re adorable. They’re my boys. I love how they care about each other. I love the growth that they have because of their relationship. And agreed.

The only way I could ever tolerate Johnlock is if Jim Moriarty is still alive and ends up marrying Mycroft Holmes.

I'd just like to thank you for that opening slide. It's important to remember that the actors often have so much put on their shoulders from the fans when they only follow the artistic direction provided.

now we’ve got good omens (s1 and s2) that gives amazing queer representation… it genuinely makes me happy as someone who’s ace and non-binary :’)

I bet they kissed or something when they had went out drunk. *_JOHN EVEN TOUCHED HIS THIGH_*

5:00 Rip my ears. I was wearing headphones.

Bill in doctor who : hi I'm gay Someone else: I was asking about spacetime Roman guy : hi I'm gay Bill: im gay too Doctor: how many other husbands? River : I had wives

OH MY GOD I LOVE NIGHTVALE AND NO ONE EVER TALKS ABOUT IT ITS SO GOOD AT REPRESENTATION AAAAAAHHHHH

As much as I love Sherlock but this pissed me off to no end

just love your slow descend into madness at times, its hillarious, great video

man i did not know that bit about sherlock literally restarting his heart for john. what the fuck was that?! that's so fucking gay! i have seen queerer characters do *less* for their loved ones and these two are not in love?? what the actual fuck man.

I believe there is a line in the books where he is described as "A man with little interest in the romantic things in life. He would often preferring to solving a riddle than the affection of another" so to me he sounds Aro so from the Acespec, yes, yes he is queer.

I think people who are so determined to make Sherlock homosexual have completely missed the fact that canon Sherlock had a very very strong argument for being asexual. So, basically, it's like turning a gay person straight when they adapt the material for a modern audience. But, the asexual community has been so dismissed by LGBT communities that it becomes a non issue. Even when Moffat basically said asexual people are boring and not worth writing about. It's just sad overall. Keep your queerbaiting, i'm angry about oversexualization of characters that were inherently not sexual to begin with. And for those who apparently can't read the last part of my comment and keep trying to "correct" me by saying he can be gay and asexual, let me repeat it: _I'm angry about oversexualization of characters that were inherently not sexual to begin with_

this has been in my watch later for 4+ years as i waited to watch the full series and I am not disappointed. Wonderful video, can't wait to delve into more videos talking about this subject :)

omg I love this video! Such a nice break from all the heavier film/tv things I've been binging. XP This video had me bursting out into laughter at least two times XD

i loooooove your voice and the way you narrate on this is excellent. if you made a video on the history of onions id watch it because of your narratiiiiion.

It's sad because a lot of teens do not have relevant experience about homophobia, so they misinterpret every "no homo" joke. They think the joke is queer coding when it's actually the opposite. I don't blame them, I made those jokes when I was closeted, but that's far less damaging than creating a homophobic running gag and refusing to admit it's cruel meaning. It's the same issue in the Supernatural show too, these writers are old and the context is definitely homophobic.

She Ra: Princesses of Power on Netflix is one of my favorite gay shows! The characters are fleshed out and real, the storyline is sooo entertaining, and the animation is amazing as well!

This is honestly so wonderful!! You're very charismatic and engaging, also so funny! And this is very well edited and well phrased! Great stuff!

5:21 "It's... FFFFFUNNY!!!" This represents my frustration so well, oh thank you for this video!!!

Hbomberguy brought me here. Im glad :)

i seriously am amazed you only have these many vids (as of Nov 2020). after i stumbled upon your onceler vid, i just eat through your whole library. i can't wait for more :3

Thanks for this video sister, it was hilarious and it made me feel better, because it's been more than half a year and I AM STILL PISSED AT THIS SHOW. So thank you

THIS. IS. SO. F U N N Y. Like, I really needed this. Like seriously NEEDED this. I needed to be able to laugh and I did and now I feel a lot better! Thank you!

Stuff like this in media is so tired. It's sincerely motivation to create the stories that people actually want to see. I hope that someone does that.

Just found this, totally subscribing! You are hilarious, I liked the clear effort and time you put into this video!!

This is the first video I've seen of yours and it's already my favorite thing ever.

I've literally never seen any part of this show in my entire life before this video, but this is still the most entertaining video I've seen all day.

This video is at the same time super funny and serius. I like it

I've watched your video just now for the firs time, still being kinda hurt after sherlock s4 and let me tell you - IT JUST ADDED 5 YEAS TO MY LIFE it's to the point and hilarious, I love it, thank you

Fantastic video! I appreciate how you named what frustrated me as a fan for all these years!

In doctor who, Bill, who is Peter Capaldi's second companion, is a lesbian and it is mentioned alot!

I've never shipped them but they have great chemistry no matter what their relationship is.

I needed this, thank you for being funny yet real at the same time :)

That’s why I only watch the series once and then switched to fanfic.

this made me smile when i was very very tired

4:06 in other words, “If you don’t have a sex drive or sexual urges, there’s something wrong with you.” Thanks Mofftiss 🙃

I hope you're still producing content, I very much enjoy listening to what you've got to say and the way you say it.

Love how the thumbnail looks so serious and formal and the video turns out to be a hilarious shitstorm

Your humour is my type of humour, I love it.

The queerbaiting is bad, but what is just as weird is that they never say that they love each other in a platonic sense. It is such a strange bend of masculinity that they can openly talk about their feelings, cry in front of each other, and sit by hospital bedsides but not say that they platonically/romantically love each other.

It’s giving “two bros sitting in a hot tub, 5 feet apart cos they’re not gay”

I swear, I’m going to become a film writer just so I can write a queer version of Sherlock Holmes

Your sarcastic laugh makes me laugh so hard.

When you said Nightvale I freaked. I LOVE THAT PODCAST

omg this is perfection 😂😂😂 honestly you are hilarious and this is so on point ♡♡

The editing is actually so funny i can’t 😂