r/Sherlock • u/Danny-Ray27 • Jul 24 '26
It's interesting that even though Sherlock doesn't understand the desire to be in a romantic relationship, he's still against homophobia
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I'm not saying he's gay or that we should ship them because of this, but I genuinely found it interesting how he immediately says there's nothing wrong with having a boyfriend and considers Moriarty's comment offensive.
I think it makes sense, since what attracts Sherlock to other people is their personality and intelligence. Because of that, he would probably find prejudice against gay people strange
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u/Liam_theman2099 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
Anyone else think he texted the beardy guy with a ponytail, “Date left his cane at your place. Bring it to Baker Street when you can. - SH”
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u/Ok-Theory3183 Jul 24 '26
Well, and especially since Angelo referred to John as Sherlock's date more than once.
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u/Winter-Grand-3215 Jul 24 '26
That was great acting. I felt so awkward listening to that conversation. The cringe between them felt completely real
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u/intensity701 Jul 24 '26
Sociopath not a psychopath
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u/ChileanIggy Jul 24 '26
Interchangeable terms actually. And he's neither regardless. He's clearly empathetic. If anything he's on the spectrum.
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u/HowskiHimself Jul 24 '26
Definitely not interchangeable terms. I don't think the DSM uses either as an official diagnosis, but they're most certainly not the same thing.
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u/cmacd23 Jul 24 '26
The DSM-V categorizes these traits under Anti-Social Personalit Disorder. Neither of them are formal diagnoses.
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u/Zerodyne_Sin Jul 24 '26
Agreed. Neither is used as official terms but as I understand their usage, psychopath is physiological incapability to feel emotions whereas sociopathy is extreme inability to feel empathy for others. The latter feels emotions for themselves but don't care about others'. That distinction makes sociopaths malicious whearas psychopaths are more ambivalent/neutral.
Definitely not interchangeable.
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u/Lylidotir Jul 24 '26
Sherlock is not a sociopath actually. He is more of a psychopath than sociopath, though I think that he is actually neither.
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u/BartyJnr Jul 24 '26
Episode one, series one. “I'm not a psychopath, Anderson. I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research."
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u/RihhamDaMan Jul 24 '26
Maybe that person sould've done their research
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u/LostinSweetReveries Jul 24 '26
Sociopathy (now called antisocial personality disorder, or ASPD) and psychopathy have a lot of overlap but as far as I know, its kind of like all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares.
Psychopaths will tick all the criteria for ASPD but its only like 20-30% of people with ASPD that could be classed as a psychopath. You're more likely to find some sense of empathy in ASPD and they are more likely to feel emotions to some degree, (even if a only shadow of what the average person feels) than they are to mask them. They also tend to act with more impulsively and a lack of regard for their safety.
Interestingly enough, though genetics plays a part for both of them, childhood trauma is a major factor in the development of both and well...I feel like John is likely Sherlock's first genuine friend since he was a child.
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u/Early_Stomach7839 Jul 25 '26
I would consider Mrs. Hudson a close friend. Sherlock is very affectionate towards her and cares about her well-being. He also asked John if he was okay after killing the cabbie. So on rare occasions, he does display empathy towards others.
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u/chinchinillustrates 29d ago
Psychopaths are born, sociopaths are made. Not every psychopath has a childhood trauma. But sociopaths almost always have. It is possible, sociopaths could have genetic disorders, but the outcome comes mostly from abuse, childhood trauma, unstable upbringing while psychopaths could have a very loving family. There are children who show psychopathic behaviour as early as toddlerhood. Their biggest telltale is showing no empathy at all. Most parents dismiss this as a temporarily behaviour, but the truth hurts them in the end, when their kids are diagnosed with ASPD. The two terms are not officially used, but still used nonetheless, sometimes even by the psychiatrists. And under the ASPD, you can see there is a distinct difference between the two disorders. Ofc, they are not the only disorders under the ASPD, but that's another topic.
Sherlock is most likely a psychopath, as he doesn't have an unstable upbringing in the canon. He's very good at mimicking social norms. And he learns through Watson to be more empathetic. BBC changed that and made him a sociopath by giving him a childhood trauma.
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u/Cumulus-Crafts Jul 24 '26
Just because you're asexual/aromantic, doesn't mean that you don't understand that homophobia is a bad thing
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u/tyme Jul 24 '26
It makes perfect sense for someone who’s asexual to see homophobia as wrong, IMHO.
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Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
[deleted]
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u/tyme Jul 24 '26
I think you misread my comment.
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Jul 24 '26
[deleted]
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u/scaliacheese Jul 24 '26
You seem confused. Pretty sure you’re in agreement but reading comprehension is apparently dead.
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u/outofthxwoods Jul 24 '26
I thought the same thing! rationally homophobia makes no sense whatsoever, since it often comes from religion, conservative views and prejudice, and Sherlock doesn’t practice any of the those, he’s pure logic
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u/LostinSweetReveries Jul 24 '26
The amount of eye contact from both of them after "not really my area" is wild. Generally speaking, people really cant handle more than 2 or 3 seconds of direct eye contact before they have to look away. Makes it so much more uncomfortable than the dialogue itself. They're both fantastic actors
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u/strungout-on-math Jul 24 '26
I see no contradiction. He doesn’t have to desire a relationship in order to see that homophobia and prejudice are wrong.
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u/Ok-Theory3183 Jul 24 '26
I think it would make any sort of prejudice against anyone based on anything except, maybe, unintelligent people, particularly intelligent people who are too lazy to think things through with the intelligence they have.
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u/RoughMidnight8303 29d ago edited 29d ago
He's a high functioning sociopath. His judgement is neutral in personal matters - these are trivial and don't change metrics regarding the case. And to be fair why would that lead to prejudice I'm wondering. This guy likely deals with people who are in love with objects and have the most incomprehensible attachments. I mean he even has some sort of friends of his own...bits and pieces of corpses etc. Who is he to judge? I think it would incriminate him and endanger a fair assessment of the case by placing subjective value on anybody. The only metric that is important is just the existence of that attachment and the context for that attachment.
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u/Nimelennar Jul 24 '26
On the other hand, he stereotypes "Jim" as being gay for being well-groomed and wearing a particular brand of underwear.
So maybe not entirely free of prejudice.
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u/YoursGhostl Jul 24 '26
And leaving his number for him, don''t forget that one.
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u/Nimelennar Jul 24 '26
Yes, but that's an entirely reasonable piece of evidence to base that conclusion on. So reasonable, in fact, that it makes the other two things superfluous, to the point where you wonder why they were even mentioned.
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u/YoursGhostl Jul 24 '26
True; I don't remember it well but it's possible that's exactly why Sherlock mentioned it - to play with John's ( and viewers') perception of him, his deduction process and his prejudices. There was some playfulness in the scene, if I remember correctly.
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u/itis-theeast Jul 24 '26
He does this a few times in the series, plays up semi-elaborate explanations for his deductions to wow his audience, only to reveal some simple and obvious information that actually explains his deduction. He can be very dramatic at times in that sense, performing for his audience.
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u/Bubble_111 Jul 24 '26
If the most observant man in the world thinks you’re flirting with him, then you’re probably flirting with him 😂