The dynamic between Holmes and Watson instantly transformed from the moment that the directors of CBS’s show “Elementary” decided to cast Lucy Liu, an Chinese-American woman, in the role of Watson. Britney Broyles, author of “From the Opium Den to Partner-in-Crime…Solving: The Chinese Presence in Sherlock Holmes Adaptations,” proposes the idea that BBC’s strict adherence to Conan Doyle’s classic Watson/Holmes white-male dynamic allows “racial essentialism” to creep into the essential plotline whereas CBS’s “looser fidelity to the [text]” allows for “ideological revision” in which the use of binaries are neither fundamental nor significant. (Broyles, 150.)
Perhaps in switching the formulaic aspects of Holmes and Watson’s physical appearances, Elementary can more readily dismiss frequent criticisms about the implicit and explicit sexism and racism that customarily accompany Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. Sherlock Holmes, as a text, has the ability to indirectly rely on racial themes because the detective must place his confidence in his ability to locate societal patterns and criminal motives whilst remaining pure and incorruptible in the eyes of the reader.
However unintentional and innocent the insertion of foreign criminals may seem, Broyles takes issue with BBC’s astounding amount of “foreign villains” during season one of Sherlock citing “The Great Game” with criminals from the Czech republic and “The Blind Banker” which the evildoers are Chinese and portrayed in a farcical manner. (Broyles, 155-156.)
Naturally, within a detective narrative, the characters are bound to categorize or identify the unknown miscreant with an “othering” trait that separates themselves from the idea of the criminal. Perhaps the detective will keep a level head in regards to the assumption of racial differences or cultural customs, but the subliminal or explicit racism within criminology reports and descriptions by bystanders tend to be less concealed. Within Conan Doyle’s The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Sherlock’s client provides ambiguous information about a speckled band and since she cannot easily make sense of this evidence, she turns to the familiarity of racial discourse in order to identify “gypsies on the plantation” as potential suspects. (Conan Doyle, 45.)
The witness’s practice of pointing out racial and cultural differences to further disassociate with potential criminals is a common device that authors have relied upon within the detective genre. For instance, the plot of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue relies heavily upon subjective interpretation of the unknown. Within the tale, witnesses are called upon to provide statements about the peculiar voices of the murderers. In each case, naturally, the witnesses provide contradictory information about the languages and the ethnicities of the potential murderers. Isidore Muset claims that one of the criminals was a Frenchman who was certainly not a woman whilst the second murder certainly spoke in Spanish. Incompatibly, Henri Duval suggests that the murder was definitely a woman whilst the other accomplice spoke in Italian. In both scenarios, the “words” and languages are indistinguishable, but the witnesses still provide information that conveniently distances him or her from any consequence or suspicion.
Naturally, it makes sense to identify qualities that are contradictory to their own traits because they wish to disassociate with horrid criminal acts. For instance, in a more innocent situation, when a driver cuts you off, you are more likely to exclaim, “Come on, lady!” if you identify as male and “Watch where you’re going, man!” if you relate more to a female identity before even seeing the gender of your road-nemesis.
By switching the idea of Watson as a white male figure to the new identity of Watson as a Chinese-American female, the audience of CBS’s Elementary is prompted to view race and “othering” factors in a different manner. Since Watson is presumably “good” and holds traits and values that are admirable, the race and gender issues of Conan Doyle’s classic tails are reconstructed, questioned, and modernized for contemporary viewers.
Sources:
Reference to The Murders in the Rue Morgue
poestories.com/read/murders
Six Great Sherlock Holmes Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
From the Opium Den to Partner-in-Crime…Solving: The Chinese Presence in Sherlock Holmes Adaptations by Britney Broyles
I think this is a really interesting idea, that having a Chinese-American actress forces the view to see racialized characters differently. That, despite the still othered villains, the audience must view them in the context of this ‘good’ but still othered figure. I agree with the notion that representation matters. I’m curious, having never seen the show myself, if Lucy Liu’s character is an example of exceptionism in the way that Irene Adler is. I feel like the your point about how people “conveniently distances him or her” self from the criminals says a lot about the construction of the self.
I like the discussion of how a Chinese take on Watson changes the dynamic of the classic duo, and enjoy the freedom to address the othering factor presented by that choice. However, having not seen the show before, I’m rather curious as to how the overarching questions regarding the anxiety surrounding reverse invasion and the presence of non British cultures is addressed in the show. It strikes me as one of the more important tenets of the Doyle versions of the story, and enjoyed that it was carried over into the BBC adaptation.