STFU Moffat

In response to your latest post - do you have any feelings on Lucy Liu as Watson in CBS’s Elementary?

asked by Anonymous

I have many feelings, all of which are pretty positive. Yeah, there’s a bit of an issue with genderswapping Watson - the more emotional role - and I would much rather see Holmes genderswapped, but I love the fact that Watson is not only a woman, but also Asian. It’s so rare to see a popular character be a woman of colour, so I think CBS did a fantastic thing by casting Lucy Liu. I’ve seen the trailers and I can say I am extremely excited for Elementary. Plus, as an Asian female myself, I love the fact that there’s a positive representation on screen, especially as a character I love.

I understand the decision to take Elementary’s Watson out of the military. Since she’s a doctor in America and a woman, she wouldn’t see too much action. It would be a bit of a stretch to be canon-compliant in that case. Also, I’ve seen the argument ‘Watson is a soldier!!’ too many times and I can only roll my eyes at that. BBC’s John is a soldier and that’s a very important aspect to his character, but that wasn’t the case for canon Watson. Watson in the books was more of a doctor than a soldier and was probably in the army for 2-5 years, max. As long as Liu’s Watson is a foil for Miller’s Holmes, she’ll be Watson to the core.

I’m far more disturbed by the amount of sexism and racism I’ve seen from fans and the Sherlock crew. There have been several adaptations already where Holmes and Watson have been genderswapped and nobody has blinked an eye at genderswap fanfiction, so I don’t understand the animosity regarding Liu’s casting. There have been a lot of photosets comparing Liu to other Watsons and claiming she ‘doesn’t belong’ and the blatant racism disturbs me greatly.

- Sway