A to Z Challenge Day 19: Sherlock Holmes (the High-Functioning Sociopath)

Here’s another confession for you: I’ve never read a single Sherlock Holmes book, so I actually feel a little bit dirty using him as one of my favorite characters. Believe me when I say that I’ve been seriously meaning to read some of the books. Really. Honestly.

But, for the time being the fact is that the first time I ever came in contact with anything “Sherlock” was the 2009 movie with Robert Downey Jr. I loved the movie – there’s no doubt about that – but my real obsession started when I first caught wind of the BBC TV series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes was awesome for sure, but I absolutely love Benedict Cumberbatch’s version.

Since I’ve never read any of the books (and again, I’m going to get on that, honestly) I don’t really know what the personality and mannerisms of the original character are like, but Benedict’s version is so close to what I’ve imagined that it’s almost scary. His Sherlock is intelligent beyond belief, as though his brain is the greatest supercomputer that ever existed; he can figure out any puzzle just so long as he has the tiniest input. He’s also outrageously socially inept. He knows so much about so much, but he knows absolutely nothing about human interaction, about how people feel and react, and how to deal with his own emotions when they occasionally dare to trouble him. He makes you gasp with how idiotic and rude and ignorant he can be when speaking to other people, but you can’t help but admire his intelligence and sometimes his social stupidity is actually even a little bit cute.

For the record, for those of you who haven’t seen the show, the 90 minute episodes are based on the books, with modern twists thrown in. One episode, for instance, is based on “The Hounds of Baskerville”, but with a modern-day view of technology and military to enhance the story. The screenwriting, in my opinion, was nothing but excellent for each of the episodes that have been aired so far, the acting from Benedict and Martin nothing short of perfection, and believe me when I say that I’m going to be counting the days until the next season starts!