Sherlock Holmes Gay? Sequel Threatened

I think Ms. Plunket is overreacting. 

Because putting a new spin on a possibly stale property so it can be viewed from a new and interesting perspective is the LAST thing anybody wants.

I never even saw the movie, so I wouldn't know how bad it would be if he's gay.

i wonder if the joke was at least funny cause the rest of this story is not.
 
edit:
as a huge fan of the books, i thought the romance in the plot was slightly eluded to with Irene Adler in "A scandal in Bohemia", but not in a traditional kissy-kissy sense that we witnessed in the movie. Sherlock is enchanted with the woman's ability to not only elude him, but also utterly outsmart him. the antithesis to Watson's Mary. Also he was directly interested in Violet Hunter in one book (i cant remember the title or her full name). I think he just didnt like her anymore after the case was over. He has a short attention span. either way. the gay thing was a stupid comment and such a change might just ruin the stories regardless of the infrequencies of any Holmes romances.

I agree with Plunket here...if you're going to use characters that someone else has already established then you should keep them as true to the source material as possible...and as holder of the copyrights she should have every right to withdraw if she feels that they are mistreating the character

" I agree with Plunket here...if you're going to use characters that someone else has already established then you should keep them as true to the source material as possible...and as holder of the copyrights she should have every right to withdraw if she feels that they are mistreating the character "

Every character you've heard of in Sherlock Holmes is out of copyright and anybody can legally do whatever they want with it.  Robert Downey Jr can make his own gay Sherlock movie and upload it to youtube if he wants to. 
 
 http://www.sherlockholmesonline.org/LicensingInfo/index.htm 
According to the official website, the only stuff still in copyright is what was published after 1922. 
 In other words, you only need Ms. Plunket's permission to adapt these:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Case-Book_of_Sherlock_Holmes 
  
So while it's probably illegal to make "the retired Colour-man" or "the Sussex vampire" gay, like it or not Mr. Holmes is fair game, at least legally.

I think it was just Downey trying to bring more attention to the movie. Anyone watching the movie could see that Watson and Holmes weren't in a relationship. I don't understand why you would want to make Sherlock Holems gay, you would be drastically cutting a huge audience out of buying a ticket, especially if it is over the top. I believe where people are getting it is because the way Downey portrayed the character as having an unhealthy dependence on Watson and Law's Watson couldn't leave Holmes because his life would be boring. Now does that make the two men gay, no it doesn't.
 
So please someone tell me why making Sherlock Holmes gay is a good thing?

" I think Ms. Plunket is overreacting.  "

In the 19th century it was not uncommon for unmarried men to live together in boarding houses, or to even share a bed. Abraham Lincoln shared a bed with his best buddy Joshua Speed, and yes some historians have claimed he too was homosexual.  So, I don't think what some people may see as homosexual undertones between Holmes and Watson was incongruous with behavior of the time period.  My guess is that Downey is aware of this 19th century male bonding and was just portraying it.  Im rambling.

I have to agree with her. To make a film and have the character portrayed as being openly homosexual seems a slight betrayal of the source material which always left the question of Sherlock's sexuality open to interpretation. We never quite knew was he gay or was he simply far to obsessed and involved in his work and choice of lifestyle to really have time or interest in pursuing romantic relationships with women. 
 
There are plenty people in today's society that don't involve themselves in romantic or intimate situations with members of the same or opposite sex because they focus too much, one might say unhealthily, in their own work and pursuits.
 
I say leave it open to interpretation, after all it is just one of those many mysteries surrounding the character himself.

make him gay just to piss people off

This is not what people expect from this awesome movie.Why does he have to be gay just to make a sequal? i just don't get it. I'm not saying i don't like gay people,i just mean why Holmes have to be gay? thats all.

Well he was slapping that guy in the arena the entire time.... Until he was spit on of course.

It is just a bromance, no big deal. That and Holmes is obviously very resistant to social change, which is what he feared would happen if Watson was wed. 

It was a joke that she didn't get.  Tho right on for her making sure Holmes is on the straight and narrow.

@danhimself:
I agree. I belive it is all about honoring the characters and preserving the tone and continuity of a character does exactly that.
To drastically reinterpret a series or a character or a movie doesn't honor it's original intent and a sort of purtiy has been lost.  
@G-Man 
I'd have to make that a yes. If a character has no business in that setting then you are not honoring that character. In my opinion, I believe we're doing a great disservice to anyone who has come up with an original idea by placing their creation in a "what if" type scenario that goes far beyond the original scope of the character and it's setting. And I also believe that it not only muddles the character in question, it also steals a little of that creative spirit new readers and writers should have when imagining new ideas - they see it as perfectly acceptable to take something already fully formed and warp it into what they want instead of being inspired by the subject to bring something entirely new into the world. It says loads about our culture I think - It seems we're quickly becoming a culture of dilettantes and poseurs and less a culture of fertile imagination. I'm being harsh I guess, but I've seen very few truly new and original offerings in the realms of sci-fi and fantasty in the past 15 - 18 years and I am saddened by that. We need more writers like Herbert, Lieber, Moorcock and Bradbury from the 50s - 70s right now in the 21st century to inject a fresh new outlook into those genres. Sorry G-Man I write too much :)

"  Plus it isnt appropriate if you concider how meany kids are going to see this .    "

I think its more a joke on the Holmes/Watson dynamic. They definitely have a bromance type dynamic.

" @Gregomasta: In the books, he doesn't have much interest in woman either.  And "narrow" is not a word I'd use for such an unorthodox personality! "

If he is gay then I just died a little inside and now hate that movie

Why do people get made at the dumbest things????

" @reaper2923: why though, it doesn't matter to me if he is or isn't.  It sounds like in the books Holmes didn't think much for having a sex life. "

" @Dark Cell said:

"  Plus it isnt appropriate if you concider how meany kids are going to see this .    "

I don't understand that logic.  To me that is no different than saying it would be inappropriate to be dating a woman because kids might see.   "

" @erik: Lack of sex drive has nothing to do with homosexuality...but it has just as little to do with heterosexuality. "

" @erik: Lack of sex drive has nothing to do with homosexuality...but it has just as little to do with heterosexuality. "

" @erik: I'm not sure what it means exactly to be asexual but have a "heterosexual sensibility," especially since, as Red Lamp pointed out, the mores associated with being homosexual have changed over the years.  I'm not saying that Holmes is gay in the books.  But he also doesn't fight Aleister Crowley atop an exploding bridge in the books.  It's not like it's an outrage. "

" @MrCipher: Was giving Spider-Man organic webs true to the original spirit of the character? (Sure he had them in the comics for a bit but that's been erased).  Is having Superman become a deadbeat dad true to the original spirit?  What about Harvey Dent dying in The Dark Knight?  All characters seem to get tweaked and don't stay true to their original "spirit." "

"@danhimself: I agree. Especially on a comic site like this one. People are always whining about staying true to the story when movies are made. Who in their right mind would want to see a gay Sherlock Holmes?! "

I'm with Plunket on this one

" @Marshal Victory: Can you give an example of a movie adapting a classic novel and changing a character in the way you describe that then got an Oscar? 
 
And if y'all hate revisionist takes on older characters so much, does that mean you can't read Watchmen? "

" I don't see a problem with him being gay, why are people so touchy about the whole gay thing?  If someone is gay, why does anyone even think twice or care about? If someone has an on screen heterosexual romance no one cares, but as soon as the otherside (and yes I said the otherside, because i'm not gay) has one everyone trips out.  Plus the more gay dudes there are out there, the more Babes it leaves availible for me :D "

I too support the (apparently mildly controversial) idea that it is not at all offensive or wrong to consider the possibility of a version of a Sherlock Holmes film in which he is portrayed as a gay man.   Are people really that concerned with Holmes being portrayed "accurately"?  If so, there are already dozens of films, tv movies, tv series, radio plays, comic books, etc., etc., that closely adapt the original material.  Not to mention the fact that this isn't actually going to happen.  Downey was just randomly speculating about the character on Letterman, it's not like he showed up with a new screenplay he'd written.  Those who continue to freak out about this comment, please learn the lesson of Larry Craig, Ted Haggart, Mark Foley, and all the rest--if you're really worked up about the idea of gay people out there gaying it up, you probably have your own issues to work through and should leave everyone else alone. 
 
Incidentally, this whole discussion calls to mind an article from Wired a few months back, explaining how Conan Doyle and the Sherlock Holmes stories spawned the first "fan fiction."  The Sherlock Holmes stories *invented* the idea of taking someone else's character and putting your own spin on it.  The article is worth a read:  http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-05/pl_brown