So, I thought Benedict Cumberbatch was highly uncomfortable when it came to Sherlock fanfiction. I would have never pegged him as a person who intently thought about just how Sherlock would have sex (even down to what items he’d use). But, ol’ Cumberbatch has surprised me.
Elle UK features Cumberbatch describing in great detail how Sherlock would do the do with John Molly Moriarty his lover. This is in response to the interviewer saying that she thought Sherlock wouldn’t like sex; that he’d know what to do in an intellectual sense, but wouldn’t really care about it.
Prepare yourselves, ’cause here’s what he said in response.
BC: You know I’d get the, I’d probably test the latex, if it involved prophylactics, beforehand. I’d do a little experiment to do with durability, length, girth, and um, strength. And um, I would probably take a lot of vitamin supplements to make sure that I could perform, and had had my sleep, and probably not had many cigarettes. Or drink, for that matter. Not that he does drink.
ELLE UK: You see. Proficient, but lacking enthusiasm.
BC: Yeah, no wait for it. I would probably watch a lot of porn…I might have to shave, um. areas to fit in with a modern idea of bodily hair. And then I would be devastating. I’d know exactly how to please a woman, I’d know exactly where to put my fingers, where to put my tongue, where to put my-his I should say-his fingers, his tongue. Think about violinists, they think about what they can do with their fingers. And I’d know exactly how to get that person into it, and get pleasure out of making that person feel pleasure to the point that I probably wouldn’t even have to enter…But when I did it would be explosive.
ELLE UK: But does he ever lose control?
BC: So in sex, would he lose control? I think to have really good sex he would probably have to.
Okay. Here’s my two cents on this.
I actually agree with the Elle UK interviewer who said that she thought Sherlock would be proficient, but find sex distasteful.
Even though Cumberbatch’s description of how Sherlock would be “devastating” in bed was fun to read, does it make sense for the character? Sherlock’s painfully awkward in social situations, but masks it by uncovering people’s secrets/generally annoying them. He’s never actually interacting in an honest fashion with anyone except for John (and Molly that one time in Season Three). I felt like he’d be emotionally unprepared for sex with anyone.
Also, there are a lot more interesting ways for Sherlock to handle sex than the standard “I’m amazing at everything including sex” mode. Cumberbatch himself said that he plays Sherlock as asexual (although he states Sherlock is “asexual for a purpose”, so he can concentrate on his work instead of other stuff, so there’s that caveat). So would he really be that amazing at sex? Would he really decide to lose control when he hates losing control? Would he actually enjoy it? I’m clearly expounding on this way too much.
But, just because I doubt he’d be a regular libertine in bed doesn’t mean you have to. This is Cumberbatch’s opinion and I’m not about to die on this hill. Also, I’m sure there are people typing away at their computers now, finishing up their now-revised fanfiction.
What do you think about Sherlock the Lothario? Give your opinions below.
Photo credit: Robert Viglasky/Hartswood Films for MASTERPIECE