"Elementary" (2012): Sherlock Holmes and Autism Representation

Disclaimer: There will be spoilers for the show "Elementary" below.

Now, let's get one thing straight: I'm not a Sherlock Holmes fanatic. I haven't been diving from one interpretation to the next, and I'm far from the most qualified person to tell you whether a particular rendition of Sherlock Holmes is "faithful" or not. What I am, though, is incredibly autistic. Something I see traits of in most versions of the Sherlock Holmes character. But no one has spoken to me quite as much as Jonny Lee Miller's performance of Sherlock Holmes in Elementary, a TV show running from 2012 to 2019. And mind you, I've only watched until the season 4 finale as of writing.

Whether you love or hate Elementary for its drastic changes to the Sherlock Holmes formula is an entirely different debate. Yes, Watson is a woman, which I'm sure doesn't sit well with a lot of (possibly slightly misogynistic) die-hard fans, and yes, it does take place in modern day, but that's not the details I'm here to talk about today.

I wanna make something very clear first, though. I do not speak on behalf of the entire autism community. Autism is a spectrum, and I happen to fall somewhere on it. My relating to a character does not mean other autistic people will, nor do I claim that this is a formula for how autism presents in a general manner. This article is 100% based on my opinions and experiences. With that out of the way, let's start with my favorite quote of the show.

Dulling the Noises of the Modern World

"I often wonder if I should have been born at another time. My senses are unusually, some might say unnaturally keen, and ours is an era of distraction. It’s a punishing drumbeat of constant input. It follows us into our homes and into our beds. It seeps into our… Into our souls, for want of a better word. For a long time, there was only one solution for my raw nerve endings and that was copious drug use. In my less productive moments, I’m given to wonder…. If I had just been born when it was a little quieter out there, would I have even become an addict in the first place? Might I have been more focused? A more fully realized person?"

- Sherlock (season 2, episode 7)

Maybe it's just me, but this hits hard. Not only do I think it's a brilliant reference to the character of Sherlock Holmes originating from that exact time, but it's such a powerful insight into the impact the noise and, well, distractions of the modern world have on us. Obviously, this quote relates heavily to drug addiction as well, a topic I cannot speak on, but I understand the sentiment. What do you do when nothing else drowns out the noise? When every sensory input feels like an icepick in your chest? The answer for me is generally ADHD meds and noise-cancelling headphones, but the parallel of using heroine (Sherlock's drug of choice in the show) and amphetamines (the class of my ADHD meds) is not lost on me. Our brains can't keep up, and we can either bring it up to speed (no pun intended) or dull its constant throbbing.

The modern world also happens to be designed around abusing our attention spans and overwhelming us with input. This is no secret nor a revelation, of course. It's just that this exact cocktail, autism (and ADHD), paired with such a predatory design philosophy in basically everything around us, makes for a particularly unpleasant lived experience.

And this is one quote from the show. I feel that this alone conveys my point, but it's far from the only example I have.

Autistic "Rudeness"

While a lot of people, and a lot of characters in the show, would likely describe Sherlock as rude, childish, or even uncaring and selfish, I see much more complex traits and tendencies at play. I'm not denying that he is very rude at times, but general politeness is a social construct. What is considered polite is largely a cultural phenomenon and heavily based on the way we think.

A lot of autistic people tend to cut out the social fluff. We skip small talk, we are direct, and we communicate very explicitly in terms of our expectations and feelings. Our way of relating to people is often through shared experiences, so where an allistic person might see us talking selfishly about our own interests or experiences instead of listening to theirs, an autistic person likely sees it as establishing a shared bond: "I too had this experience and it went like this!" This isn't as much being rude as it is a difference in social expectations. And I see this a lot in the show.

Sherlock will go on and on (and on and on) about his vast knowledge of things, his interests, and generally his take on the situation, without regarding the opinions of the people around him. As the show goes on, we actually see a lot of character development in this regard, which I'll touch more on later. Here, he learns to meet the allistic people around him in the middle (at least somewhat), acknowledging their input and experiences, and making space and accommodations for them. We also see this extend in the opposite direction, especially with Watson learning his routines and habits, and to respect them.

Sensory Overwhelm and Stimming

Speaking of seeing Sherlock as childish, he reacts in a very particular way to sensory or emotional overwhelm. Whenever anyone raises their voice with Sherlock, he will physically withdraw, making himself smaller and start to stim. An example of his stimming is rocking back and forth in place, something I can heavily relate to myself. Loud noises, particularly other people yelling, can completely fry an autistic person's brain. For me, it elicits a full panic response even if the situation isn't actually dangerous. Sensory overwhelm can be really powerful, and stimming is one way to cope with it.

Sometimes, though, the overwhelm gets too much, and that's when a meltdown can occur. Captain Gregson describes it as a "tantrum", and Watson calls it "sulking", but what happens when Sherlock starts lashing out, throwing things, and yelling at people is a classic autistic meltdown. We struggle a lot with emotional regulation, and when there's simply too much stimulus, those emotions have to go somewhere. Now, I'm not excusing poor behavior here; we are, of course, responsible for the actions we take during such meltdowns, but I think it's important not to frame these kinds of moments as a "childish tantrum" but rather a very understandable response to overstimulation.

Allistic people can help by understanding where we come from and what helps us, and we can, in turn, put in effort to minimize the damage that can occur when this kind of situation arises. The bottom line here is: show people understanding, because you don't necessarily know why someone reacts a certain way, even if you think you do.

Morals, Values, and Sticking to Them

It's a bit of a stereotype that autistic people have a strong moral compass, but for me, it's a lived experience. The same can be said about Sherlock most of the time. He does not want credit for his consultations, he doesn't actually care about following the law when it hinders his goals, and he does extend a lot of understanding and empathy towards people in situations similar to his.

Sherlock is not heartless, but operates in a very specific way. While he might not give a damn about the feelings of an incompetent police officer (based, if you ask me), he will willingly set aside his usual displeasure with being touched to comfort the victim of a serial kidnapper and abuser.

I think we often conflate having a "strong moral compass" with a very specific set of values, but that isn't actually what it's about. It's about personal values and sticking to them. So while the rest of society might dedicate some level of respect to the aforementioned police officer out of status, Sherlock does not, because it doesn't align with his values.

Conforming to the expectations and values of others is easy. It's standing up for yourself when you know something doesn't feel right to you; that's the real challenge. And it doesn't matter whether that feeling of "right" is reciprocated by others or not.

Showing Understanding and "Meeting in the Middle"

I hope you haven't gotten the impression from this article that everything is "allistic vs. autistic" to me. It's just that our lived experiences can differ quite a lot, and these terms have meaning when talking about the experiences of one group, that the other might not relate to or understand.

I hope that by writing about the experiences of one autistic person (and one very autistic fictional character), I can help bridge that gap between the two groups. Because, as we see in the show, understanding is not a one-way street.

Sherlock grows a lot as a person and as a character as the show progresses. He learns that his bluntness can be very hurtful to people he cares about and thus attempts to tone it down. He makes accommodations for certain people (mostly Watson) so that they can be comfortable around him. Similarly, we see people who don't just "put up" with Sherlock's behavior (though there are plenty of those as well), but people who learn to understand where he's coming from. Only through this mutual process can we truly coexist with one another in peace. And this rings true whether we're talking about autism, mental health, race, cultural differences, sexuality, you name it.

I'd like to end on another quote from the show, following a big tear in the relationship between Sherlock and Detective Marcus Bell:

Bell: “You know what I thought the first time I met you? ‘Man, it comes easy for that guy.’ Well I’m sorry. It doesn’t come that easy to the rest of us.”

Sherlock: “I am a drug addict, Marcus! A drug addict. Now that might seem like an abstraction to you, because I have been sober since I made your acquaintance, but two years ago, I was as pitiable a soul as you will ever meet. With help, I fought back, and I got a little bit better! I know what I’m supposed to do with my life. Do you?”

Because we never know what other people are going through unless we ask and try to understand. Empathy, everyone <3