ABSTRACT
Across books, movies, and television series, Sherlock Holmes has provided audiences with multiple opportunities to attempt to understand and label the title character’s peculiar behavior. In the BBC television series Sherlock, the title character himself uses the label of “high functioning sociopath.” But is he really? This chapter analyzes the evidence of the three labels and calls in to question the opportunities and challenges that arise when framing a character as living with a mental illness without ever providing a clear diagnosis. The author argues that the character’s pop cultural ubiquity makes it possible to look across multiple media to examine how and why Sherlock is so often labeled psychopath, sociopath, and, more commonly, autistic. This chapter explores where these labels have come from as well as discussing the impact such labels have on how fans seek to understand their Sherlock. The author notes that fans frequently consider Sherlock as autistic, and as such the character should be celebrated for bringing attention and awareness to a population often misrepresented or rarely shown in the media. The analysis demonstrates that writers and media producers should be mindful of how they portray characters who exist on the spectrum.
