Benedict Cumberbatch Is All For A Female Sherlock

Since its debut in 2010, Sherlock has grown to be a successful detective series on the BBC. With the series now three seasons in, there's every chance for a forth season to happen. When Benedict Cumberbatch was asked about Season 4 of Sherlock, his response was a simple 'maybe'. But, he said it with that cheesy grin he has!

However, following the controversial casting of Jodie Whittaker to become the next Time Lord in Doctor Who, Cumberbatch was questioned whether or not he'd like to see Sherlock Holmes become female. Speaking to Radio Times, Cumberbatch said this:

“Why not? I don’t care! Sherlockina, it's coming to you soon."

With Cumberbatch all for a female lead in #Sherlock, would it be as successful as recent television shows and movies that have a female lead? But, what actually makes them successful?

Female Protagonists Have Reached An All-Time High

The Hollywood gender pay gap has been revealed and Emma Stone has been announced as the highest paid actress in the world. However, she's out-earned by fourteen male actors.

Stone, who has most recently starred in La La Land, earned $26 million between June 2016 and June 2017. On the other hand, the highest paid actor between June 2016 and June 2017, Mark Wahlberg earned more than $60 million. The question everyone has been thinking is; why don't the highest paid actor and actress get paid the exact same? Unfortunately, it's something that probably won't get a firm answer.

Stone has now started campaigning for equal pay and her fellow male actors have started supporting her. Stone has said:

“In my career so far, I’ve needed my male co-stars to take a pay cut so that I may have parity with them. And that’s something they do for me because they feel it’s what’s right and fair. That’s something that’s also not discussed, necessarily: that our getting equal pay is going to require people to selflessly say, ‘That’s what’s fair.' It’s not about, ‘Women are this and men are that’. It is, ‘We are all the same, we are all equal, we all deserve the same respect and the same rights.’”

Last year, The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film announced that females led 29% of the top 100 grossing movies of 2016, which is a 7% rise from 2015.

Big blockbusters like, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Arrival, and the Wonder Woman are some of the examples that demonstrate their abilities to lead a whole film and smash box office records in the process.

The success of the female led movies comes from the female character actually being center of attention, not being sexualized for attention or just being there as 'eye candy' for the male audience.

Female led movies gain a lot of its success due to its large turn out of female audiences, for example, Finding Dory. The sequel to Finding Nemo saw Dory take the lead in this movie, proving that not only do females have everything a man has to put a plan together, but, they have the exact same knowledge and intelligence to ensure the movie has the happy ending that the audience are expecting.

Finding Dory grossed a massive total of $1.029 billion, and it has been proven that the sequel was watched more by females than males. According to Motion Picture Association of America, Finding Dory was watched 55% by females and 45% by males.

It's movies like Finding Dory are what grabs the attention of females, and gives them hope for an even bigger successful box office trend in the upcoming future.

Female Leads Have Become An Inspiration

With Hollywood becoming well-known for its female leads, it has inspired top television shows to follow the trend. The hit BBC series, #DoctorWho, has finally cast a woman as the Doctor 54 years since the series started just to fit in with modern day movies and TV shows.

Whilst Jodie Whittaker's casting as the Doctor has excited a lot of fans, others have shared their opinion on social media sites, which state quite clearly that they're not impressed with the casting, as they've threatened to boycott the show, despite them being huge fans of the show.

Former Time Lord, Peter Davison, who played the Fifth Doctor appears to be on the same side of the fans who claim they're boycotting the show. In a statement, Davison said:

"If I feel any doubts, it’s the loss of a role model for boys, who I think Doctor Who is vitally important for. So I feel a bit sad about that, but I understand the argument that you need to open it up. As a viewer, I kind of like the idea of the Doctor as a boy but then maybe I’m an old fashioned dinosaur – who knows?"

With a large proportion of fans whining about Whittaker being the 13th Doctor, they're forgetting that she will bring something fresh to Doctor Who, as well as, a different and unique approach to the science-fiction show.

Final Thoughts

With movies like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Arrival starting a new trend within television, many Sherlock fans may just fangirl out over a female Sherlock Holmes if it ever happens. After all, it could well be seen as a modern day Miss Marple.