The Absence Of A Room - John's 221B Room
Previous post of people discussing this: What did John's bedroom look like? Think we'll see it? – @inevitably-johnlocked on Tumblr
What is a bedroom?
“It's where we share our secrets and where we hide them...It's tinged with almost every emotion we have” The Bedroom | Connections | The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
As The Bedroom by Michelle Perrot review – an intimate history | History books | The Guardian describes, “ the bedroom is the place where we are most authentically, and explosively, ourselves”.
There is something Perrot “calls the “multiple genealogies” of the bedroom, [ie, the idea of the bedroom and its organization or lack thereeof as a study of a person's life or development a person]... “the melodic lines [scattered but purposeful choices- like the placement of books or the messy piles of clothes on the floor - that seen in the full picture of an entire room, represent a coherant and full character]... "where religion and power, health and illness, body and spirit, love and sex interweave” (Perrot).
For me at least, I could not be more excited “...to push open the door and get cracking on this search for God, love, rest and death” (Perrot) through John’s 221B bedroom.
That room upstairs is where he stays when he is living with Sherlock. A time in his life when he feels alive again. With "...the thrill of the chase... the blood pumping through [his] viens" - TEH.
That is why it is so disappointing to me that we have never seen John’s room. A lot could be revealed about John's character from his room. This might be precisely the reason why his 221B bedroom is not shown.
“Great artists have always, I think, turned emptiness into somethingness" The Bedroom | Connections | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In this spirit, lets try to make sense of the absence of John’s room displayed on screen.
“Absence in literature is a powerful device that plays with the expectations and emotions of readers by emphasizing what is not present” (The Use Of Absence As A Literary Device – Aishwariya's LittLog).
“The bedroom becomes a literary device, a trope, a topos, an example of “esthétique du quotidien” [everyday aesthetics] that presents itself as a metonymy [substitution/metaphor] of interiority [regarding something internal, or within the depths of something]" 2018-owen.pdf.
“The bedroom, then, is more than an arrangement of domestic space, it is a litmus test of social and psychic health" The Bedroom by Michelle Perrot review – an intimate history | History books | The Guardian.
We DO see John’s room when it is tidy and militaristic and he’s contemplating suicide from the banality of life after war and unwanted (I think unwanted??) discharge due to "being blown up".
“[When] there's very little in the bedroom. It deals with issues of tranquility and solitude" The Bedroom | Connections | The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
We DO see the bedroom John shared with Mary. But it’s a SHARED room.
We see his house when he lives alone after Mary “dies”. But it’s still NOT truly HIS room.
I think if the bedroom is a metaphor for the internal state or deeper thoughts of John Watson - an intimate, private, vulnerable space - the lack of showing John’s own room, I think might represent his struggle with intimacy and vulnerability. “I’m not good at this sort of stuff” - John in TEH
"During the nineteenth century’s rise of material culture, the bedroom and its decorations become yet another way for authors and characters to put themselves on display within both historical and literary works" 2018-owen.pdf.
"The absence... of a[n] element can actually serve to highlight its importance. The void left by the absence can make the presence even more sinificant..." Additionally, absence can be a form of silence, or "things left unsaid". This can create tension and subtext, inviting readers to read between the lines." "The absence of something crucial can be a key driving force in a narrative. For example, the absence of a key piece of information can lead characters on a quest or investigation" The Use Of Absence As A Literary Device – Aishwariya's LittLog.
John’s bedroom is a key piece of information that fans, at least me, long to see. This makes me think that if there was a full circle plot of John dealing with his issues surrounding intimacy that in that season we would see John’s bedroom finally. I think the absence of John’s bedroom might be indicative of an unfinished character arc.
One area that could be looked into more is John’s queer identity that he is constantly denying… “I am NOT gay!” (I headcanon that he’s bisexual and also that he has internalized homophobia) paired with the idea of the bedroom as a “private space” parallel to the “public space” of it being shown on screen.
(I think John's room might be something warm and cozy but with edge. Perhaps an iteration of Sherlock's room but upstairs. Someone really needs to get access to the 187 North Gower Street upstairs rooms!).
