On Bromance, romance and society norms

I went and saw the Sherlock Holmes movie today. Like everyone said, it was wonderfully slashy. (Favourite moments included: squabbling over the shared dog, Watson telling Holmes that yes, he did leave the stove on, and Holmes comment of "Take me down, my tongue is going numb, and then I'll be of no use to you". lol.) Despite the fact that the homoerotic subtext comes through loud and clear (not to mention constantly, seriously, this film is NOT subtle), in the end, Watson still marries a girl. And Holmes has a ~moment with Rachel Adams on a bridge.

It seems to me, as bromance is growing more and more popular in mainstream media, that this is becoming a pattern. Take Merlin. Arthur had more chemistry with a rock in S1, but Guinevere was still there, safely in the spot of future queen, because that's how everyone seems to think it's supposed to go. Boy marries girl, not his male best friend, and if two guys mean the world to each other, then there'd better be a girl in the picture to make sure they're not actually gay. ( more )