I believe either Law or RDJ admitted deliberately playing it that way in an interview. In most cases yes, it's the slash goggles, but with this film, they were definitely aware.
I don't know whether they're deliberately targetting slashers-there's more reasons to play a scene homoerotically.
In an interview for the 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet, screenwriter Gore Vidal asserts that he persuaded Wyler to direct Stephen Boyd to create a veiled homoerotic subtext between Messala and Ben-Hur. Vidal says he wanted to help explain Messala's extreme reaction to Ben-Hur's refusal to name his fellow Jews to a Roman officer, and suggested to Wyler that Messala and Ben-Hur had been homosexual lovers while growing up, but that Ben-Hur was no longer interested, so that Messala's vindictiveness would be motivated by his feeling of rejection. Since the Hollywood production code would not permit this, the idea would have to be implied by the actors, and Vidal suggested to Wyler that he direct Stephen Boyd to play the role that way, but not tell Heston. Vidal claims that Wyler took his advice, and that the results can be seen in the film.
So obviously it's not a new phenomenon. Though it's my guess that with Sherlock Holmes, part of it is a nod to the notoriety of Holmes/Watson.
no subject
I don't know whether they're deliberately targetting slashers-there's more reasons to play a scene homoerotically.
From the Wikipedia entry on the movie Ben Hur:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben-Hur_%281959_film%29
In an interview for the 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet, screenwriter Gore Vidal asserts that he persuaded Wyler to direct Stephen Boyd to create a veiled homoerotic subtext between Messala and Ben-Hur. Vidal says he wanted to help explain Messala's extreme reaction to Ben-Hur's refusal to name his fellow Jews to a Roman officer, and suggested to Wyler that Messala and Ben-Hur had been homosexual lovers while growing up, but that Ben-Hur was no longer interested, so that Messala's vindictiveness would be motivated by his feeling of rejection. Since the Hollywood production code would not permit this, the idea would have to be implied by the actors, and Vidal suggested to Wyler that he direct Stephen Boyd to play the role that way, but not tell Heston. Vidal claims that Wyler took his advice, and that the results can be seen in the film.
So obviously it's not a new phenomenon. Though it's my guess that with Sherlock Holmes, part of it is a nod to the notoriety of Holmes/Watson.