Sherlock Holmes discussion

People often consider Holmes as being without emotion. The TV shows often portray him as being extremely rude (possibly without him knowing it).

I disagree with those characterizations. I think that Holmes had strong emotions, but he controlled them so that they did not control him (not unlike a Vulcan).

One of the best examples that I have found is what he does in The Five Orange Pips. When Openshaw comes to Holmes about threats from the K.K.K., Holmes was enthusiastic. He told Openshaw to not "spare another instant." He seemed to genuinly care about Openshaw and was genuinly hurt when Openshaw died.

In other books, he has other displays of emotion (keeping Adler's picture in A Scandal in Bohemia, threatening to beat Mr. Windbank in A Case of Identity, sparing the aged Mr. Turner in The Boscombe Valley Mystery).

Do you see Holmes as having strong but controlled emotions? Or do you think that the shows have it right?

I think Holmes definitely has emotions. He's a very human human, as comes out in quite a few of the stories. But emotions get in the way of his work:
“The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning.” - The Sign of Four
So, as you say, he "controls" them.
That's my opinion. Also, just mentioning - being rude and having no emotions are very different things. I don't think Sherlock is intentionally rude to those who don't deserve it; he's just managed to engage himself so solely in his work that he literally doesn't notice or think about it. Which is one reason why Watson is so indispensable.

I think even at the beginning in A Study in Scarlet, when he hears of Jefferson Hope's death from an aneurism. He says "thank god!" I think he truly felt remorse for having caught Hope only to discover his crimes were just.