We haven’t had an honest-to-God promotional tour from Benedict Cumberbatch in two years, since he was Oscar-campaigning his way to Cumberglory in the fall of 2014. It was an enjoyable time that involved the introduction of Sophie Hunter, their whirlwind engagement and subsequent pregnancy reveal. Plus, Bendy really, really wanted an Oscar nomination for The Imitation Game, and he got it, only to lose the Oscar to Eddie Redmayne. I hope Benedict’s promotional tour for Doctor Strange won’t be so… daily, shall we say? But I do hope we get lots of interviews, plus Sophie on the red carpet. Maybe she’s knocked up again! Anyway, Benedict covers the November issue of British GQ to promote Doctor Strange, only he barely discusses the movie (in the early excerpts). He does talk about Brexit and refugees. Some highlights:
His recommendation for Doctor Strange audiences: “I would advise people not to take any drugs before watching.”
Why he made that “f—k the politicians” speech last year: “I think it’s because I got so riled up. Like a lot of parents, over that summer… that picture of that boy [Alan Kurdi]… a beach we can recognise from family photographs, from holidays that we’ve all had ourselves… it’s not about privilege, it’s about a child dead on a beach because he’s tried to escape a war.”
On hosting refugees: “One of the arguments was, when are you going to put a refugee in your house or your flat? And, you know, I do have a house, but it’s empty, it’s gutted, there’s no electricity or water, so that wouldn’t work, and I have a baby in my flat, there are no spare rooms… I wasn’t saying, ‘Yes, open the doors to everyone, yes, give them our jobs and our wives,’ and that whole kind of stereotype fear that nationalism has leapt on.”
On the last series of Sherlock: “It might be the end of an era. It feels like the end of an era, to be honest. It goes to a place where it will be pretty hard to follow on immediately. We never say never on the show. I’d love to revisit it, I’d love to keep revisiting it, I stand by that, but in the immediate future we all have things that we want to crack on with and we’ve made something very complete as it is, so I think we’ll just wait and see. The idea of never playing him again is really galling.”
On Brexit: “I was in Wales when it happened. And there is such poverty in Wales. There are real problems. Real problems. You know, we used to film in Merthyr Tydfil, one of the most impoverished places in that country, and of course people are angry. Of course people want change. What people are f***ed off about is that they were promised change that won’t happen.”
I get that he’s trying to say Important Things about Hot-Button Issues, but doesn’t it just seem like he’s trying too hard to not say that much, actually? I think Benedict is a smart guy, he’s just not as smart as he thinks he is. He wants to be a politically-active actor and say Smart Things. But… what is he really saying? Brexit isn’t going to help the people that voted for it? Shocking. He doesn’t feel like putting his time, money and effort where his mouth is and find a way to host refugees? Sure. Politicians are to blame for an incredibly complicated situation that no one has a solution for? Eh. Bendy might want to stick with Marvel’s script in future interviews.
Photos courtesy of British GQ.
He wants to Say Important Things but not Piss Anyone Off. Tough. Can’t have it both ways though.
He can’t host a Syrian refugee because his house is being renovated and he doesn’t have a spare room in his flat? Talk about entitled and clueless.
Yes, really, no electricity or water? They’re living without electricity or water? You know who else is doing that? REFUGEES.
Sigh…
No electricity and no water, and they have a baby in it… riiiiight.
I swear if I was a millionaire I would help in any way I could – rent a house to give a few families a home, help them out by paying for language classes, etc. It is not that hard if ordinary people are doing it.
Yeah, that does really show how clueless he is.
If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t be describing my renovations or lack of spare rooms… I would be pointing out that the whole argument is just a distraction from the real problem. One Hollywood actor taking in a single family of refugees — or even 100 refugees! — isn’t going to solve the crisis or even prevent hundreds from drowning in the cold dark sea.
Angelina gets the same criticism (which is enraging on a whole different level, because she definitely puts her money where her mouth is )… because the people lodging these criticisms would rather write off the celebrities as hypocrites and cling to nationalism than listen to their points or think about the human toll of all this suffering.
Yeah, the comment about lack of electricity and water was weird. With his money (both inherited and from acting), why does he own that kind of house? So many questions….so many mysteries…
He probably shouldn’t have taken that question so literally.
@perplexed
I can solve that mystery for you. I’m fairly certain that a few months ago, there was info about him buying a townhouse in London. There were pictures and an explanation that the townhouse needed extensive renovations. There was also a story about him requesting a permit to change something major about that house and the neighbors being up in arms about it, I forget what it was.
So, it seems to me that he’s saying his new home is under major renovations (thus no electricity and water). He clearly doesn’t say he lives there, he lives in a flat with a baby.
Fair enough. His answer was funny sounding given his level of privilege. I don’t know necessarily think this was his intent, but he unwittingly made it sound as if he’d never have electricity or running water ever again. I thought he was supposed to be articulate…
I agree with you Brittney B. , BUT… if celebrities did take in refugees (like the Pope did), or helped them in this way, then it might serve as an example to others and it might make media talk about welcoming people rather than treating them like vermin.
There was a lovely article in The Guardian about a woman who took in a refugee and helped him get on his feet and bring his family over.
No, it doesn’t help to solve the crisis, but it could offer a refuge and some respite for people who have nothing and have endured unimaginable pain. (But psychological studies show that the more money you have the less compassion you feel for others…)
Sooo the refugees can move in once the renovations are done, right? Right..?
@Megan — perfect response to his nonsense.
Forget the flat, even. I’m sadly faaaaar from rich. Which sucks because I really am generous lol as it goes. BUT, I have made bed and hey! There was no electricity or water until I TURNED IT ON. Weird. He has money. Let some in need people chill at your house. Don’t be as creepy on the inside as you look on the outside.
All talk, this bitch
I don’t want to see Doctor Strange anymore if that happens.
He keeps shoehorning everything about his personal life to the point of ruining the film’s story. It’s very distracting. No, don’t want to see that at all. If Marvel start adding that stuff into their social media and PR strategy, I’m never seeing the film. At all.
All I can think of, whenever I hear or read the words ” Doctor Strange”, is…*sighs* that could have been Joaquin Phoenix right there — who would do very little press, we already know about how his M.O. (but it’s looking more and more like we could live without these type of interviews — in a way, I also think Phoenix is right about that as well).
Yes, I can’t get over that.
I can’t either. Joaquin would have been fantastic in that role.
where is Joaquin? Has he done any movies recently?
Phoenix is fantastic in anything.
I was so happy when I read on Collider’s Twitter that Joaquin Phoenix “is going to play Dr. Strange. I don’t know when Marvel will announce it. But he is Dr. Strange”.
That was in the morning…then updates started showing up and, in the evening: “Phoenix is NOT going to play Dr. Strange anymore”.
My heart shrank.
@ Maria 2:
The most recent one is “Irrational Man”. But you MUST check “Inherent Vice”. Trust me.
ETA: Oh, my Leonard Cohen, he’s going to play Jesus!!!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5360996/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_3
AND Tahar Rahim (top five as hot guy, top 30 as great actor) is going to play Judas.
O_o
*GAAAAHHHH!*
The thing I love about him, aside from his talent, is how little he cares about publicity and PR. Such a breath of fresh air.
@ Hermia:
He’s simply in a league of his own.
Inherent Vice should be seen.
I love Joaquin so much si I’m right there with you.
He will keep talking about Brexit, the refugees, his houses, his wife, his son, etc until we all believe it’s the Benedict Cumberbatch Show and not Marvel’s Doctor Strange.
My biggest fear is that he can’t carry/open a movie. I’ll be there (at the first screening) anyway because there’s still the villain, played by Mads Mikkelsen (top 10 favourite actors). Plus, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tilda Swinton.
Annnnnnnnnd because Marvel owns my ass.
Honestly I hate that Tilda is in the film. Not because of Tilda per se, but because there goes another asian character being whitewashed. I expect better.
I might see it someday, but the last Marvel film I saw on opening day was Avengers 2. I watched Civil War in PPV LOL Marvel is getting a bit tiresome for me and that makes me sad.
@ Cee:
I understand (meaning, I know how you feel). But there’s no need for you to watch it.
I’ll watch it twice — that’s right: I’ll taking one for the team.
*’l’ll take one…
‘And there is such poverty in Wales.’
why doesn’t he just shuts the front door. between him and hiddlestone idk who’s more unbearable, although benedict today takes the cake.
Benedict wins (Thomas gets a lot of hate he doesn’t deserve, I must add). He managed to insert his own personal life narrative into Thomas’ interview—like, he offered to shoehorn his own personal life into another actor’s interview. I can’t believe this guy. He strategically makes everything about him (I wish he’d redirect that cleverness into something meaningful, for the greater good). Even the plight of refugees is all about me, me, me.
Even when doing the Actors Roundtable during his Oscar campaign. He made every question put to Eddie Redmayne about him.
Seriously, this guy. What is he trying to prove?
Tommy boy creeps me out more than Benny personally. Benny is who he is, flaws and all. Tommy boy is a piece of PR plastic, and I don’t like surprises.
Disagree on that particular interview. Their ‘interview’ wasn’t really an interview but a conversation-duo piece, so they were promoting each other. Benny’s was for Strange a bit and Tom’s was to get his brand message out, which is he’s not a tabloid piece but ‘Mr. Serious Actor, please ignore my pap shots.’ For those, both people give out information.
Was he asked about the plight of refugees or the criticism of him on it? My guess is the latter.
He could use some PR brushing up in deflection, when you don’t really answer the question asked but go elsewhere, but the complaint that an actor talks too much about themselves with questions like this is just silly. The questions are often about the actor. That’s the whole damn point.
Ignore me, I guess. I just find the reaction to him like off the wall at this point. Did he give a boring interview or murder kittens on video? We just can’t tell.
Anyone could come up with legitimate excuses why you wouldn’t want a stranger in your house. I’m sorry, practice what you preach and prepare to back it up or keep your mouth shut.
Also, this guy looks ike an alien. Like, the mars type, not the illegal ones he wont provide shelter for.
are you nuts? Do you mean he actually has to DO something!? No way! He needs his life just as comfortable as it is now. God damn hypocrite…
I’m in Canada. People are not so much taking refugees into their homes as helping them find apartments and small houses (relative to the area and affordability), directly sponsoring them so aid with the transition to independence. It’s not about taking people “into your house” and he should never have been asked that AND he should know better than to give that question any credence.
“AND he should know better than to give that question any credence.”
Exactly. That’s the part that bothers me: he doesn’t even seem to realize that this particular argument is baseless, and it’s basically just a distraction for the ignorant.
Parents aren’t the only people who become upset at the image of a dead child. He has been playing that angle for a year and it is a bit insulting. He made the comments about the government and refugees from the stage a year ago. Has his house been gutted the entire time? That’s a rather extensive renovation.
Exactly. I’ve never been a parent and I can’t have children and seeing children caught in the middle of war kills me. He makes it like being a biological parent makes him so much more valuable as a human being, his constant family angle shoehorning made me feel really shitty about myself because I had just been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and I can’t get pregnant (or I shouldn’t otherwise it would harm the child). And it has been over a year now, hasn’t it? He used to be so discreet, now he has no trouble skipping last-minute rehearsals to be papped with Obama (dude, how many of us actors never get those opportunities/roles you take for granted) and no problem with mixing personal life into his characters’ stories before anyone’s even seen the film.
How many billions of human beings populate the earth? He’s hardly the first man to become a parent. He thinks he sooo special just because he’s healthy and he can procreate.
If you want to help make the world a better place, start by not ruining people’s entertainment for those who have legit tough jobs and want some escapism from their rough realities? Stop ruining your audiences’ enjoyment, stop ruining everyone’s fun.
“(…) and he can procreate.”
*SHUDDERS*
I didn’t read that, I didn’t read that, I didn’t read that…
LMAO. He procreates magically too (that’s why he’s Doctor Strange—nothing scientific about it at all, see).
@ DSA:
But we know it still involves…*BARFS*…body fluids.
I must leave this thread, stat.
Bodily fluids are Dr. Strangelove’s territory.
@ DSA:
LOL! Oh, my Leonard Cohen! I was thinking about that movie when I posted my comment.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb — one of my top five favourite comedies. Time to rewatch it.
BTW, thanks for the correction (“bodily fluids”).
Stop it. You’re making me like you. I don’t like when I like people.
@Eve: LMAO! I honestly did not expect Dr. Strangelove to be funny when I decided to watch it (I thought it would be a very serious Cold War film).
PS: Please don’t start liking me (for your own good). It makes me nervous when people like me, I have commitment issues…
@ DSA:
I have commitment issues, too!!! Like, BIG, UGLY ones.
That’s it: I’m out.
Bye, bye (for now). everyone.
*WAVES*
I think Dr. Strangelove would be good preparatory viewing for tonight’s vice presidential debate. Or, considering Pence’s views, The Handmaid’s Tale with Robert Duval, Faye Dunaway, Natasha Richardson, and Aidan Quinn.
To be fair the missing rehearsals thing was made up. He missed one last-minute run but was at all the other rehearsals.
But he still needs to STFU.
@ Lightpurple:
I live in Brazil. We had a coup here, just weeks ago — a poorly, ridiculously coup disguised as an impeachment.
Will you hate me if I say that I feel a bit of schadenfreude whenever I read about the presidential election over there? Come on, it’s all we (lefties) have for now.
I CAN GUARANTEE you guys are in a better situation than us here.
*tosses Eve a bouquet of fragrant purple flowers*
Could never hate you or your shank-wielding ways, darling Eve
@ lightpurple “That’s a rather extensive renovation”
It has taken several months to get planning permission.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3799932/Actor-Benedict-Cumberbatch-wins-permission-renovate-2-7m-mansion.html
It’s fine. If he was just going on about how wonderful life is in the midst of his privilege, people would rip him apart too. At least there is some awareness here. Oh and the Marvel script? You mean the one that seems to regularly include random sexist comments? Yeah…no.
Not to be pedantic, but I’m not sure that saying “f*ck the politicians” during a post-show charity trawl counts as a speech. It just about qualifies as an opinion.
I also do think that it qualifies as “privilege” as well. Not everyone has the platform afforded by a sold-out production of Hamlet in a huge theater in London.
He has so much privilege [even in terms of being an actor] that he thinks it was totes okay to skip a last-minute, final rehearsal for that Shakespeare event. Does he have any idea how many actors would kill to be in his place?
And he’s so “f*ck politicians” that he would rather skip a work obligation to be papped at an Obama Q&A. Yeah, f*ck politicians mentality indeed.
@T. Fanty:
:* :* :*
*leaves quietly*
I know, I know. I hang my head in shame, as should you.
(and hallo, my lovely. Always good to see you.)
Nuh-uh! I’ll just pretend it never happened.
(In and out while eating lunchtime sandwich).
To be fair to Benny the Bouncer, much as it hurts, the big thing from the anti-immigration people here is always to shout down any prominent person speaking up in favour of taking in more refugees by bellowing “PUT THEM UP IN YOUR OWN HOUSE THEN OR YOU’RE A BIG FAT HYPOCRITE.”
Which is a ridiculous argument really because it’s not like housing is the only thing refugees need. They need language coaching often, they need organisations helping them to integrate into the community, they need a full range of services that don’t come with a celebrity’s spare bedroom, FFS.
So he’s only saying that because that’s the always asked question – and a straw man at that.
In other news, the PM has announced she will probably be repatriating non-British doctors and nurses working in the NHS as soon as the new cohort of Brits have been trained (conveniently forgetting that she’s simultaneously removing the bursaries for nurse training) and the housing association house in our village that we set aside to take in a Syrian refugee family is STILL standing empty because, you know, Brexit doesn’t mean Brexit: it means NO MORE JOHNNY FOREIGNERS and government hasn’t given us a family to put in it.
For once, I’m actually with Benny.
Ok. Rant over. Sandwich eaten. I’ll leave now.
Was it a good sandwich? 🙂
The Tory conference seemed a parade of Ukippers in disguise. Fining the British junior doctors if they want to work abroad without having served 4 years in the NHS first sounded like a coscription; not to mention the antiimmigration rethorics always taking front stage.
Honestly I cannot get to grips with how UK changed in only one year.
The military asks for a mandatory 6yrs and no one complains. Ditto any company sponsoring your education asks for a mandatory service period with them, so why is the NHS any different.
I disagree with her stance that foreign born doctors should be kicked out, but if a company trains you, you should give them a mandatory service period.
Britain was always like this, you just didn’t notice.
“Ditto any company sponsoring your education asks for a mandatory service period with them, so why is the NHS any different.”
Really? Because I never heard about it except military corps and it’s not done elsewhere in Europe, not that I know of.
My husband received training but he didn’t do any compulsory service at the company he worked for (although he stayed there anyway); I am not ‘forced’ to stay here in any way despite graduating in UK.
@hermia
I’m not a UK native so I wouldn’t know. Surely it has not been the case since I moved to Scotland eons ago.
Yes, I saw that this morning while having breakfast. Hubby and I looked at each other as if to say, “Is she even aware of what she just said?”
Totally agree about what Brexiters thought that “Vote Leave” meant. I kept hearing horror stories of non-white persons being verbally abused. There was one that stood out where a patient turns to a doctor of Pakistani origin and said, “We voted out. Shouldn’t you be on your way back to your country?”
As for Cumby, bless him but he needs to mellow out.
It’s not just non-white people, Eastern Europeans and Poles in particular have been at the receiving end of horrible abuse. Britain has lost its mind and anyone non-white or white with an accent is a target.
@Gretchen
Exactly. I also wonder why ‘incidents’ of that kind happening in nothern England are only reported in the papers up here but don’t figure anywhere else in national papers.
The national press and media have been scandalous in their reporting after Brexit, I cannot even blame Britons because they’re bombarded by lies and deceit constantly.
Thank you, the voice of reason…it’s not about the reno’s.
Addressing that criticism only makes him more open to attack – he should have just ignored it but he does love to show off.
Re: May and Brexit, it will be interesting to see what happens but when she was Home Sec she had a rep for being quite hard line and somewhat conservative. Under her it’s become very difficult for non EU nationals to get into this country to work even if they have jobs/sponsors. I’m intrigued to see how she handles the rest of the EU during the negotiations, I don’t think she will be quite the walk over thou I do think that we will still have free movement with the EU, can’t see why we can’t if we want to trade fully within the EEA.
She talked hard line, but facts were quite a bit different. No way Britain will keep his single market membership. Better be prepared for abject poverty, same as they had in the 70s.
@hermia
I agree with you. She was definitely advocating hard Brexit. She’s also famous (infamous) for being quite conservative in her approach to immigration. I’ve heard horror stories about the treatment reserved to British people with non-EU spouses, many had to take residence in EU because Home Office was not allowing the British citizen to sponsor the spouse. I think we should brace ourselves for more of this.
@ hermia – abject poverty in the 70s in the UK?????
@spidey
“The general election in June 1970 saw the Conservatives, now led by Edward Heath, achieve a surprise return to government after the opinion polls had suggested a third successive Labour victory. Unemployment was still low by this stage, standing at 3% nationally.
However, with the decline of Britain’s economy during the 1960s, the trade unions began to strike, leading to a complete breakdown with both the Labour Government of Harold Wilson and later with the Conservative Government of Edward Heath (1970–1974). In the early 1970s, the British economy suffered more as strike action by trade unions, plus the effects of the 1973 oil crisis, led to a three-day week in 1973-74. However, despite a brief period of calm negotiated by the recently re-elected Labour Government of 1974 known as the Social Contract, a breakdown with the unions occurred again in 1978, leading to the Winter of Discontent, and eventually leading to the end of the Labour Government, then being led by James Callaghan, who had succeeded Wilson in 1976. The extreme industrial strife along with rising inflation and unemployment led Britain to be nicknamed as the “sick man of Europe”..
Unemployment had also risen during this difficult period for the British economy; some 1.5 million were now unemployed by 1978, nearly treble the figure of a decade earlier, at a national rate of well over 5%. It had not fallen below 1 million since 1975, and has remained above this level ever since.[104]
Also in the 1970s, oil was found in the North Sea, off the coast of Scotland, although its contribution to the UK economy was minimised by the need to pay for rising national debt and for welfare payments to the growing number of unemployed people.”
At least that’s what it says on wikipedia……..
Spidey: yes. Abject poverty in the 70s. Britain was became an IMF nation. Living under the thumb of the IMF is no joke. It’s an inconvenient fact people forget about Britain.
Ah, Sixer, bless you. I referred to the question about refugees in the home upthread in a subcomment but you said it so much better – it’s a straw man. And more. And it was good to have a summer hoping Brexit would quietly go away but now it’s fall and it’s ba-ack.
Well, spring 2017 is not far away. I think the answer to the Brexit dilemma is just around the corner… Late Xmas gift? Lol
I get what others are saying about a clueless delivery – don’t say your house is a mess, Benny, make the bloody positive case! But really, NOW IS NOT THE TIME to prioritise daft entitlement on the part of celebs. Now is the time to big up literally any anti-xenophobic remarks from literally anyone getting column inches for saying something different.
Look at this image (please, do look at it):
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aYIIFTb91So/V2ULdrvWJtI/AAAAAAAABSY/5bhe2MB9-EEj4M_v3gbBJFgzupKWosyEgCLcB/s1600/Daily%2BExpress.jpg
This is what Britain is being bombarded with at the moment. This is what politicians are pandering to. This is what a Trump USA will look like. Benny might be – ok, *is* – a clueless posh twat, but at least he isn’t this.
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street in which thousands upon thousands of Londoners went out to chase Mosley’s fascism off their streets. My lovely grandfather, newly moved up to London from Wales in search of work, was among them. Somehow, we have got to get ourselves back to thinking in that way. And y’know, I’m not going to criticise even a posh twat for doing his bit, even if his bit is less-than-perfect.
PS: my eyes are boggled with work. Please can I have some sympathy?! Also, sorry for misusing literally.
Fascism/Racism … never really went away, now thanks to rags like the Express and Fail backed by people like Murdoch its reared its very ugly head again. And its not just in the UK, its rampant across the EU. We live in sad and scary times and it doesn’t look like its going to get any better anytime soon.
Awww, have a wine break always works for me.
Yes, you can have sympathy, and a properly made pot of tea, and some lemon drizzle. And Alien Beauty to give you a back rub and a foot massage.
OMG Sixer, my eyes are hurting….
“The fifth Council of Europe report on racism in the UK highlights concerns over the “considerable intolerant element” in the public political debate in Britain, particularly on immigration.”
It’s in this article, a lady on my twitter account retweeted it: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/04/eu-commission-uk-authorities-filtering-out-racial-elements-hate-crime-cases?CMP=share_btn_tw
I can’t stand this guy and I agree that he’s not as smart as he thinks he is. Also I still can’t get over the fact that he called President Obama by his first name when talking to the press. I’m not American and we usually call our head of state by last name, but I’ve never heard anybody referring to Obama by his first name in the press. I don’t know it made him seem…disrespectful.
Will Smith did it as well, because he wanted to show off how tight he is with the POTUS. Classless. Hell, Robert Kennedy was a US senator and attorney general, and *still* always called his brother “Mr. President”.
Yeah, it’s totally classless.
I’m surprised he hasn’t started call him “Cousin Barry” à la Downton Abbey yet.
Bendy has always been a notorious name dropper and loves to rub shoulders with the rich and famous – he’s a hypocrite and a snob.
I think it is different because he is British. Obama is not Mr. President for anyone by the citizens of the US.
There is also a possibility that Benny doesn’t know all the nuances of how to properly address Americans.
After all in the US it is very common to address people by the first name, regardless of their status. I am pretty sure I’ve hear Bill Clinton being referred in public as Bill.
Just like American would have no idea how to properly address British officials or members of peerage,
Wait, he said he was in Walles when IT happned?! Something about how he phrased that makes me think that he didn’t bother voting. Wait, does he know he could vote?
Postal vote, perhaps?
Most actors are registered for postal vote since they never know where they’ll be.
“…..and I have a baby in my flat, there are no spare rooms…” ???!!”
Give us a f***ing break. Is he saying he has a house wit “just” 4 rooms: one master bedroom, one livingroom, one nursery and of course one extra room with bathroom for the nanny? Pooooor guy!
A refugee is used to share a room with other strangers. I am sure you could rearrange the study, the guest room etc. to fit one into a spare room.
Or is he saying refugees are dangerous around babies?
I think babies are quite safe around HIM. I mean, Christopher hasn’t been eaten yet (which is common practice in his home planet).
You have a point there. But who knows…refugees migh…and with one baby, his house is full up to the attic!!!
How do we know he hasn’t eaten Christopher?
@ Lightpurple:
Good question. Looking closely, his face does look fuller, doesn’t it?
And we haven’t seen Christopher in a while, have we?
@ Lightpurple:
Stop scaring me!
Ok, I take that rant back: if anti-immigration people use this as an argument in the matter of saying: “well, why don’t you…” then I understand his reasening.
And why shouldn’t people on high horses who tell others what/how to do things actually do the things they demand of others? Does Bendy boy volunteer at a refugee centre? Is he (or his wife) at the very least a contact person for a refugee? Teach english to refugees? Pay for an apartment for a family? Live in an area where refugees live? No? Then he should shut up.
And the “if the anti-immigration people use this …” is such bs. Just another way to weasel out of actually DOING SOMETHING! It is always someone else who should do it, right?
“Does Bendy boy volunteer at a refugee centre? Is he (or his wife) at the very least a contact person for a refugee? ”
He has done a number of fundraisers for refugees and children. My guess is the impact of those is much larger than him personally teaching one person English.
It is the same argument as why he is not personally housing a family of refugees.
There are other ways he can help much more efficiently and he does.
Oh Ben Ben Ben…..
The more intelligent response would have been to say the focus shouldn’t be on individuals putting them up but on the government to create plans which bring them over safely and efficiently and securely for both sides with access to healthcare, education and everything else they need not “well my multi million pound house is being renovated…”
You said it better! 1+
Exactly
But that would have been the rational answer and would not have drawn the attention back to Bouncing Benny and how inconvenienced he is by having two residences with a baby taking up a whole room in one and the other just gutted.
Lindy’s class always makes me feel like an asshole.
MWAH EVE!!! X
Seriously, I´m sitting here like “???????”. The argument is so stupid in first place and anyone with two brain cells would know not to walk into that very badly laid trap.
I don’t get the hate. Surely he was just asked questions and they printed his answers. The topics are still hot topics in the UK so to ask him questions again about it is normal isn’t it?
And I still to this day do not understand people saying ‘oh, why aren’t you taking refugees into your home’. He and other celebrities never said for people should take them into their own homes have they? They are calling for the UK Government to take in refugees… providing a house for them. The UK has only taken in 216 refugees. 216… that’s it. I for one think we should take in more, but I also have nothing against the current immigrants that are here either.
And there is a big problem with poverty in Wales, even though they have had a lot of benefit from EU funding. The biggest problem with Brexit was David Cameron and even the Labour party did not put across what it meant properly. Most Brexiters voted without knowing what the hell it all meant. Some voted because they were against the Tory’s and hated Cameron and didn’t even know Labour were also against it, some voted because they only heard Nigel Farage’s hype (most which were lies) and some voted because they were racist and believe that Britain should return to the 1800’s before Johnny Foreigner came and spoiled their Anglo Saxon country. But Some voted because for them, and their lives in particular, they are affected by EU laws, however the majority aren’t affected at all and actually benefit from EU laws
Cumberbatch should have just said ‘Fiddlesticks’ and left it at that
Nothing wrong with answering questions (or having an opinion on a hot topic and airing that opinion unprompted). It’s just how he makes all the answers all about himself that tick people off.
Exactly, when governments invite refugees in they are not forcibly housing them with people. I support the US taking in my Syrian refugees and I’m not personally housing anyone either.
Yes!
@Toodles and @Sixer make great points.
The demand that the only way for him to advocate for and support care for refugees is for him to personally take some into his home, otherwise he should keep his mouth shut, is ridiculous. Say he had a spare room in his flat, say his new home was habitable…how many people would be able to be there: 6? 12? That’s not going to do much to alleviate the crisis now, is it? It’s up to governments, with the urging of their citizens, to come up with a more robust plan that actually helps many people and addresses humanitarian needs on a larger scale. The UK has not done that, yet. (The same could be said where I am in the US, we have not done a good job of responding to this crisis, yet.)
As someone in the public eye and who has resources at his disposal, he tried to bring more attention to the problem, called on political/government leaders to address it, provided information and a channel for people who are so inclined to help those in need (links to aid groups, organizing collections), and from reports, did “put his money where his mouth is” by donating to the efforts, sponsoring aid trips, etc.
A lot of the noise about it is manipulation by certain segments of the media playing on fear, and people who want anyone they don’t agree with (or who is different than them) to shut up, go away, etc. Maybe some of those people have reason to be angry about being left behind by the economy, by their governments, etc. But ranting like lunatics at anyone promoting any kind of humanitarian aid or social programs, and promoting isolationism and fear of the “other” is not the way forward. (I’m in the US dealing with the Republican/Trump lunacy, and all the bigotry, small-mindedness, lack of empathy in the name of “patriotism” and “security” that goes with that. It may not be the same, but it seems pulled from the same page. Using “fear of the other” to control the masses and distract them as the rich get richer, the powerful get more power and rights and freedoms are degraded is sadly an old trick)
Cumberbatch is a popular recipient of that at the moment. In three years time, the rags and the dregs in their comment sections, will be on to someone else.
He is entitled to his opinion as we all are, as the saying goes, opinions are like ar*e holes, everybody’s got one.
However standing on the stage virtue signalling his moral superiority rankles a bit. Like many well educated people he seems to think he’s a lot cleverer than he is.
He got a lot of criticism for swearing to the audience and it obviously still rankles, he made a mention of it in his mutual back slapping “interview” with Tom Hiddleston.
I might stand up in work and rant at the window cleaner, over the wrongs and evils of various politicians, but then I’d probably get sacked.
I concede that I might be being unfair to BC, as he is one actor I really loathe (fair disclosure)
I think I’ve been quite fair when it comes to Benedict (I did ‘defend’ him when everyone accused him of crassly campaigning to play Bowie in the Bowie biopic—it hasn’t been a year since his passing—when he got on stage with Pink Floyd). But I’ll criticise him when he deserves it (or when I think I deserve to be left to enjoy my entertainment as I am reasonably entitled to as an audience member). Like now.
I know this will make me sound a bit stalkerish but I don’t think the house thing is true. One of those hater blogs posted about sending her friend to check out his house during Hamlet and took a bunch of photos of his house. I remember there was some big kerfuffle because she took photos of boxes of baby stuff (like a pram box) in his recycling, and that somehow proved there was no baby?
So he was living in a house not a flat at that time.
This:
“What people are f***ed off about is that they were promised change that won’t happen.”
I think he hit the nail on the head with that one. That is the biggest Brexit issue – people were flat out lied to, and told things would be better for them, and it’s just not going to happen like that.
I agree with a lot of his opinions (I mean, yeah, Brexit was a bad idea and we should help children fleeing from war zones, *obviously*) but I think I would like him more if he didn’t seem so defensive every time someone critisises him for speaking out in public.
It’s almost like clockwork by now: Cumberbatch says something basically sensible but comes across a bit smug while saying it, then the Daily Mail Online writes some sneering article about “leftie luvvies” and how they should all shut up next to a big picture of Cumberbatch, and then their pond scum readership flood the comments, berating him because he’s not giving the literal shirt off his back to a Syrian refugee. And then, a few months later, Cumberbatch gives some interview to a magazine where he defends himself from online commenters! Why does he still give a such a massive fuck about what the bottom half of he internet is saying about him?
A few points, because this man is really grating on me. I can’t believe how he went from a funny, earnest dork to THIS.
1) you don’t have to be a parent to have felt mortified and shocked at that poor child’s body on the beach. All humans able to sympathise felt the horror of that image and were probably moved to tears.
2) Yes, the refugees are people, the vast majority of them have degrees and trades. But also please understand those in your own country who feel threatened. It might be ignorance, it might be racism, or it could be they’re fed up with being left behind while playing high taxes for the little money they earn.
3) do not tell people to donate their pocket change or disposable income while you earn thousands of pounds and do nothing about it. Yes, he could be donating privately but I seriously doubt it. He could have donated a week’s worth of his Hamlet paycheck.
4) Learn how to read the scenario – there is a housing shortage with sky-high rent prices and you are telling people you can’t host refugees because your 4 million pound house is being renovated? Don’t even mention this if you don’t want to get flack.
5) Just because you get flack for your idiotic comments does not mean you’re smart or right.
6) Just because you’re an actor does not mean your opinions have no worth. Look at Angelina Jolie. But freedom of speech and expression comes along with their mean sibling – accountability. Take responsability for what you say.
7) Stop making everything about you. Stick to promoting Doctor Strange and Sherlock.
@ Cee:
Point 7 — this is going to be a sh*tfest. May I rewrite it, please?
7) Stop making everything about you. Also, DO NOT PROMOTE Doctor Strange. Let the other actors do the job. Really, just skip it.
hahaha hopefully DS promo will also include the rest of the cast and not just Benedict.
With my luck? Nah, it’s going to be him. ALL. THE. TIME.
@Cee, if they are at the same place, he will interrupt and talk over them, just like he did when Alan Leech was trying to answer questions about Downton and BC and his publicist physically inserted BC into the conversation and interrupted to talk about BC
Ah, Lilac. Never stop being a little creepy lol.
1) Agree
2) I can’t feel bad for racists, and that is the majority of the dissenters on this
3) I doubt your assertion. Disclosing private donations is a no-no unless there is a specific call–ie a tally event
4) Agree, but this is just a derailing point racists use. It’s not valid, he should not have responded
5) He was right in this case
6) Agree
7) He’s answering what is asked in interviews. I suspect this is older (this stuff happened months ago) and was held back but not done specifically for promo of any project. It’s more of a profile
@Kris – after all the hate and criticism he got due to his comments, if he had donated I believe the PR response would have been “Cumberbatch donates XX pounds in aid of refugees”. His PR is always in overdrive.
Hoewever I do agree with your point re: this is an interview and must be somewhat old. Hopefully his future interviews will be more focused on his projects but this also depends on the publications and their journalists.
@Cee – It would be utterly pointless from a PR perspective. Any amount they release would be labeled not enough or self-congratulatory because the root of the criticism isn’t that he is rich, it’s that these people don’t want refugees in their country. Figures would just be another attacking avenue.
2. According to whom do the vast majority have degrees and trades? That is not the reality in Sweden. Even though the politicians and media try to convince us of it. If you actually take the time to read some reports it’s the other way around. Maybe it is different in the uk.
I’m not in the UK but at least those coming to my country have degrees and/or trade. Maybe it’s because we’ve had a Syrian program for some years now and only those with sponsors or relatives are admitted in. We are waiting for an influx of 3000 refugees to come in. Our first Lady’s ancestry or ethnicity is Syrian and Lebanese and these groups, though a minority, have been present for decades in our country.
My only complaint? Do not settle them in the big cities. We are bursting with domestic and international immigration. We have smaller cities that need people to work. Settle them there.
@Cee
Would they want to stay in little towns though? Some of them were relocated on Scottish islands in UK and they were not happy to be so isolated from the rest of the world or their fellow Syrian citizens.
I’m sorry, 3000? Try 163 000 in one year. + relatives that come after.
@Cee Sorry, not to shoot the messenger. I don’t know which country you are referring to, but as a German, that just sounds horrendous to me. Seriously, do your bit, especially with that groundwork already layed.
There is no value to life. The thought that your life only matters if you have the right qualifications and degrees is inhumane.
Germany took in +1million which should be followed as an exaple by other countries provided they can, but it seems especially wealthy Middle Eastern countries refuse to do their part.
@SilverUnicorn – those who have arrived here so far have been grateful. They’re whole families.
I think that if they’re given shelter, the possibility to learn the language and to live in safety, that should be enough.
@thaliasghost and @maria 2 – I’m talking about Argentina. That country that is located across the Atlantic Ocean, in South America. They don’t get here that easily, like your countries, because it’s far away. We also do not have free mobility.
We not only have to deal with huge illegal inmigration from LatAm and Africa, but now we are taking in more and more refugees. The Syrian program precedes the crisis. Those +3000 thousand are getting here on our dime and placed with sponsors, not with their relatives. Our program was expanded to accomodate those without connections. I’m sorry we’re doing so little, but this is how much we can do given our economic and social condition. Most people are xenophobic and want them to GTFO. So glad some european countries, and perhaps yours as well, are doing so much for them, given the proximity and, in some cases, involvement in Syria.
And I agree, wealthy middle eastern countries are turning their backs on a problem that involves them too. But you can’t really force a country to cooperate even if they could/should.
@ cee
free mobility only applies to eu citizens not people from other parts of the world. I don’t think Argentina are doing anything wrong no country should take in more than they can assimilate. Sweden is a horror example. They cut down on everything and at the same time they raise the taxes. We pay more and more and get less and less. I have a chronic disease and I don’t get treatment and have to wait 4 1/2 months to even see a doctor who sent my away after 30 minutes and denying treatment. Thank you sweden!
@ maria 2 – There’s something called Mercosur which is like the EU only it applies to Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay and (unfortunately) Venezuela. We have free mobility within our block and I can move to any of these countries w/o the need of a VISA or change in nationality. Problem is we are far away from Europe and Syria, so only those with money can get here which is why our program is vital to help relocate refugees more evenly.
What you say about Sweden is the same in Argentina. Our basis is socialism which sounds great because everything is free (or funded by taxes) but our hospitals are completely full with citizens and non citizens so we go to private ones and pay a lot in health insurance. Public schools are not very good so we get sent to private or catholic ones. Thankfully our public universities are still very good, which goes into having a more educated society.
From my monthly wages I not only pay taxes, but also income tax! It’s so frustrating. However Argentina is a very big country in terms of territory and our population (citizens) is not very high (42 million) so we CAN welcome more people, especially if they’re placed where they’re needed the most.
@Maria 2
In Italy you wait 6 months. In UK you probably die before being visited. Maximum time slot allocated to each patient at a GP practice in UK is 10 minutes.
And no, I’m not going to blame it on immigrants because I know that in both countries the fault lies with the government cuts. The blame should be placed where it is, corporations/banks/millionaires’ greed, cue the politicians. Then ‘us’ (of any nationality) are left fighting with the scraps. Sooner or later another French-style revolution will happen because we have no ‘cake’ left to eat.
Love your post. The first one really annoyed me. A person doesn’t have to be a parent in order to feel concerned about or love children.
He just takes it to almost Justin Timberlake levels of self-absorbs. I suspect now he was always like this but hid it better years before.
Yeah, I think you’re right. I don’t believe celebrities show their real personalities although some are more subtle than others.
@Cee. Your post is spot on. You literally said everything that I was thinking only 1000x better. Thank you for being more succinct and brilliant than I could ever hope to be.
…no. 2 is really bad imo. racists and ignorant people aren’t deserving of understanding…wtf i can’t believe that is just being left to stand..priorities please
I didn’t mean they have to be understood or have a pat on their backs. I personally have no time for racists. But racists are part of every country and they certainly have some power when they go out and vote. If you understand them then you can play the field even better. Why do you think Brexit won? Because some politicians played right into the racists’ mindframe*
*I am in no way saying that EVERYONE who voted Brexit are racists. Everyone can have legitimate reasons. Like what happened in Colombia this week 🙁
@Cee
They shouldn’t be ‘understood’ in the literal term, they should be marginalised. Being a racist is not like a mental disease, we do not need to destigmatise them.
What happened with Brexit is that their stand was legitimised and also encouraged pre-referendum. Therefore that is the reason why many Brexiteers have been associated with racists or downright nazis after the referendum.
Fear should never be encouraged, unfortunately that game played into Tory’s hands. I still keep saying that Brexit was something highly desired by many Tories currently in power.
He’s always been a self absorbed attention seeking twit – success and an Oscar nom has only made him worse. The thirst and smug is so very strong with this one and it will once again bite him on the ass.
One can only hope that it comes back to bite him in the ass. That’s the only tickets I would every buy for this idiot. I don’t support him otherwise.
He’s so smug it’s frightening. He is truly is getting on my last nerve. And I hope that I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Yeah. That Vanity Fair cover would only make it worse.
No one puts refugees in their house. That’s not how you “host” refugees. It is a public housing effort that a country makes, not a personal, come-stay-on-my-couch-till-you-get-on-your-feet kind of thing. While you can lambaste famous or rich people for not “making room” for refugees in their homes (?!?!) it’s really real estate developers and politicians who can work together to help make literal room for mass amounts of political refugees.
This is rather confusing as where I am quite a lot of people invited Syrian refugees into their houses in long-term arrangements as public housing by the government turned out a laughable faillure. A lot of people who do not have nearly as much money as Mr. Cumberbatch. I agree with you, of course, but it actually does happen a lot.
“…give them our jobs and our wives..”
Excuse me? Are wives things owned to be given?
I haven’t read the comments. Did anyone else find that line to jump out at them?
no—those are two super common talking points of the anti-immigrant right, who are also unsurprisingly sexist: they’re going to take our jobs, take our women (also rape our women but I wouldn’t have used that word either). the third is they commit all the crimes. He’s saying he didn’t bring their ridiculous views/fears to life by criticizing government response.
He said “give”, not “take”. That’s what jumped out at me. It just rubbed me the wrong way.
i dunno, makes sense to me. if you believed some people were going to take something, the worse thing someone could do is say they were going to give those things to those people
obviously we all know women aren’t things, but the right don’t and he labeled it all as nonsense–it’s their voice he’s parroting
Oh dear. He really kills my cumber-crush with all those deep thoughts.