Cumberbatch backs up Teen battling Cancer

By Alexandria Viernes

From establishing his place on the list of Time Magazines most Influential People of the year to securing a role on BBC’s Richard III series, Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be generating loads of good news over the past couple of weeks.

According to The Telegraph, the Sherlock actor has joined a team of celebrities to help back up a young teens battle with Cancer. The article mainly focuses on the teenager, Stephen Sutton (pictured below), who’s battle with Cancer has been documented over the internet and gaining the attention of celebrities and musicians like Cumberbatch, Coldplay, Jason Manford, Simon Pegg, and Russell Brand to join him in his battle to raise money.

Borrowed from telegraph.co.uk
Benedict Cumberbatch expressed his support for Sutton with this photo tweeted by Cumberbatch’s pianist friend, James Rhodes: 
So, why is this important? 

Well, this just adds to ever rising good reputation for Cumberbatch. A lot of celebrities often get involved in charities and fundraisers– sometimes it’s for publicity, other times it’s because they are truly interested in giving to a charity that they care about. In this case, it could be both. Now, I’m not saying that Cumberbatch is only joining a fundraiser to help build his media attention. Clearly, he doesn’t need any extra media attention or a reason to build his reputation– he is, after all, considered one of Time’s most influential people in the world.

However, I am saying that getting involved with fundraisers like this definitely help build Cumberbatch’s already growing reputation. In general, people like seeing celebrities putting their high status to good use through charities and fundraiser like Sutton’s story. Celebrities are role models to a lot of people, and by getting involved with helping others, they can encourage the public to do the same.

Whether you are a fan of the celebrity or not, knowing that they are involved in events like this automatically puts them in a better light and earns them some respect.

For example, as someone who doesn’t essentially enjoy Taylor Swift or her music, It’s hard for me to dislike her because I remember that she’s one of the most charitable celebrities in the world– and I respect that she chooses to dedicate a lot of time towards helping others. The same case goes for those who aren’t essentially fans of Cumberbatch– people will respect him for his actions.

And for those who are fans: they be rpoud to see their icon getting involved with Sutton’s battle. Whether or not this is a plot by Cumberbatch’s publicist to build his presence on the media or if Cumberbatch is genuinely interested in helping out (I think the latter is true), either way it will certainly bring an even more positive reflection on the influential actor while at the same time bringing even more attention to Sutton’s story.

With that said, A++ Benedict Cumberbatch, you GO, Benedict Cumberbatch!!

The Influence of Time’s 100 List: Rise of the Cumberbatch

By Sarah Connolly

When I first heard that Benedict Cumberbatch was a frontrunner for “Time‘s 100 Most Influential People list, it brought back memories.

When I was a child, Time was one of the few magazines my mother subscribed too (that and More magazine).  She never subscribed to any fashion or celebrity magazines (which I craved), so I secretly poured over her one copy of People Magazine’s commemoration of Princess Diana.  Besides that one People magazine issue, I remember reading every single edition of the “Time 100″ list.  More specifically, I would only read the “Artists and Entertainers” section of the list.

I remember cutting out pictures of Angelina Jolie and George Clooney from the “Time 100″ list for a project on celebrity philanthropic work being done in Africa.  Why I would always turn directly to the “Artists and Entertainers” section?  It’s simple: I wanted to know who were the most prominent movie and the television stars.  As a kid, I practically idolized the movies.  I wanted to know who made them, who wrote them, who starred in then, what beautiful dresses the actresses wore on the red carpet.  I watched the Golden Globes, The Emmys, and The Oscars.  I have since added The Tony Awards and The Olivier Awards to my list of “must-see” television events–they are my equivalent of the Super Bowl, March Madness, and World Cup.

I remember seeing Colin Firth and Meryl Streep along with Angelina Jolie and George Clooney on the list–even before I’d seen any of their movies.  It encouraged me to watch their work and to see if they were truly as great as they had been proclaimed to be.  I remembered Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman writing about other actors before I even knew who they were.  I remembered their names, their faces.

This brings me to my question: how do I even KNOW about Benedict Cumberbatch.  I knew who he was before this class but it might be shocking to know that I have never seen any of his movies and I have never watched “Sherlock.”

I heard about him over the radio–yes, ancient technology, I know–while riding in the car on my way to work.  He had done a dramatic reading of R Kelly’s “Genius” and the radio hosts were giggling with glee.  So I did what any rational human being would do and Googled him–was puzzled since he did not seem outrageously good-looking–and then watched the clip that dominated the internet.

It was not only hilarious, but it also alerted me to one thing: Benedict Cumberbatch’s voice.  He has a very smooth voice.  Only then did I understand what made fangirls all over the world go crazy–he has an incredible voice.  I’m talking he-should-narrate-life type incredible.  I had been skeptical over Cumberbatch–I had not seen his appeal until then.

Even now, I have not seen any of his films, but, because of this class, I’m slowly becoming an expert on his life.

This brings me to my point: Time 100’s list is incredibly important for popular culture. Being listed on this list will astronomically increase an individual’s exposure and fandom. Benedict Cumberbatch will become a household name.

Even my mother will know who he is.

BFF’s and Shunning: Benedict Cumberbatch’s Circle of Friends

By Sarah Connolly

Benedict Cumberbatch might be having a rough week with his friends.

Tom Hiddleston and Martin Freeman–two very different actors–have each co-starred with Benedict Cumberbatch.

Tom Hiddleston, who co-starred with Cumberbatch in Spielberg’s War Horse, has been reportedly good friends with the actor since then (2010).  Martin Freeman has had the same amount of time knowing Cumberbatch as a co-star (“Sherlock” started in 2010 as well).

One would think that Freeman would know him even more intimately since they’ve made a television show rather than a movie.  Yet, Hiddleston is the one in Cumberbatch’s inner circle.

We know that they are still friends because Cumberbatch attended a showing of Donmar Warehouse’s production of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus a few months ago, which Hiddleston starred in (Side note: The entire production was phenomenal; I had the privilege of viewing a recording of it, courtesy of National Theatre Live, at the Irvine Barclay Theatre).  The two also live in the same neighborhood.

Coincidence?

I think not!

Is it proximity?  (Hiddleston and Cumberbatch live right near each other.)  Is it stardom power?  (Both Hiddleston and Cumberbatch are rising stars.) Is it better acting skills (I think Hiddleston is a far better actor than Freeman, but that is my personal opinion)?  Is it fandom?  (Cumberbatch and Hiddleston have similar fandoms.)  Is it intelligence?  (Both Hiddleston and Cumberbatch are Etonion scholars.)  Is it their voices?  (Both Cumberbatch and Hiddleston have that same silky voice.)

The Benedict Cumberbatch Film That Almost Doesn’t Exist (According to the Media)

By Sarah Connolly

Whilst scrolling through a mundane news-feed for Cumberbatch–New BFF! Shunned co-star! Time Top 100!–I came across a small article.

The title seemed dull at best–“Benedict Cumberbatch to attend Krakow’s Off Plus Camera Festival”–but I was intrigued.

The first two questions I had were easy to answer:  What is the Krakow Off Plus Camera Festival?  (A small film festival.)  Where is Krakow?  (Poland.)

But my third question–Why was Cumberbatch not only invited to attend, but why will he attend?–was less easy to answer.

The article didn’t say anything beyond that he would attend with a few other less well-known actors (read the full article here), but I decided to investigate further.

Upon Googling Krakow’s Off Plus Camera Festival (the English website, not the Polish–Krakow, as I discovered, is in Poland), I saw that they had “Benedict Cumberbatch–Our Special Guest!” written on the site accompanied by the photo below.

Benedict Cumberbatch - our special guest!|

Upon clicking on this glorious image of Cumberbatch, I came across new Cumberbatch information that intrigued me.  I placed parts of the first two paragraphs below.

“…Benedict Cumberbatch will present himself to the Polish audience not only as a great actor, but also as a creator of independent cinema. With a group of friends he founded a collective producing company, SunnyMarch. To Krakow he comes with a film in which he performs, and which he has produced at the same time, namely, “Little Favour” (the screening is on 10th May in Kijów.Centrum)…

Although after his studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art he used to perform in the classical dramatic repertoire including plays by Shakespeare and Ibsen, he has always been fascinated with film. He devoted his MA thesis to his favourite director, Stanley Kubrick. During OFF PLUS CAMERA festival he will definitely attend an exhibition devoted to Kubrick, which will be on display from 4th May at the National Museum.”

Here is the blurb in its entirety.

First come the questions.  Why isn’t this getting more press?  I would think for an actor to debut their own production company, it would be a big deal–consider Joseph Gordon Levitt’s HitRecord company, which was talked about in many interviews and launched its own cable show.

(Joseph Gordon-Levitt, widely acclaimed and popular actor who started HitRecord.org.  Best known for 3rd Rock From the Sun, 500 Days of Summer, LooperThe Dark Knight Rises, and Inception.)

I didn’t even know about this new film, Little Favour, which actually came out last October!

Little Favour (2013) Poster

How could this have been missed?!

And what else has his company done? (According to IMDB, this short film is all they’ve done so far.)

But, most importantly, where is the media firestorm for this film?  Although the film’s run time is only 22 minutes long, even a cameo by a famous actor in a small film (for example Tom Hiddleston in Joanna Hogg’s Exhibition) would thought to have warranted more press.

And–here’s the clincher–the film actually sounds (and looks–see the trailer) REALLY interesting.  Here’s the synopsis:

“Its been 7 years since he left Her Majesty’s service and 10 years since the American Counter part [sic] who became his friend, saved his life on a joint mission in Iraq. He’s migrated his skill set into a lucrative business while managing to keep his secret battle with PTSD under wraps. One day, while finally deciding to try his hand at a functional relationship, his old friend JAMES cashes in his chip and asks a LITTLE FAVOUR. How could he refuse when he owes the man his life?”

This sounds like a fantastic film!  Far more original than yet another take on Spiderman!  I actually really want to go see this!  (It’s available for purchase on Itunes.)

So where is the media?

Apparently they are all interested in BFFs and girlfriends and dolls and coloring books.

But I persist:  Why do these stories sell and not ones about Cumberbatch’s MA thesis on Stanley Kubrick (which I actually think would be really interesting to read, if only to gawk at his marvelous vocabulary)?

(Stanley Kubrick, film director.  He’s most known for these 8 films: Eyes Wide ShutFull Metal JacketThe Shining,  A Clockwork Orange2001: A Space OdysseyDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the BombLolita, and Spartacus.)

At least with the thesis, we’d have Cumberbatch’s opinion on something rather than gossipy speculation and over-analysis of something he/others may/may not have said about something vaguely to do/or not at all to do with him.  See my previous posts for a discussion of these.

And, conversely, why am I so interested in this?  Why do I find this far more fascinating than who his BFF is?  (For the record, I don’t think Tom Hiddleston wouldn’t be a bad BFF to have–the internet has gone bananas about how he’s the nicest man on earth, even going so far as to dub him a Disney prince!)

I find this interesting for two reasons.

1. Because it talks about Benedict Cumberbatch as a student and as an artist. Yes, he is an actor and a producer, but he also owns his own production company.  And the article also mentions he had to write an MA thesis, so he understands the college student experience.  (He’s just like us!)  In all seriousness, while it might seem obvious that he’s gone to college, many actors don’t attend college or drop out.)

2. It shows that Cumberbatch is not so high and mighty as to only attend a few events a year like Angelina Jolie and George Clooney.  Even though he’s one of the biggest stars in the world right now, he is going to a tiny Polish film festival because it’s something that he cares about. I doubt most in-demand actors would accept an invitation like this one.

It’s this little article–not the other huge media articles–that makes me think that perhaps this is what makes Cumberbatch so different from other actors.  Perhaps this is what Colin Firth was alluding to in his Time 100 excerpt.

Perhaps this is what makes Cumberbatch so–dare I say it?–special and worthy of our attention.

Cumberbatch and Shakespeare

Link

By Silvia Jiang

Sherlock fans will be very disappointed to find that the new season will be delayed at least to 2016, because both Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman will be too busy playing Shakespeare to appear in the much beloved TV show.

It is fair enough to say that Cumberbatch and Freeman have been linked together since the first episode of Sherlock. The British magazine Time Out selected them as No.1 of Top 10 Couples in London. They both in the movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Now, they are both about to play in the same Shakespeare play – Richard III. Cumberbatch will star in one of three of the BBC’s Shakespeare shows, while Freeman will play the doomed king on stage in London.

It surprised me at first that the big star is going back to the BBC. Cumberbatch has certainly made his name in Hollywood already, and according to TIME, he’s the most influential actor in the world. If Cumberbatch stays in Hollywood, he could reach higher levels, and maybe even an Oscar, in a short time. Why not stick around?

On the other hand, it doesn’t surprise me at all that Cumberbatch would choose Shakespeare after everything he has done. Despite the special complex British people might have for Shakespeare, it will soon be the 450th anniversary of the British literary giant’s birth. There is no better choice for an actor than to play Shakespeare, and no better time to do it.

This is not the first time Cumberbatch has performed Shakespeare. Back in January, 2013, a Youtube video showed him reading a few sentences from The Seven Ages of Man.

But the BBC’s RIchard the Third is not the only Shakespeare Cumberbatch is about to undertake. In August, 2015, he is to star in Hamlet, on stage at the Barbican Theater in London for three months.

Meanwhile, Sherlock fans who gave Cumberbatch a huge push to stardom are forced to wait out the Shakespeare storm until there’s a new season.

“He must be stopped.”

By Ashley Burnett

Today Benedict Cumberbatch became one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People—the magazine even labels him ‘Everyone’s Favorite European’. According to TIME, the reaction to Cumberbatch’s inclusion is ‘unambiguous’—everyone is ‘thrilled’. The article includes several tweets from fans expressing their love, pride, and excitement. Reactions to other, non-favorite Europeans such as Chancellor Angela Merkel, were “muted” according to TIME.

Another famous English actor, Colin Firth, penned Cumberbatch’s profile and praised him for having “vulnerability, a sense of danger, a clear intellect, honesty, courage — and a rather alarming energy”, closing out the profile with: “He must be stopped.” Unfortunately for Mr. Firth (and fortunately for the Cumberbitches), it doesn’t look like Cumberbatch will be stopped any time soon.

Interesting to note is Colin Firth’s mention of Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham, Cumberbatch’s parents, both actors who were rather well-off. As we discussed in class, to become a celebrity requires a lot of ‘start-up’ costs, which is why so many current celebrities stem from Hollywood families. Cumberbatch typically tries to play down his posh origins, so it’s interesting that Firth would put them so front and center in a major American magazine. Perhaps Cumberbatch’s influence is so strong he no longer needs to shake off his posh image–or perhaps it helped contribute to his influence in the first place.

Overexposure

By Christina Nakagawa

Benedict Cumberbatch: “I’d hate to think anyone is sick of the sight of me”

A little bit of overexposure

Recently, one of the stories about Benedict Cumberbatch is about a quote from his saying he may have overexposed himself.

“It’s just crazy. I’ve overexposed myself! Actually that sounds a bit dirty,”

Dirty jokes aside, what he is talking about is that he has been in a lot of movies and tv shows and media in general lately. No one can argue that he hasn’t been very busy with several high profile projects.  Between Sherlock, Star Trek, and The Hobbit alone he has been in quite a number of high-profile projects.  Add in a stage performance of Hamlet and an upcoming television performance of Richard III, he has only to break into children’s movies to round out his resume.  In fact, even that seems not altogether impossible- I found one link that suggested he may be approached to voice act for Frozen 2 (though whether that will be made and whether he would be involved are both unknowns).

Consider many of his rabid fans, and perhaps in some ways he has been over-exposed: Somewhere between the time his fans took the nickname of “cumberbitches” (to his expressed dismay) and when he started having his picture edited onto plays on his name (see this post if you want to laugh at Benedict Numberbatch). However, what is interesting is also his reaction.

“It would be really churlish to complain about anything to be honest. I’m very fortunate to be in the position I’m in.”

Here, we see that he recognizes he seems to be complaining and is trying to amend that he is actually very happy to have done so.  But looking at the way the fame engine works like we have been in class, I personally couldn’t help but think about the idea of fame versus talent.  Looking at the roles that he has been taking on- even those as ambitious and “serious thespian”-like as Shakespeare, it is clear that Benedict has a talent for acting.  He continues to be given roles that expand his career and not only because he is good looking.  What is interesting though, is that he has addressed how his fame machine seems to be working head on.  In addressing that he is perhaps overexposed, he takes the power of that realization away from people who would turn it into something negative and instead humbles himself and expresses his gratitude and pride in all the roles that have lead to such “overexposure”. By saying so less as a reaction to negative comments and instead on his own volition, it is almost as if he is saying “yes, it’s ok, now move on.”

To me, this seems to be a way of taking the fame machine he is caught in into his own hands- of focusing on his projects and not on his media exposure.  This leads me to question how exactly then, he may continue to attempt to control the fame machine such that he comes to be taken primarily as a talented actor rather than as a celebrity.

Freeman: Not the Watson to Cumberbatch’s Holmes

By Jila Hamrang

A Google Search of Cumberbatch at the moment will lead to links about his place in TIME’s 100 Most Influential People and a surprising article concerning Martin Freeman. In a recent interview, Martin Freeman, Cumberbatch’s co-star in Sherlock, told Yahoo that he does not hang out with Benedict Cumberbatch. Freeman, who plays Sherlock’s best friend Watson on the show, said: “We are very friendly and we’re good work colleagues but we’re also quite busy and I don’t really hang out with many of, or any of, my co-stars.”

cumberbatch

In other words, the friendship the characters have on-screen is not reflected by the actors off-screen. Apparently, Yahoo forgot the definition of “acting.” It does not appear that Freeman’s comment is made out of maliciousness, but the article tries to milk it for all its drama by entitling the piece with the sassy: “Martin Freeman: I don’t hang out with Benedict Cumberbatch (exclusive).” The title is more abrasive than the actor’s actual statement. It suggests that Martin Freeman specifically singled out Cumberbatch as someone he chooses not to spend his time with, when in reality, Freeman’s statement suggests that he does not really spend time with any of his co-stars. This is understandable, since Freeman has his own personal life, which includes his two kids and his long-term girlfriend Amanda Abbington (Mrs. Watson in Sherlock). The question recalls middle-school-cafeteria-chatter, and has nothing to do with his promotion of Fargo, but apparently Fargo was not as important as his hangouts with Cumberbatch. If anything, this piece is a lame attempt by Yahoo to garner more views with the use of Cumberbatch’s name, and with a misleading title that suggests less than amicable feelings between the two co-stars, they will get the attention they desire.

cumberbatch

Although viewers may wish their favorite actors were their favorite characters, they have to realize that it is okay if Freeman and Cumberbatch are not Watson and Holmes.

cumberbatch gif

Perhaps, it is a compliment to the actors if viewers wish they were as close as their characters. That is, it is so believable that they are good friends, it is astonishing that in real life, they are not. However, fans’ obsession with their friendship more-so exhibits their connection with Holmes and Watson. So, do fans care whether or not Freeman and Cumberbatch hang out? Does it matter, as long as they keep making Sherlock episodes?

Our Fascination with the BFFs

By Jose Perez

While researching Benedict Cumberbatch and scrolling through the various articles on Google, I stumbled upon one particular article from Zap2it that was solely devoted to celebrating Benedict Cumberbatch’s and Tom Hiddleston’s friendship and their apparent BFF status. The article presents various pictues of the actors together, as well as several hilarious edited gifs of the two, made by fans, which are evidently fascinated by such friendship.

cumberbatch-hiddleston-war-horse.jpg

Benedict and Hiddleston in Steven Spielberg’s War Horse–the movie that “brought the actors together.”

Nevertheless, this article made me wonder: what is the fascination with their friendship? Why are these articles, focused on two people’s friendship—something so ordinary and banal—, made in the first place? The first thing that popped into my head was that we are so enthralled by Cumberbatch’s and Hiddleston’s friendship because it humanizes them. It makes us think: “Hey, famous people can have friends just like us!” It lowers them from their celebrity status and turns them into ordinary people, with whom we can relate to more easily.  However, there’s more to it.

By creating such articles, aren’t we contradicting ourselves? The fact is, we are giving so much attention to these two fellow English actors and their close friendship. We place them on this pedestal because their friendship is so much more fascinating, as if their friendship is superior to our friendships (you don’t see gifs of you and your friends on the internet, do you?) Therefore, aren’t we further increasing the distance between them—the stars—and us—the “commoners?”  It seems to be this paradox where the more attention we give to the fact that stars are just like us, the more we push them towards celebrity, and the more articles about their life–including their friendships–are written.

Cumberbatch Name Generator

By Amy Wilentz

I hate to be silly in front of a large class, but this is my favorite Cumberbatch website. There’s something about that name that conjures up Mother Goose rhymes

little-mother-goose

and all of the history of Great Britain, at the same time.

Here’s a nonsense Mother Goose rhyme based on his name:

Benedict Cumberbatch had curly hair/Benedict Cumberbatch went to the fair/The boys did not like hime/No more did the girls/So Benedict Cumberbatch cut off his curls

It’s a Montypythonesque name; a name that seems to come straight out of Victorian vaudeville. The last time there was a star with a similar name, he looked like this:

Engelbert-Humperdi_2155508b

Englebert Humperdinck… yes, that’s right: Englebert Humperdinck

Englebert Humperdink was a megastar in the 1970s, a British singer (born in India). His real name was Arnold George Dorsey, and I think we can safely say that the name change worked for his fame machine. (Englebert Humperdinck was a real person who lived in the 19th century in Germany and composed opera.)

The most incredible thing about Benedict Cumberbatch is that… that’s his real name! WHY did his parents do that to him, one wonders. Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch… yikes. Destined either for greatness or playground bullying — possibly both.

Understandably at one time, the actor contemplated changing his name but was wisely (it turns out) counseled against it.

It’s only the fact that it is so drenchingly British that saves it and makes it a useful fame tool. (Britons sneer at it: not too many of them have names like that these days (or ever did, really), but Americans love it — because they revel in all things British, even the monarchy they rebelled against in 1776.

Imagine if BC had an ethnic multisyllabic name. I don’t think that would have worked for Sherlock.

Here are some of the Benedict Cumberbatch name-generator monikers I liked:

Blubberwhale Oxfordshire

Baseballmitt Curdlemilk

Blasphemy Crimpysnitch

Try the site. It makes you realize how important a celebrity’s name can be. Like Madonna.

However, if you are truly great, you don’t need a catchy name. Michael Jackson comes to mind.