This was a nice thing to see on a quick break from work. But something got my attention which interested me to look deeper. It made me go back a couple of times to see if I missed something, but no, it’s right there, visible and plain as day. The most curious thing is absent in this video.
One learns to become accustomed to the screaming that involves the fans in reception of Benedict Cumberbatch. If not and if you are like me, you learn to get accustomed to expect ear shattering screaming. The deft and swift maneuvering of fingers to lower volumes, plug ears or fling earphones are always at the ready. Miss and you are punished on the spot. You learn. It’s not even like it’s in the movies where the screaming and yelling is pleasurable and giddy. Instead a lot of the times they get it so wrong you think their bladders burst open onto the people next to them. You know, that kind of scream? No? Well, replace bladder with bowels. See? Feel free to use your imagination. There’s a reason he walks so fast.
Of course it is also an expression of joy and respect and giddiness and value and surprise and a number of descriptions. However, in this video, when Ben comes on, it is strangely silent.
………
Why?
This can’t be a coincidence. Not with the kind of reception he gets at SDCC, D23, the convention circuit in general and at so many appearances he makes. And certainly not with the kind of respect he has drummed up over the years. Yes, yes the screaming is standard. But. There is a standard. Why is it silent here??
No whooping no cheers no vocals at all in appreciation?? Hmmmmmmm…
Let us tabulate! So we have 3 directors who did not receive much cheering – Bryan Singer, Peyton Reed and Taika Waititi (I love that name). Taika cracks a joke as the video proceeds and draws some laughter but then, humour is always a wonderful draw. See Mark Hamill! His little anecdote was perfectly executed! Point in case. That brings me to the actors.
We have 8 actors on this little appreciation vid for Stan Lee.
Mark Hamill is a legend so let’s take him out. Ian McKellan too.
The most cheer was earned by Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool, followed by Tom Hiddleston as, of course, Loki. Hmmmmmmmmm.
RDJ earned some of the more respectable whooping and cheering but we can all see why. Chris Hemsworth’s front was also silent. That’s surprising and interesting again. All of these stars have been around for a while with at least one, if not more than one movie out. The exception is young Tom Holland whose debut as Spiderman in Homecoming is still fresh in people’s minds and still collecting at the box office. Understandable. And he did a good job with the movie and in promoting it too. He’s a fresh face, young but trying to be all grown up; and one can tell he’s been absorbing cues from a few highly respected actors and peers in how he presents himself. Circles around to being very funny and natural… I see the draw.
Let’s break this down to its variables quickly :
Chris Hemsworth : Aussie. Hard working and talented, possesses a physique most men dream of. Married. Plays Thor and complements Tom’s Loki beautifully but hasn’t yet stretched out his acting abilities. To counter that Ragnarok looks very, very promising.
Tom Hiddleston : ………… – He validated and unleashed all our inner Lokis enough said.
Brit. Not married.
Ryan Reynolds : American. Personifies Deadpool completely and perfectly and remembered fondly for carrying it over onto Twitter too. Married.
Benedict Cumberbatch : Cast perfectly as Dr. Strange and even broke Marvel’s internal box office records by grossing higher than RDJ’s Iron Man. Took an arguably minor character from the Marvel Universe and brought it enigmatically to life such that the bar is set significantly high for anyone who may follow in his footsteps to don the Cloak in the distant future. Married.
For an origin story as the breakout debut full feature length film for this character, he was put through the wringer. A testament to his not so insignificant talent and ability is that he makes it look quite easy. Next time stretch him out more.
Brit. Tom Holland too, but not married.
That leaves only Hiddleston and Holland with the kind of visibility where their marital/relationship status has not impacted them negatively.
Ben has everything going for him except one thing that impacts him badly. And you know it. You’ve got 3 years worth of data and figures and numbers to carve it deeply in stone. You lost a large part of his fan base not just because of the sham, but also because in that period you simply failed to attract people back at a similar rate. You simply could not undo the slide or the drop. Some fools might contend it was because he got married and ended his bachelorhood? Hell no. Sophie turns people off! She’s not Amal! She doesn’t command the kind of respect or interest or awe that someone like Amal does. The greater majority of people who lost interest did so because something very important put them off. They may be aware of something being off or they may have made bets about how long the ‘marriage’ will last. If that’s far fetched, well your numbers would reflect their presence and growth, would it not?
Roll out the split. Drop her already. You don’t have the time to keep this going. And you are losing money because you can’t draw people back nor can you devise anything interesting PR wise for him. For a man who’s natural joyfulness and adventurous spirit draws people to him like moths to a flame, what kind of a rubbish PR setup would allow just the opposite to continue unabated?? Set him free. The nannies and antis who stalk my blog will raise their hackles about me calling for two people to be divorced, but my dear hopeless idiots, this is a sham, and I have nothing more to say to them.
You, PR, have nothing to lose by rolling out the split. He looks healthy and glowing and joyful again. He’ll be more interesting as a single man doing his own thing and you can all carry on where you got hijacked left off. The formula before worked. Private life was indeed private. There wasn’t a very great deal on whom he dated and that’s just fine. It was all about work and it was prolific. You can tweak that and make it better. Way better! He’s got to have grown and learned so much from all this. Use it!
You’ve got 3 years of dwindling interest and revenues behind you and 5 months ahead to end it on a very high note. But, it has to start NOW. Not after 3 moths. You do not have the time you think you do.
Let me also bring up the fact that you have nothing going on in the fandom. Nothing of interest whatsoever. You have the nannies, the general populace who are not a very large number at present and you have the skeptics. And everybody’s eyes are on the skeptics. EVERYBODY’S. PR is watching us. PR trends and companies are watching us. Many parts of the industry are watching us as potential employers or just industry insiders. Neighbouring fandoms are watching us. Heck the Taylor Swift and Hiddleston fiasco didn’t survive because of the exposure we brought here. And the nannies simply cannot take their eyes off us! They create multiple side blogs where they can attack the skeptics pseudo secretly while pretending to be noble and aristocratic. And that’s the only drama here. So, as long as you continue to delay taking command of the stage, PR, far from allowing this fandom to become the critically engaging field it is poised to become, it remains shackled and stunted as the backyard of a talented actor that is dominated by group of militant nannies. You have seen twitter right? It takes just 3 days and not more to get a grip of the landscape that is governed by these nannies and how they behave is enough to give people permanent and detrimental eye rolling twitches. They are one of the biggest thwarts to your business. They have not taken your cues and continue to work against you. So please stop pandering to them. You have nothing going for you at present.
From a financial point of view I understand the requirement and inclusivity of nannies. They are a steady source of revenue who may never get turned off as long as there’s plenty of cutesy and every year they get to all come together at the cons and sell out most of the events that Ben is announced for. Many of them even plan multiple trips and photoshop themselves next to him. I could expand on that as well but let’s not digress too far.
And then there are also people who fly into London from all over the world for a chance to meet him and take in the big experience and see him perform and why the hell not. On a larger scale it undoubtedly brings in a lot of revenue in terms of tourism fees. Didn’t Britain name him a national treasure a few years ago?
Don’t you think he’s worth a lot more and deserves better?
Nannies by nature are a mainstay of civilisation as much as they are of fandoms. We can’t do without them and at some time in our lives and at different phases they have always been beneficial. Functionally, they will always be required, needed and even appreciated to their capacities in protecting their charges. However, everybody outgrows them.
