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1 of 1- James Norrington
- Adler's Whip
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- From: Switzerland
- Registered: July 23, 2013
- Posts: 209
The Guardian article
I'm referring to this article:
I've read that interview and did not find many new things because I've already read about the whole Julian-Assange-E-Mail-thing, but I found it interesting that they also talked about the Manning-affair and Edward Snowden:
Quote from the Guardian-Article:
As for Bradley, now Chelsea, Manning, the young US army officer who leaked hundreds of thousands of war logs, diplomatic cables and other US state secrets to Assange and has just been sentenced to 35 years, Cumberbatch is sympathetic on a human level. "But he broke a law. He knew what he was doing." Manning has applied for a presidential pardon, but Cumberbatch can't see why Obama should grant it. "He did what he did out of a conviction that an alarm bell needed to be sounded. But his superiors might have been right to say to him, it's not your position to be worried about it within the hierarchy of the military organisation, which is why he had to be sentenced. He took an oath, and he broke that oath."
It all was understandable to me and I didn't think this statement was anything anybody would be making a big deal about, but as I checked the internet, there were some (not the best, as usual) papers bringing his opinion about Manning up. Later on, I also read that BC wrote a note to the Guardian:
Quote:
"I feel my views have been misrepresented. Do I think Manning should be pardoned? Yes. Do I think that's likely to happen? Sadly no. Re Snowdon I said in the interview that the use of threats to life as a reason to erode civil liberties through intrusive government surveillance can also be as dangerous to democracy as the terrorism such actions claim to be preventing. This wasn't printed for some reason."
What do you think about it? My english sadly isn't good enough to understand everything word by word but the way I read it was that 'The Guardian' printed the exact opposit from what he actually was saying (regarding Manning) and that an important part of his opinion to Snowden was not mentioned in the paper. So it's only right to inform about his actual opinion.
But why do people make such a big deal about what he thinks about it anyway?
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"Love something, and love it deeply."
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- SusiGo
- The game is never over (moderator)
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- From: Germany
- Registered: June 5, 2012
- Posts: 22,965
Re: The Guardian article
I found the article quite interesting and I was shocked when I read the spiteful comments. Most of them were posted before Benedict's additional comment but even so they showed very bad manners IMO. Some people do not seem to able to "forgive" his upbringing and keep going on about his posh education. They deny him to have an opinion of his own (at least as long as it is not their opinion) and want him to keep his mouth shut because he is "just an actor". I am really fed up with all this.
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"To fake the death of one sibling may be regarded as a misfortune; to fake the death of both looks like carelessness." Oscar Wilde about Mycroft Holmes
"It is what it is says love." (Erich Fried)
“Enjoy the journey of life and not just the endgame. I’m also a great believer in treating others as you would like to be treated.” (Benedict Cumberbatch)
- SolarSystem
- Threatened Knighthood
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- Registered: July 30, 2013
- Posts: 10,650
Re: The Guardian article
James Norrington wrote:
But why do people make such a big deal about what he thinks about it anyway?
Who knows, but I assume it might have to do with the fact that he has been stating his opinion about political issues lately. So I guess some people (and the media?) listen pretty closely now to what he has to say concerning other issues. And the moment he says something they don't agree with... well, they'll probably go "he's just an actor, he should shut up".
But maybe it has nothing to do with what he says, maybe it's just people who don't like him anyway.
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- SusiGo
- The game is never over (moderator)
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Re: The Guardian article
There has been a clarifying article about what he said during the interview:
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"To fake the death of one sibling may be regarded as a misfortune; to fake the death of both looks like carelessness." Oscar Wilde about Mycroft Holmes
"It is what it is says love." (Erich Fried)
“Enjoy the journey of life and not just the endgame. I’m also a great believer in treating others as you would like to be treated.” (Benedict Cumberbatch)
- James Norrington
- Adler's Whip
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- From: Switzerland
- Registered: July 23, 2013
- Posts: 209
Re: The Guardian article
Some people do not seem to able to "forgive" his upbringing and keep going on about his posh education. They deny him to have an opinion of his own (at least as long as it is not their opinion) and want him to keep his mouth shut because he is "just an actor". I am really fed up with all this.
Oh no, please not the 'posh-discussion' again, I so hoped that they'd moved on about this by now! It's so childish and useless to bring up this issue everytime BC expresses his opinion about something. If anybody, no matter whether it's a singer, a model or an actor is asked a question during an interview the person usually is answering the question, sure, BC is more honest and much clearer about certain topics than others but hey, it's fine, everyone is allowed to have an opinion, no matter what profession or upbringing. This really annoys me!
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"Love something, and love it deeply."
Andrew Scott
"I don’t care how hypothetical it is, I’m not flying with a live otter in the flight deck."
Captain Martin Crieff
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Thread Starter- Mrs. Watson
- John's Army
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- From: Chile (South America)
- Registered: August 6, 2013
- Posts: 267
Re: The Guardian article
I find quite refreshing that he can express himself so articulately and using informed arguments. I might not agree 100% with him but I can see that his is an educated and well thought point of view. I'm not surprised because my impression has always been that Ben is a very intelligent man but it in a world where so many celebrities are shallow and/or very ignorants, it's great to read this.
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- beekeeper
- John's Army
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- Posts: 381
Re: The Guardian article
Ok. This piece is not in Hello. Its in the foremost, best respected, left wing newspaper in Britain. He expressed political opinions. It seems to me that its unlikely he was deliberately misrepresented, rather that he expressed his opinion perhaps unclearly.And if he'd expressed the original opinion, I'd a. have vehemently disagreed, and b. thought, oh god, another public schoolboy expressing a simplistic opinion. The opinion has been corrected-and they printed that. Fair enough, I think. They haven't treated him especially badly. Like I say, its not Hello. He's a good actor, his opinions are interesting, but its reasonable to debate them in just the same way as any other opinions someone has expressed and its also reasonable, I think, to look at the life experience behind them-which in his case includes education at a school that both costs, annually more than the British average wage, and which is pretty much a prerequisite for entrance to the highest echelons of British society.
Public schoolboys are really not an oppressed group in British society. They make up most of the corridors of powers. I'm sure he'll cope. The fact is, he actually got to get his views across in a major British paper. Privilege in and of itself.
Last edited by beekeeper (September 20, 2013 4:38 pm)
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Sherlock Holmes "The question is, has she been working on something deadlier than a rabbit?"
John Watson : "To be fair, that is quite a wide field"
The Hounds of Baskerville
