Alright. This article is in english for reasons.
I have underlined, last week, the extreme epicness of Benedict telling the paparazzi to go in Egypt see if he’s there.
As an isolated event, it was absolutely badass and pretty clever of him to do that.
As an isolated event.
Yesterday was the titan return of setlock in Gower Street (the “fake” Baker Street from the Show), which would inevitably mean massive sherlockian crowd gathered on the set. And it did not failed. Huge queue of curious, some quiet, some much less, and, without much of a surprise, some of the people out there reporting weird fangirling behavior. But I can’t say that I am surprised. The global Cumberbatch part of the Sherlock fans can sometimes be…Let’s say, a little bit over the top.
When they started filming the third serie last spring, things were not half as crazy, courtesy to the release of STID and the countless paparazzi chasing during the last few weeks, but they were, and HE was a lot more shy with people.
Well, let’s just say that things have changed over a season. The fact that he is playful with fans is nice, that’s cool, he’s singing happy birthday to a fan, takes strange pictures with all of them on it, he seems to really really care about pleasing the audience.
But there is one thing that bugs me, and I’m sorry for that Ben, you remain my all time hero and favorite actor ever, but I am going to have to be a little bit mean towards your behavior, and to question the genuine of it.
He’s handed a four page, extremely political, statement for the people to shoot, and, of course, to create a global spreading of the so-called pictures. The message says “Questions we have a right to ask in a democracy – Cameron, Theresa May, GCHQ, teachers, parents, each other, hard driver smashed, journalist detained at airports…Democracy ? Schedule 7 priority restraint – is this erosion of civil liberties winning the war on terror ? What do they do not want you to know ? And how did they get to know it ? Does the exposure of their techniques cause a threat to our security or does it just cause them embarassment…?”
Can’t quite say that I am fully aware of the news behind such a statement, since I was much more fascinated by Chelsea (n.b for those of you unaware of this fact, after years of having struggle with sexual identity, Bradley Manning has had the courage to announce today that from now on she will be Chelsea and will endure the hormonal therapy to fully be a woman soon. I wish I could safely think of her as undergoing a peaceful transition, but I highly doubt those idiots will let her live the way she wants. Added to her unfair sentence will be a dreadful moral and psychological pain) Manning’s Wikileaks trial and sentence (coincidently, she was sentenced yesterday to 35 years in jail) and, shame on me I suppose, I was not checking britain’s news. I overheard a couple of things, but it is still pretty blurry for me and I won’t have the indecency to speak about something I majorly ignore.
As expected, within seconds, the pictures went viral, and every single british newspaper is getting benefit of this piece of media bravery. The amazing team at cumberbatch_de, who took a very good shot of both of the Ben’s pages (and who I can only encourage you to follow on twitter, regardless to the unintended scoop) has seen their pictures used and re-used everywhere, and I salute their very calm and wise reaction to it.
For a few minutes, I was in a state of bliss, being incredibly proud of him. Trying to wake people up to the country’s and the world’s issues is a very brave thing, good on you Benedict. But as I was chatting about it with some of the fantastic french fans (Sherlockfrance, who I encourage you to follow too) I quickly noticed that there was something odd about it. Four pages, I mean, the Egypt notice could have been on the moment, because he was getting pissed at paparazzi, something that I can totally understand since he’s been constantly followed everywhere over the past few months…But this ? This is a deliberate, calculated move of someone who knew that there would be a crowd bewildered by his shadow only, and that he would get right away a very willing audience.
So, my question is : Benedict, are you totally genuine with this ?
Sherlock france pointed at me that it’s definetely not his role, and that it seems a bit over the top, or at least, a misplaced move. And in all of my revolutionnary, anarchist soul, I have to admit that they are right. If he wants to play such game, opening a twitter account would have been the smartest and wisest thing to do, even if I can, once again, understand why he would not (avoiding the countless degrading, wild and sexually frustrated messages is definetely something I’d do too) but that does not make this move any less strange. Why would he suddenly turn all political and divert his own image to this ?
And then it hit me.
Straight after the end of the Sherlock filming session, he’s going to switch into promotion mode, and promotion for a film that is both going to be pretty incredible and very, very risky too. And his latest declarations on the subject (the good controversy of the “the cumberbitches (sic) will watch my back”) proves that he knows that Assange is not going to shut up about it (well, who would expect the Wikileaks founder to keep quiet about a movie made on his life without his agreement ?) and even further, that he knows that he’s going to get somehow targeted by Julian. He can hope for countless awards nominations but there’s one he can not have, and it is having Julian’s approval.
Julian Assange, even if he’s stuck for an indefinite time at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, is still extremely aware and responsive to each and every thing happening in the world, and he’s preparing and setting up his own political party set to storm on the next australian elections. Needless to say that The Fifth Estate’s october worldwide release does not suit him at all, and will affect greatly in a way or another his future. It may depends on a movie, that will eventually take shortcuts and analyse the facts in a very Hollywood-ish way, whether people will chose or not to follow him. Which is, in the end, extremely unfair, providing that he’s been fighting greatly each and every single form of truth distorsion, and that he’s been on the constant edge of fearing life-threatening actions only because he’s a whistleblower and an unspeakable truth seeker. So, whatever will come out of the movie is going to change his destiny, whether he wants it or not. And he’s not the kind of man who will let those things happens without giving a good fight.
One thing that Bill Condon, and, in his direct trajectory, Benedict, may not quite realise yet is that the Wikileaks network, and their more or less direct connexions, and among them, the anonymous one who is not afraid about anything, will play its game on the promotion of the movie, and that they might face unexpected reactions and effects. Do I need to remind of the website failures and hackings that happened over the past years, most of them caused by Anonymous ? If they want to sabotage the movie, they will have their ways, and I doubt they will be afraid of doing so.
So, back to our brave actor showing the world a truth-seeking opinion…Benedict, by any chance, are you trying to ease things a little bit, to win over the master’s approval of yourself, and therefore, avoid a storm of disdain and negative reviews from those who can pull some disturbing strings ? Is there any chance, my dear, precious, and beloved talented gem, that you might realise now that playing this part so quickly in your still young carreer may not be such a smart move after all ?
Don’t think that I doubt his performance. I can’t doubt his talent, and won’t, ever. Benedict is, and by far, the most talented, gifted, insanely brillant and beautiful actor that has walked this earth this century. And he can’t dissapoint as such. He’s throwing himself away for each and every single one of the roles he played, and the result is always incredible, powerful, extremely moving and somehow a little bit disturbing-in a pretty good way. He is beyond amazing, and when I think that I can not love him more, I always end up surprised and taken off guards, and I tilt my head on the side and says “awwwwww isn’t he amazing ?” almost every time. He will make an extraordinary Assange, he has already copied and pasted his accent and his haircut, and he looks just like him. And I assume-and the trailer proves it one thousand times-that with the informations he’s been provided with he will pull out of his magic hat a terrific Assange. 
My concerns are more going towards the vision that this movie is going to give of Assange, and whether the real man has been truly taken into consideration throughout the building process of the character. Benedict has been in touch with him, but in a very light way, and he starts to get cold feet about it all. In the recent interviews, he’s been giving away his concerns about how Assange will be shown, and how he’s tried to made him much more human and easy to connect with, but that does not mean that Assange is cold, that means that the version of Assange in this movie might be like this. The books are based upon experiences from people who are in a hiatus relation with him, and therefore…Are they going to be as realistic as they could, or will they chose to paint him differently ?
I am extremely excited about this movie, really thrilled and bouncing with impatience, and each time something is said or shown about it, I run as fast as I can to feed my half-obsession. But then again, I’ve been fascinated by Assange and Wikileaks since day one, and am still deeply convinced that he’s one of the modern-time revolution launcher that will somehow change the face of humanity’s future. So, knowing that my favorite actor was set to play such a part, I was beyond happy. And still am. And am totally convinced that no one would be better at it than he is. But the real underneath question is : mere years after the Wikileaks implosion, was it wise to make a movie, a scripted movie, so soon, out of it ?
And my real concerns are about how it is going to affect Benedict’s carreer and future. The experience is not going to be harmless, and I am pretty sure he is expecting it to be, and he is still fairly young. There is going to be a Wikileaks/Assange/Anonymous storm, it has already started, they’ve been busy with the Manning trial, but now that the poor lady is sentenced to half a life in jail, they are going to be ready to focus on the movie, coming out right between the trial and the aussie elections.
I trust Benedict. He’s much smarter than he gives himself credit for, and I am pretty sure that he’s already chosing a place to hide before the storm begins. But what is going to happen now is going to be something no actor, no director, no producer has ever seen or been through before, and I am somehow stuck between my devotion to Benedict, and the one to Wikileaks’s morals. And I am not too sure I like it.
EDIT
I thought I was just giving a light interpretation and analysis of what is going on. Turns out, for once, I was right. Look what WikiLeaks has tweeted tonight…
Mind Palace 