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For what it's worth, he did address a question regarding his portrayal of Mr Assange with more than a few words: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1o8l5f/i_

by elisee 13y ago

For what it's worth, he did address a question regarding his portrayal of Mr Assange with more than a few words: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1o8l5f/i_am_benedict_cumberbatch_ama/ccpqb90 http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1o8l5f/i_am_benedict_c...

selmnoo 13y ago
Given that he's pretty anti-Manning (http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/14/benedict-cumberbatch-interview-fifth-estate http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/14/benedict-cumberb...) I strongly doubt that's a genuine response. Most likely it was written by a PR manager. A Redditor made a very discerning comment about possible motives behind the movie here: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1o8l5f/i_am_benedict_cumberbatch_ama/ccpxfqv http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1o8l5f/i_am_benedict_c...
- bowlofpetunias 13y ago
  Feel free to scroll all the way down on that Guardian interview, below which is the response of Cumberbatch to the way he feels his opinion about Manning was misrepresented in the article.
- geofft 13y ago
  How is that anti-Manning? The greatness in what Manning did is that she knew that she was breaking a law and she knew that there was no way she'd be able to avoid punishment and she did so anyway. To say "she broke a law" and "I don't see why Obama should grant a pardon" is not anti-Manning in any way. If anything, it recognizes that she knew what the consequences are when deciding on her actions. Also, quoting from the first comment by GuardianMod: > In a note sent to the Guardian after publication of this story, Benedict Cumberbatch said: > > "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." So I think we're either positing a massive conspiracy where Benedict Cumberbatch appears to be very pro-Manning/Snowden/Assange but isn't, and employs a PR manager (with a distinctive writing style) to keep up that appearance for some reason, or the state of the world in which he actually is.
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    This sort of assumes Manning knew he would get caught, which might have been something he feared but nevertheless hoped to avoid. Another possibility is that he took action with the desire to get kicked out of the military role he was trapped in. BTW I'm using the male pronoun because all this took place prior to Manning's announcement of changing gender identity. I don't see any logic in extending the new identity backwards in time to before it was adopted, an approach which has made Manning's Wikipedia page much harder to read.
    - prutschman 13y ago
      The logic is that of choosing to respect her identity rather than going out of your way to disrespect it.
    - GeneralMayhem 13y ago
      >I don't see any logic in extending the new identity backwards in time to before it was adopted Do you refer to gay people as straight when talking about the time before they came out?
      - jeremysmyth 13y ago
        "He and his then wife..." - sure, why not?
    - rdl 13y ago
      It feels weird to me, too. The military way, when someone is promoted is to say " <current> ( then <former> )". Not sure if that is better than just saying she, unless there is a specific reason he former male identity is relevant. Is I. A given statement.
  - selmnoo 13y ago
    > The greatness in what Manning did is that she knew that she was breaking a law and she knew that there was no way she'd be able to avoid punishment and she did so anyway. Manning never intended to get caught. She was not outed on her own will, Adrian Lamo outed her. > So I think we're either positing a massive conspiracy where Benedict Cumberbatch appears to be very pro-Manning/Snowden/Assange but isn't, and employs a PR manager (with a distinctive writing style) to keep up that appearance for some reason, or the state of the world in which he actually is. You're suggesting this as if it's only a distant, far-fetched possibility. It isn't -- it is routinely what PR managers do. This is basic stuff. Hell, I've done PR stuff more remarkable than this at my dayjob. I'm pretty certain that the note sent to the Guardian was for PR reasons too. Generally speaking readers of the Guardian are pro-Wikileaks, it would make sense for Cumberbatch people to send that note to that crowd at this time.

by elisee 13y ago

selmnoo 13y ago

Given that he's pretty anti-Manning (http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/14/benedict-cumberbatch-interview-fifth-estate http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/14/benedict-cumberb...) I strongly doubt that's a genuine response. Most likely it was written by a PR manager. A Redditor made a very discerning comment about possible motives behind the movie here: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1o8l5f/i_am_benedict_cumberbatch_ama/ccpxfqv http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1o8l5f/i_am_benedict_c...

bowlofpetunias 13y ago
Feel free to scroll all the way down on that Guardian interview, below which is the response of Cumberbatch to the way he feels his opinion about Manning was misrepresented in the article.
geofft 13y ago
How is that anti-Manning? The greatness in what Manning did is that she knew that she was breaking a law and she knew that there was no way she'd be able to avoid punishment and she did so anyway. To say "she broke a law" and "I don't see why Obama should grant a pardon" is not anti-Manning in any way. If anything, it recognizes that she knew what the consequences are when deciding on her actions. Also, quoting from the first comment by GuardianMod: > In a note sent to the Guardian after publication of this story, Benedict Cumberbatch said: > > "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." So I think we're either positing a massive conspiracy where Benedict Cumberbatch appears to be very pro-Manning/Snowden/Assange but isn't, and employs a PR manager (with a distinctive writing style) to keep up that appearance for some reason, or the state of the world in which he actually is.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  This sort of assumes Manning knew he would get caught, which might have been something he feared but nevertheless hoped to avoid. Another possibility is that he took action with the desire to get kicked out of the military role he was trapped in. BTW I'm using the male pronoun because all this took place prior to Manning's announcement of changing gender identity. I don't see any logic in extending the new identity backwards in time to before it was adopted, an approach which has made Manning's Wikipedia page much harder to read.
  - prutschman 13y ago
    The logic is that of choosing to respect her identity rather than going out of your way to disrespect it.
  - GeneralMayhem 13y ago
    >I don't see any logic in extending the new identity backwards in time to before it was adopted Do you refer to gay people as straight when talking about the time before they came out?
    - jeremysmyth 13y ago
      "He and his then wife..." - sure, why not?
  - rdl 13y ago
    It feels weird to me, too. The military way, when someone is promoted is to say " <current> ( then <former> )". Not sure if that is better than just saying she, unless there is a specific reason he former male identity is relevant. Is I. A given statement.
- selmnoo 13y ago
  > The greatness in what Manning did is that she knew that she was breaking a law and she knew that there was no way she'd be able to avoid punishment and she did so anyway. Manning never intended to get caught. She was not outed on her own will, Adrian Lamo outed her. > So I think we're either positing a massive conspiracy where Benedict Cumberbatch appears to be very pro-Manning/Snowden/Assange but isn't, and employs a PR manager (with a distinctive writing style) to keep up that appearance for some reason, or the state of the world in which he actually is. You're suggesting this as if it's only a distant, far-fetched possibility. It isn't -- it is routinely what PR managers do. This is basic stuff. Hell, I've done PR stuff more remarkable than this at my dayjob. I'm pretty certain that the note sent to the Guardian was for PR reasons too. Generally speaking readers of the Guardian are pro-Wikileaks, it would make sense for Cumberbatch people to send that note to that crowd at this time.