PhilTheFragger
Provider of Entertainment for the Golfing Gods 🙄
talk about sucking the life blood out of a thread
Agree to disagree, then move on please
Agree to disagree, then move on please
Benedict Cumberbatch
- Thread starter Sweep
- Start date
D
Deleted member 15344
Guest
I really can't see once again what your problem is tbh
I just responded to what Brian said about it being his right to stand up and walk out as he has paid his money ?! You then once again appeared to make an issue out of that
I'll await your questioning of Brian actions next :thup:
D
Deleted member 15344
Guest
If I'm being honest Phil I'm struggling to see what the posters problem is to something I have said - not the first time it's happened - unless there is something I have missed that I said ?!
D
Deleted member 16999
Guest
So you agree with Brian he's wrong to use peer pressure, which is the point I was asking, which you ignored.
chrisd
Major Champion
I think it's fantastic that he does it after a Shakespeare play ........ as I think Shakespeare is the biggest load of crap, vastly overrated and, as luck would have it, I'd never be there to hear him.
Give me a good musical though ...... !
Give me a good musical though ...... !
The point is it still boils down to peer group pressure. Granted Hamlet has finished but he is still on stage "performing" and so it will seem rude and disrepsctful to simply get up and go. He knows what he's doing and it still doesn't sit quite right
Sweep
Journeyman Pro
As I have said, it's not just reading a poem and asking for donations. It's a political statement. When did you last see someone say "f... The politicians" on Children In Need?
For me it's simple. It's an easy target. One of those where the situation is truly dreadful and the politicians simply can't win. It's self serving on the part of Cumberbatch. He is fond if speaking post play. Remember how he said he was "mortified" when someone took a picture on a camera phone when he was performing. Maybe now he has got involved in a real crisis he knows the true meaning of the word.
Sweep
Journeyman Pro
Exactly
Apparently, some of these tickets are changing hands a £1,500 a time. If I paid that I want to see what I paid for and not have to hear the unsolicited opinions of the cast.
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Sweep
Journeyman Pro
Like anyone believes you went with your daughter :rofl:
Sweep
Journeyman Pro
That's what I mean. What if he was preaching something you disagreed with? Would you still be OK with it?
Hacker Khan
Yurt Dwelling, Yoghurt Knitter
But the whole reason people are paying £1500 is because it stars Benidict Bloody Cumberbatch! They have come to see him. He is not just a 'member of the cast', he is a bona fide Hollywood star who makes a lot of people go all funny down below.
Yes if the person who plays the second gravedigger suddenly gave a 10 minute lecture on the benefits of staying in Europe then you may have a point about peoples enjoyment being spoiled by 'a member of the cast' delivering an inappropriate appeal. But Cumberbatch is the whole reason a lot of the people are there, I bet most people are happy to see more of him after the play as they are getting their money's worth!
And if you can afford to spend 1500 quid on a theatre ticket then I am sure you can afford a few quid to the refugee appeal as well, without you feeling it has been extorted from you and you needed it to make ends meet at the end of the month.
If someone approached you in the street and started quoting a poem about the Syrian crisis you'd .... However, if you'd chosen to switch on Children in Need, you've made a conscious choice. Anyone's involvement in any charity is about choice. BC hijacks the audience and gives a number of them no choice, or at least Hobson's choice. Some will feel uncomfortable with leaving in the middle of his 'speech.' And quite a number will succumb to peer pressure, especially if the collection plate goes round.
Whilst I appreciate his desire to do something, I feel this particular method is cynical.
Whilst I appreciate his desire to do something, I feel this particular method is cynical.
Sweep
Journeyman Pro
So because he is so good at his job (apparently), his opinion counts more than the others? Just as I thought in a nation obsessed with celebrity. And you are right, people won't get up and leave because they do want to see more of him. Which is why it's wrong of him to use his curtain call to do this.
And if you can afford to spend £1500 on a ticket you have every right to choose where your money goes. It's a night at the theatre, not a fund raiser, not Question Time.
D
Deleted member 15344
Guest
Yes I would be OK with it
In this modern era we constantly see celebrities using their fame for their own games , always on the lookout for what they can get out of people for themselves
Here we have a celebrity using his status to try and raise awareness and money for a children's charity
Celebrities are constantly critisized for not using their fame for better causes - here we have one using their fame for a charity
Political statement - well a lot have said that the government should do more so it's a statement that will resonant with many
Peer pressure - yes using a captive audience so will call it that , some will call it an opportunity
I'm just glad that he seems to be more aware and attached to reality and helping a worthwhile cause
MegaSteve
Tour Winner
You don't have to be a celebrity to avail government of your opinion... Relatively easy to contact your local MP and pin back their ears with your thoughts/views on something you feel strong about... It's quite therapeutic...
Hacker Khan
Yurt Dwelling, Yoghurt Knitter
There is a difference between a celebrity raising awareness which is what he is doing, and opining on something. I totally agree that just being a celebrity does not mean your opinion on issues are more valid than others. But being a celebrity does mean you can use your influence to raise awareness of situations that pretty much everyone agrees is a terrible thing. And also some celebrities are pretty well informed in certain areas, and just because they are a celebrity does not automatically preclude them from having an informed opinion. People can then make their own mind up if they want to listen/believe or act.
Again I would argue the view people receive from the national press is always warped by their agenda and a lot of people seem to believe that, if some of the comments on these pages are anything to go by.
If he got up there and started saying something about Israel/Palestine or something equally controversial then yes, it is inappropriate. But here, as 1D also did, he is raising awareness of a pretty dire situation which can not be a bad thing. It needs to be looked at in context and a blanket dislike of anyone slightly famous raising awareness of anything is not really sensible IMHO.
RollinThunder
Assistant Pro
I've got nothing against him using his fame for good, and if his audience want to donate to his cause, then that's their business. I certainly won't. What I can't be doing with, is when he pipes on about how we need to take in more refugees. It's not like they'll spring up a refugee camp in Chelsea, or Kensington, where Cumberbatch probably lives, when he's not in California. They'll be where normal folk like you and I live, and I'm not willing to accept the fallout on my doorstep, like what's happening with the masses of migrants in Germany or Sweden.
CheltenhamHacker
Journeyman Pro
Definitely not what this conversation is about....
For me, whilst it would be slightly annoying if it was a subject I didn't believe in, it's a case of "live and let live". Not worth getting really annoyed about.
USER1999
Grand Slam Winner
I assume that BC gave credit to the government for the £billion that they have already given in aid since 2011, as otherwise he is not quite presenting the full picture.
Have to say I totally agree. If it was advertised as a "fund raising night" and you went along knowing that then fine but to go and then be asked for donations doesn't sit right whether you've paid £1500 or not
