Sherlock fangirls ...?

[veronica_rich]

I was listening to a podcast and one of the speakers made the remark about Martin Freeman, "I guess if you want to like him as an actor, you really shouldn't learn anything about him as a person" and also referred to him as a douchebag.

So I'm asking you lot, what has this person done to be an awful human being? I don't keep up with actors' lives as a rule. And I'm not a fangirl, I just like watching "Sherlock" and he was ok in "The Hobbit" (despite my myriad issues with plot, i.e. why three movies, why the singing, why don't the eagles show up earlier and stay longer, etc.). I'm merely curious what the speaker is referencing, because to get me to say something like that sort of requires a Roman Polanski or O.J. Simpson, someone who's raped or murdered or drowned kittens for funsies. I'm not wild about Johnny Depp and I still would think that's kind of a strong statement about him - I mean, I'm just meh. But "you shouldn't learn anything about him as a person" seems strong feeling.

??

Comments

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Mystified. I've browsed the "Sherlock" tag on Tumblr a few times and found absolutely nothing negative about him. I wouldn't describe myself as a "Sherlock" fangirl though. I just enjoy the show and sometimes read fics.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

That's pretty well how I handle 99 percent of what I watch. I sort of feel like these fans ought to be glad they don't have an actor in their fandom who has the kind of past Craig does ...

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Good God, yes. If Craig was in a show that's huge on Tumblr like "Sherlock", there would be people convinced he's some kind of monster. Based on stuff that's either not true or happened two decades ago. :/

Chris and Danny wouldn't get off scot-free either, although Robert might.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Robert knows the temperature of fandom, too, as active as he's been on Twitter for a while, plus he's naturally apologetic. I'm pretty sure Craig and Danny would get away with certain things because there are fans too afraid to call a non-white actor on their comments. Chris and some of his politics would likely get the most shit, despite the fact he's been known to say things agreeing with equality of the sexes, for example. I'm just as happy they're obscure too.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

You know, I would ask the person making the statement - it's probably a LOT more about them and has nothing to do with that actor or ANY actor, to be blunt.

IMDB says he's essentially married, has two children, vegetarian and - yeah. Not a lot to hate there, you ask me.

His message to Comic Con might be taken in less that positive tones, but after Wil Wheaton's experience, not in the least unrealistic. Did you see that? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCeEYjmnzl8

[dahlianna.livejournal.com]

Well you know well how much I adore Martin, so you won't hear anything bad out of me. I have loved that man for over a decade. :)

[joyful-molly.livejournal.com]

Sorted in alphabetical order...

Not listed, as far as I can tell, is how he helped his partner avoiding paying taxes. I guess that wasn't social justicy enough for the fandom.

His comments about Lucy Liu caused the biggest shitstorm. Because sexistracistsomg. Just like it would be sexistomg if I said "oh Gods, yes, Orlando Bloom, that's one ugly dog, I'd so suffer being stranded on a desert island with him."

Edit: personally, I'm not overly fond of him; but it's more because I think he's a bit of a pretentious twit. But then it's difficult to find anybody these days who isn't.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

He's a British actor - no offense, but there are several of those and always have been, LOL. Except for the guys on Red Dwarf; it's hard to be pretentious when you have no pants ...

[gobsmacked.livejournal.com]

I think that he can be testy and blunt with interviewers. And he says "Fuck" a lot.
That's all I got.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I've often thought that's a good reason I should never become famous, either.

[bayliss.livejournal.com]

He's said things that have pissed some people off I guess, but everybody says shit that people don't like. I'm not a SJW so he don't piss me off.

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

I think the post linked by joyful_molly just about covered it. He's also very aggressive - which I personally do find understandable, he's probably spent a lifetime being patronised. While tumblr adores him for 'fuck you, I won a BAFTA', it's always been borderline for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6lSLEzyMpM

Personally, I think he'd be a fun person to hang out with, but I think he prides himself on not being 'nice', but 'honest' and 'non-PC' and proud of it. I have mixed feelings about him which would require an essay to explain *g*

[keechakatt.livejournal.com]

It's funny, people who are honest, and non PC facinate me. There not phony, you know where you stand.

They do have a right to be this way no matter how wrong or unpopular it may be.

Sometimes, when you get to know them they may share why they are the way they are. Does being non PC make it right, no. It does though explain how they are.

What makes it funny, is I have become friends with two people like this. Most people would be agast with being friends of this calibre. They are fun, and when certain delicate issues come up that are not PC. I can be honest with them right back. I'm tactful, but not the type of person who goes hyper ballistic when a non PC word pops out of their mouth.

My friend "B" admitted he is this way to keep people away, and to avoid being hurt. Some of his non PC comments are directly related to damage that happened to him personally.

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

Eh, I never said they didn't have a right to it, but I don't necessarily agree they're not phony. A certain kind of 'non-PC'ness is a performative act unto itself. "Look how cool I am, I don't hold with that PC bullshit."

I'm non-PC myself under certain circumstances, with people who know me and exactly where I'm coming from, but I don't push it down people's throats. On the flip side, I'm very fond of some non-PC people who I see as genuine and blunt, but I also hate other people who seem to make a deliberate point of being offensive to my face because of how 'cool' and hipstery non-PC they are. So, yeah. Lots and lots of mixed feelings *g*

[keechakatt.livejournal.com]

Lol. I don't know any hipsters who do it just to shove it down your throat.

At 48 my days of going out to meet new people are over. ;-)

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

Lol. I don't know any hipsters who do it just to shove it down your throat.

Which is nice for you, but my experiences are clearly very different! Although they're not all hipsters, and not all of them are even bad/unpleasant people - they just really don't care how you feel, they're gonna make a point of saying what the hell they want just to show they can. Whereas I, personally, would try [edit: NOT, lol] to make jokes/comments which might be construed by the other person as demeaning.

[slayitalldown.livejournal.com]

I don't know much about him but I have a friend who comes off quite strongly in the same way and to someone observing or who has just met him he seems like the worst human being alive. Once you get past that impression you discover a whole lot more but it's a lot like bitching into a rock to taste the gooey caramel - few people have the patience for such coarse language, crude behaviour and loud judgemental comments. He will happily tell you himself that he is prick but he's also a treasure and he can afford to be fussy. Such people instantly rub others the wrong way.

I get the impression that just like there are two broad kinds of fans - the 'fangirl' and the 'oh, I love that show!' - there are performers who see themselves as tradesman selling a service and limit themselves to their work, keeping there private life segregated and expect others to do the those who see themselves as a product that is sold as a whole package and invite the world in. It's hard to remember you don't 'know' someone you recognise, such as in the case of Wil Wheaton who seems surprised people will equate what he gives freely as an expectation should they recognise him. He pulled the line back to his private life and if you follow his twitter or blogs you can see that he hasn't had a thought or opinion in YEARS that he feels the public should have. Being accosted at airports shouldn't be so surprising to him. I was at Comic Con, there are SO MANY PEOPLE and celebrities are chunks of meat being dangled in front of starving wolves. It is the selling point, the very nature of the whole event - trotting out celebrities for fans to try and get close to. Thinking he could stroll about like any Joe Blogs is maddness. Is it right? No but it is what it is. Martin, on the other hand, comes across as 'Is this about my work? No? Then fuck off'. I don't think he's in it for the fans and therefore doesn't bother to pander to them.

I'm sure there are nicer ways to go about it. I hugely admire Jim Parsons and was genuinely shocked to discover only recently that he is gay and has had a partner of ten years. I assumed that they kept in a box somewhere between seasons, dusting him off and charging him up for filming. Part of this is probably his choice to be private, what I don't know doesn't bother me and it never occurred to me to be curious, I find that if I am not 'told' or rather, in the case of celebrity, communicated to somehow through articles and whatnot, I simply don't care. I imagine the podcaster had some sort of unpleasant interaction that he is basing his opinion on - one would hate to think that someone would bad-mouth a practical stranger, regardless of how eerily familiar that stranger might be!

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

He did an interview where he came across as a sexist, racist jerk. He doesn't come across well in interviews at all. He has a lot of detractors in fandom based on these interviews.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

That's important to some people when they're heavily invested in a fandom, I know.

[pseudoblu.livejournal.com]

I saw his remark about Lucy Liu floating around tumblr, and I was appalled so I've been trying not to look into it further because I was a LotR fangirl and I'd like to enjoy the Hobbit at least somewhat on first viewing. (Though that already wasn't going well cuz I spent most of the first on turning to my friends and going "really?" when there was yet another ~*epic battle*~ sequence that wanted to be the main ~*epic battle*~ but wasn't.)

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

I won't get into the other alleged comments, but the Lucy Liu one seemed pretty obvious sarcasm to me - like saying "Isn't Posh Spice fat?" or something. So blatantly ridiculous that the speaker assumes the sarcasm to be obvious.

[pseudoblu.livejournal.com]

There was a different comment, not calling her ugly, something negative about them choosing her to play Watson because she's female and Asian. It was super rude.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. I've had a look on Tumblr but haven't found it yet. :/

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

It is very hard to tell, but yes, the Lucy comment sounded like it might be tongue in cheek. She's obviously super-cute, and it's difficult to believe a short little straight man who looks like him would seriously call HER ugly. :-D

[pseudoblu.livejournal.com]

There was a different comment, not calling her ugly, something negative about them choosing her to play Watson because she's female and Asian. It was super rude.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

That is pretty bad. Of course, there were a lot of people who hated the idea, as I remember. My only connection to it is I heard an NPR interview with Lucy and she was pretty sanguine about everybody's reactions, which I thought was classy.

[poetic-self.livejournal.com]

"Talk turned to Martin Freeman, still away running around the woods of New Zealand in his Hobbit feet. Everyone was full of praise for him, noting his commitment to the job while also being a terrific amount of fun – and also at times terribly, terribly filthy, a revelation that led Benedict to dub him ‘Martin Free-Hands’ " - See more at: http://sherlockology.tumblr.com/post/14072847066/belgraviaq-a#sthash.asXlnYQE.dpuf

That sort of thing?

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Eh, I feel like he's little enough I could step or sit on him if he tried to get fresh, LOL!

[poetic-self.livejournal.com]

LOL!

[vejiicakes.livejournal.com]

Was this related to Irene's actress mentioning how during her nude scenes Martin "said a few things"? (I mean apparently she added later that "they were harmless," but hearing that kind of thing does make me take pause a bit.)

[poetic-self.livejournal.com]

I actually have no idea about the further context, but I had the same feeling about this bit as well, the phrasing giving me pause.

[fantasysci5.livejournal.com]

Luckily I am in love with characters and never really obsess about actors. I love John Watson, and I like how he portrayed him, and that's all that matters to me. :) (I mean, as long as they're not child molestors or something big like that which is hard to look over).

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

This right here. Sure, I pull out an actor once in a while I like enough to go look up their other works (he's not one of them), but unless he's committed a bodily felony or is known to swindle old people out of their pensions, I often just don't care. Make me enjoy my show, and you're okay.

[finding-neo.livejournal.com]

I for one do enjoy following actors, knowing a bit about them actually helps me enjoy their work because sometimes it illustrates how talented they are, if their character is far removed from how they are as an individual. For example, Gillian Anderson is a goofy, funny lady, you would never know that from most of the well known characters she plays as she's played mostly serious roles. I think she's one of the best actors of her generation, in part because I know a little bit about her off stage/screen.

He's never worked with Martin to my knowledge, so I'm sure this isn't about Martin per se, but I find the following quote from my current favorite actor about other actors enlightening in this conversation.

“Actors often have a reputation for being ludicrous and arrogant, and I don’t think either are necessary and I think because you produce work collectively it’s important to be respectful and receptive, and frankly there’s too many of us. It’s an overcrowded profession, so there’s no excuse for behaving like a twat. And I don’t like people who do.” - David Tennant