Series 4 News

[Arcadia]

Am I the only one who thinks BC was beautiful in his 20's, too?
 .

 

I don't think it's just the lighting that makes him look different, I think it's also that thing he does with his eyes. Look at the gif above again, he's got that innocent baby's eye thing going....

[sittything]

Honestly, I've only seem him in Sherlock and now Frankenstein sooo...   I really had no point of reference for 20's BC.  He looks like a high schooler in the photo on the right, Arcadia!   What is the left pic from?  Up until a few months ago BC was just kinda that odd looking guy everyone went crazy over.  

 

Arcadia, I'll agree with you on the eyes.  He's got that puppy dog expression.  I do think certain lighting hides his age, though.

 

I'm a big believer in this:

 

 

Have we successfully hijacked this Season 4 thread now?  lol

[Pamela]

The photo on the left above looks like it might have come from "To The Ends of the Earth," a mini-series he made in 2006 with Jared Harris and Sam Neill.  I highly, highly recommend it.  I loved it so much I bought it.  The only thing wrong with it is that for some reason it's filmed in a 4:3 ratio!

[Slithytove]

At the risk of adding to a hijacked thread, I would agree that Benedict was beautiful as a young man. (And when he and his wife-to-be start a family, won't those Cumberbabies be adorable? ). However, he has managed to improve with age. A good bone structure helps. I don't know if many of you have seen Paul Newman's early films but he was a handsome young man - however, he lived to be a handsome old man, because he had a good bone structure and incredible eyes. Remind you of anyone?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Taking good care of himself didn't hurt Newman one single bit either.

 

[T.o.b.y]

I just spent 10 minutes googling around for actual series 4 news to bring this thread back on topic...

 

Since there doesn't seem to be any: I found Sherlock really, really attractive the first time I saw him in The Great Game (and then doubly attractive when I got my hands on an original audio version and heard The Voice), he took no getting used to for me at all, and I have found Benedict Cumberbatch very good-looking in various other roles as well. As for him as a person, well, I have no idea. I mean, I have no idea what he actually looks like, and, strangely enough, I'm not terribly curious about him, either. If I saw him on the street somewhere, I'd probably fail to recognize him, and I certainly would neither scream nor faint. I like his work very much, I love and adore Sherlock in particular, but aside from that - I don't know. I hope he sticks around for a while and goes on to play many more fabulous roles in many more good films, series and plays. Don't you dare take yourself to an early grave, Mr C., like so many artists I have liked in the past! On that head, getting married sounds like a great idea. I read somewhere that men who have wives live longer.

[Boton]

I just spent 10 minutes googling around for actual series 4 news to bring this thread back on topic...

 

Since there doesn't seem to be any: I found Sherlock really, really attractive the first time I saw him in The Great Game (and then doubly attractive when I got my hands on an original audio version and heard The Voice), he took no getting used to for me at all, and I have found Benedict Cumberbatch very good-looking in various other roles as well. As for him as a person, well, I have no idea. I mean, I have no idea what he actually looks like, and, strangely enough, I'm not terribly curious about him, either. If I saw him on the street somewhere, I'd probably fail to recognize him, and I certainly would neither scream nor faint. I like his work very much, I love and adore Sherlock in particular, but aside from that - I don't know. I hope he sticks around for a while and goes on to play many more fabulous roles in many more good films, series and plays. Don't you dare take yourself to an early grave, Mr C., like so many artists I have liked in the past! On that head, getting married sounds like a great idea. I read somewhere that men who have wives live longer.

 

Totally agree.  I'd probably fail to recognize him in person too, but then, I do that with most people, so why should he be any different?

 

Contrary to what he says in interviews about some of his fans, I have absolutely no problem with separating him from his roles or with assuming I know a lot about him from the parts he plays.  I think BC would be fun to meet and have a beer with, mostly because I love to hear about how other people approach their work and the things that are unique about their world.   (Hey, BC, bring the fiancee and I'll bring the hubby -- it'll be a blast!)  But I would never run across a restaurant to try to get an autograph.

 

I'd like to meet Sherlock, too.  I'd kind of like to go solve a crime or two with Sherlock and John.  But I know that isn't going to happen, because they're fictional characters, and no amount of meeting BC or MF is going to change that.  And that's why we have TV and books and fantasies.

[Arcadia]

Honestly, I've only seem him in Sherlock and now Frankenstein sooo...   I really had no point of reference for 20's BC.  He looks like a high schooler in the photo on the right, Arcadia!   What is the left pic from?  Up until a few months ago BC was just kinda that odd looking guy everyone went crazy over.

Pamela is right, it's from To the Ends of the Earth, and I second her endorsement, I thought it was terrific.

 

I don't find BC handsome, exactly, but I do find him incredibly attractive, and it's not just his looks. I thought that from the first time I saw him. And I agree with Toby and Boton, I doubt if I would recognize him if I saw him in person ... I can barely recognize him from one role to the next. He's a real chameleon, that one. Part of what I find so attractive!

[Carol the Dabbler]

I don't find BC handsome, exactly, but I do find him incredibly attractive, and it's not just his looks.

I like the distinction you make here. In fact, I hate to use the word "handsome" simply because it's so often used in referring to a blandly, boringly, stereotypically good-looking man. Like you, I much prefer to use the term "attractive," because it's literally the correct term when I'm talking about someone who attracts me. And I agree, it's not just the looks -- it's partly the looks, of course, but it's also what the person does with that face and that body, and the personality and the energy that they exude.

 

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

I think Benedict and Martin go so well together, which is my favourite part about those two -- they just have a sort of connection that brings the best out of them. Or maybe it's because class and sass just go hand in hand.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I actually would recognize Benedict from role to role as long as it wasn't voice over (ie the hobbit, or the cartoon work he's done). But I recognized him as the guy who played William Wilberforce's friend in amazing grace the first time I saw adverts for Sherlock.

[Pamela]

In the commentary for Scandal in Belgravia, Steven Moffat calls Benedict's looks "exotic."  And he believes the reason BC's chemistry worked so well with Lara Pulver's was that they're both "exotic creatures."  I think that word describes him very well - exotic.

[sittything]

I can't imagine I wouldn't recognize BC, he's got such a unique face.  That being said, if I ever saw any celebrity just out in public I wouldn't try to get an autograph and I wouldn't try to snap a photo with my cell phone.  One, because I think I would feel like I'm infringing on their space, and two, because I wouldn't want them to think I was a giant goober.  In my dream world, there are certain actors/actresses I'd love to meet and have a drink with, mostly because they seem like very relatable (somewhat dorky) people...  Gillian Anderson I'm looking at you... but I suppose I should get in line for that.  lol.  Unless Boton gets that beer double date, and then I can figure out how to convince her to invite me and my H.  I swear I can be cool, Boton!  I swear!  See... look... totally cool...

 

[Arcadia]

I think Benedict and Martin go so well together, which is my favourite part about those two -- they just have a sort of connection that brings the best out of them. Or maybe it's because class and sass just go hand in hand.

Which one's the class, and which one's the sass?

[Carol the Dabbler]

I was just fixing to ask the same thing! 

 

Maybe it's situation-dependent.

 

[Arcadia]

Yah, they're both pretty sassy. And classy, in different ways.

[T.o.b.y]

 

I don't find BC handsome, exactly, but I do find him incredibly attractive, and it's not just his looks.

I like the distinction you make here. In fact, I hate to use the word "handsome" simply because it's so often used in referring to a blandly, boringly, stereotypically good-looking man. Like you, I much prefer to use the term "attractive," because it's literally the correct term when I'm talking about someone who attracts me. And I agree, it's not just the looks -- it's partly the looks, of course, but it's also what the person does with that face and that body, and the personality and the energy that they exude.

 

 

This should go in the language thread, but I couldn't resist:

 

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/handsome:

(of a man) good-looking

(of a woman) striking and imposing rather than conventionally pretty

 

 

My English is a bit odd, of course, since I do not live in an English-speaking country and it was left to develop under no other influences than my family and a lot of books, but I use "attractive" the way Carol says she does, and "handsome" more in the second sense listed by the Oxford Dictionary. According to Merriam Webster, "handsome" includes traits like "dignified" and "impressive", and that is definitely also what I associate with the word (btw, I love dignity. Both the word and the quality).

 

But to be fair, Carol, it seems that "handsome" is supposed to apply to any good-looking man, at least according to the dictionaries I have at hand. I didn't know that before, and I always used it as a specific term to define a certain kind of beauty and charisma in men and women.

 

I do think Benedict Cumberbatch is handsome, at least what I have seen of him in interviews. Maybe not "imposing", but definitely "striking" and "dignified". Sherlock, on the other hand, I'd call downright beautiful. I find Irene beautiful, too, while Molly I'd call "pretty".

[Boton]

 

 

I don't find BC handsome, exactly, but I do find him incredibly attractive, and it's not just his looks.

I like the distinction you make here. In fact, I hate to use the word "handsome" simply because it's so often used in referring to a blandly, boringly, stereotypically good-looking man. Like you, I much prefer to use the term "attractive," because it's literally the correct term when I'm talking about someone who attracts me. And I agree, it's not just the looks -- it's partly the looks, of course, but it's also what the person does with that face and that body, and the personality and the energy that they exude.

 

 

This should go in the language thread, but I couldn't resist:

 

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/handsome:

(of a man) good-looking

(of a woman) striking and imposing rather than conventionally pretty

 

 

My English is a bit odd, of course, since I do not live in an English-speaking country and it was left to develop under no other influences than my family and a lot of books, but I use "attractive" the way Carol says she does, and "handsome" more in the second sense listed by the Oxford Dictionary. According to Merriam Webster, "handsome" includes traits like "dignified" and "impressive", and that is definitely also what I associate with the word (btw, I love dignity. Both the word and the quality).

 

But to be fair, Carol, it seems that "handsome" is supposed to apply to any good-looking man, at least according to the dictionaries I have at hand. I didn't know that before, and I always used it as a specific term to define a certain kind of beauty and charisma in men and women.

 

I do think Benedict Cumberbatch is handsome, at least what I have seen of him in interviews. Maybe not "imposing", but definitely "striking" and "dignified". Sherlock, on the other hand, I'd call downright beautiful. I find Irene beautiful, too, while Molly I'd call "pretty".

 

 

I think you're both right.  I think there's a difference here between dictionary definition and regional use of a word.  While I know that one can use "handsome" to mean any good-looking man (and a certain type of good-looking woman), I never use it that broadly.  To me, a "handsome" man is one with a certain kind of regularity of features whose attractiveness fits in a certain type of universally-acknowledged range.  For example, George Clooney is handsome.  Back in my mother's day, Rock Hudson was handsome.

 

I agree with you that Sherlock (specifically, as opposed to BC in every part he plays) is beautiful.  It's a more uncommon word to apply to a man, but Sherlock has a certain aching attractiveness that drags my eyes back to him even in circumstances in which he's not particularly handsome or intended to be especially attractive.  And there's a lot that goes into creating this beauty on screen; yes, BC has great bones and knows how to move his own face, but there's a lot that is done with hair styling, lighting, camera angles, and the like to create that beauty.

[Arcadia]

....

....

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I think we're all saying pretty much the same thing here: whatever word you use, BC's got "it", whatever "it" is! I tend to use "beautiful" to describe him more than anything else. "Handsome" means to me what Carol said, and sometimes he's that, too. But that's not what's attracts me to him. It's mostly his talent, but also ... well, everything about him that I've been able to observe from my oh-so-distant corner of the universe. Except for the f-bombs, I'd like to smack him over the head for those.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

The f-bombs are my biggest issue with him as well as Martin.  On occasion I have been known to slip in a swear word (or 3) when I'm really frustrated (mostly mentally sometimes verbally) and occasionally people actually are around to hear it.  But it doesn't need to be a part of everyday conversation at all.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I get the feeling that the F-word is in the process of being devalued.  Like nowadays, you can say (figuratively) "I got screwed" and no one thinks a thing about it, whereas I think it would have been a bit shocking when my mother was a young woman.  Language is like that -- old words lose their zing and new words (or old words in new contexts) arise to take their place.

 

[sittything]

I have to say, as offensive as the f-bomb used to seem to me, I feel like I hear it so frequently and see it typed out so often (hello Tumblr), that it hardly registers for me anymore.

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Mmh, if you walk down the hallways at my school you'll probably hear it said about 30-40 times in a zillion different contexts. Like I said in another thread -- that place's pretty far down the crapper. So I'm not sensitive about swear words, much to my parents' horror.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

My hubby will drop the f word frequently enough. I get on my son's case if he does (he's 12).

[Arcadia]

I feel pretty much the way CAMPer does; I don't mind once in awhile, or when it's a genuinely stressful situation, but as an adjective to describe everything from jam to shoes to the dog in the yard, I get exceedingly weary of it. Anyway, it doesn't seem like the kind of word a proper English gentleman should be using in polite company. *She sniffs primly as she sips her tea.*

 

I think offensive words are only as "devalued" as we let them be; when I call people on it, they generally have no trouble switching to more "polite" forms of speech. Because they DO know the difference. And I have been known to call people on it .... I'm such a sour old biddy......