Inside the Cult of Benedict Cumberbatch“卷福潮”來襲：本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇為什么這么紅？

Plenty of adjectives come to mind when describing literature's greatest detective， Sherlock Holmes： brilliant， unflappable2）， relentless3）. But sexy？ Now that's one we haven't heard too often.

That is， not until Benedict Cumberbatch put a modern-day spin on4） the iconic role in the BBC's reboot5） of the classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle mystery series. Since Sherlock debuted in 2010， Cumberbatch has rapidly shot to worldwide fame—and amassed6） a remarkably devoted fan following.

We witnessed this devotion firsthand during PBS's7） winter press tour earlier this month， when Cumberbatch arrived to promote the third season of Sherlock. Normally， these press tours are trailed by a few scattered paparazzi8） and autograph hounds9）， even though A-list stars are a regular sight. But on that day， more than a dozen Cumberbatch fans camped out all afternoon， holding signs and waiting patiently for their idol to arrive.

The jaded10） TV critics assembled there all agreed： we hadn't seen anything like this in years. So what is it， exactly， about this man that inspires such a frenzy？ We reached out to some of his biggest fans to shed some light on11） the phenomenon， and give us a peek inside the "CumberCollective".

"Cumberbatched" at first sight

Sherlock producers Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue first took notice of Cumberbatch when he played an evil family friend in 2007's Atonement. In fact， he was the only actor they auditioned to play Holmes—but even they didn't think they had a burgeoning12） sex symbol on their hands. As Vertue told Entertainment Weekly， "When we first cast him， people were saying， 'You promised us a sexy one！' People weren't thinking of him in that light at all."

But Cumberbatch soon won over doubters with his fresh take on the legendary sleuth13）. Rather than the professor-type with pipe and magnifying glass in hand we're used to seeing， Cumberbatch's Sherlock is rooted in the 21st century， combining his massive intellect with tech gadgets like smartphones and GPS to solve cases. Add in his comically antisocial14） demeanor15） （Sherlock often refers to himself as a "high-functioning sociopath16）"）， and he comes across17） as a bad-boy genius—the perfect mix of rock star and rocket scientist.

Naomi Roper， who owns and edits the popular fan site Cumberbatchweb， remembers the first time she saw Cumberbatch as Sherlock： "I sat down to watch it， and five minutes later， I was hooked18）."

Kristina Manente has always been a Sherlock Holmes fan； her Baker Street Babes blog and podcast19） cover all iterations20） of Holmes. But she had no interest in watching the Cumberbatch version at first because， as she says， "I thought a modern Sherlock Holmes was stupid." She eventually caved in21）， though， and when she saw Cumberbatch's award-winning performance as physicist Stephen Hawking in 2004's Hawking， she "was immediately floored22） by his talent".endprint

According to Lauren Gallaway， who co-hosts the Fancastic blog and podcast， there's even a word for the moment a fan falls under the Cumberbatch spell23）： "It wasn't until someone gave me a Sherlock Season 1 DVD that I was， as we say， 'Cumberbatched'."

說到夏洛克·福爾摩斯這位文學(xué)作品里最偉大的偵探，我們的腦海里會閃現(xiàn)出許多形容詞：聰穎絕倫、從容不迫、堅忍不拔。但是，性感帥氣？這個詞兒我們倒是很少聽說。

情況的確如此，直到英國廣播公司翻拍了阿瑟·柯南道爾爵士的那部經(jīng)典探案系列小說，本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇在其中對福爾摩斯這位偶像角色進行了現(xiàn)代版的演繹后才有了改變。自從這部《神探夏洛克》于2010年開播以來，康伯巴奇迅速紅遍全球，還贏得了大量忠誠度驚人的粉絲的追捧。

本月初（編注：本文寫于2014年2月），康伯巴奇到美國公共電視網(wǎng)的冬季媒體見面會宣傳《神探夏洛克》第三季，在此期間我們親眼目睹了粉絲們的這種忠誠。即使這類媒體見面會不乏一線明星的身影，但通常也只有少數(shù)零散的狗仔隊和熱衷于搜集簽名的追星族才會跟著見面會跑。然而康伯巴奇現(xiàn)身的這天，竟有不下十幾位康伯巴奇的粉絲整個下午都在場外扎營等待，他們舉著標語牌，耐心等著他們的偶像到來。

連現(xiàn)場云集的那些看厭類似事件的電視評論員們都一致表示：我們已經(jīng)許多年沒見過這樣的場面了。那么，康伯巴奇到底有何魅力，能夠引發(fā)如此的狂熱？我們采訪到康伯巴奇的一些鐵桿粉絲，請他們對這種現(xiàn)象發(fā)表意見，并借此一窺“康伯粉絲團”的內(nèi)部世界。

初識即“被康伯霸氣擊中”

《神探夏洛克》的制片人史蒂文·莫法特和蘇·維特最初注意到康伯巴奇時，康伯巴奇正在電影《贖罪》（2007年上映）中扮演某一家人的一個為人惡毒的朋友。事實上，康伯巴奇是唯一一個被他們請來試鏡福爾摩斯的演員，但就連他們自己當時也沒想過自己手頭有這么一位成長迅速的性感偶像。維特這樣告訴《娛樂周刊》：“我們首次啟用他的時候，人們都抱怨說，‘你們答應(yīng)我們要找個性感帥哥來演的！當時人們根本就沒把他往那方面想?！?/p>

然而，康伯巴奇憑借對這位傳奇?zhèn)商筋H具獨創(chuàng)性的演繹，很快就贏得了質(zhì)疑者的支持。他塑造的夏洛克不再是那個我們習(xí)以為常的人物形象——嘴里叼著煙斗，手里拿著放大鏡，儼然一位大學(xué)教授的樣子——而是一位立足于21世紀、依靠自身大智慧以及諸如智能手機和全球定位系統(tǒng)等各種高科技產(chǎn)品來破案的偵探。而且，他的行為舉止惹人惱火（夏洛克常自詡為“高級憤青”），但又不失喜感；他給人的印象既是壞小子，也是大天才——簡直是搖滾明星和火箭科學(xué)家的完美結(jié)合。

人氣網(wǎng)站“康伯巴奇粉絲網(wǎng)”的站長兼編輯娜奧米·羅珀還記得她第一次看到康伯巴奇飾演的夏洛克的情景：“我坐下來看這部劇，五分鐘之后，我就被迷住了?！?/p>

克里斯蒂娜·馬嫩特一直都是福爾摩斯迷，她的“貝克街寶貝”博客兼播客包含了所有福爾摩斯的版本。但她起初并沒興趣看康伯巴奇版的福爾摩斯，原因如她所說：“我覺得一個現(xiàn)代版的福爾摩斯很蠢?！辈贿^，她最終還是看了，而且在看了康伯巴奇在2004年上映的電影《霍金的故事》中對物理學(xué)家史蒂芬·霍金的演繹——康伯巴奇還因此獲獎——之后，她“當即為他的演技所折服”。

博客兼播客網(wǎng)站“粉趣園”的站長之一勞倫·加勒維說，甚至還有一個詞專門用來形容影迷被康伯巴奇迷倒的瞬間：“直到有人送了我一套《神探夏洛克》第一季的光碟，我就像大家說的那樣‘被康伯霸氣擊中了?！?/p>

"Well， he's rather good-looking， isn't he？"

And the success of Sherlock has paid off24） a lot for Cumberbatch. Steven Spielberg offered him a role in War Horse， telling Empire magazine that Cumberbatch was the best onscreen Sherlock he'd ever seen. And last year， the actor was seemingly everywhere， from playing superhuman villain Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness to voicing Smaug the dragon in The Hobbit 2： The Desolation of Smaug to co-starring in Oscar-nominated films 12 Years a Slave and August： Osage County.

Still， Cumberbatch is an unlikely matinee idol25）. After all， he's not a strapping26） hunk27） in the conventional sense； he's pasty28）， thinly built， and a bit odd-looking. Sure， the accent helps， but that doesn't explain his British fans； the Season 3 premiere of Sherlock drew 9.3 million U.K. viewers， more than double the U.S. viewership29）. And no offense to Jonny Lee Miller， but he's also British and is also playing a present-day Sherlock （on CBS's Elementary）， and he doesn't seem to inspire nearly the dedicated following that Cumberbatch does these days.endprint

If you're trying to solve the mystery of Cumberbatch's appeal， though， there's a simple solution： just ask his fans. "He's a fantastically30） talented actor， a total chameleon，" Naomi says. "Plus， he's intelligent， charming， and very polite and gracious with his fans. He's surprisingly humble， given his recent meteoric31） rise ... and well， he's rather good-looking， isn't he？"

Maria Fleischhack， also of Baker Street Babes， admires his commitment and range as a performer： "He dives into his roles， and every character he plays is distinctly different from the others he has played before. Just compare his performance in Hawking with that in Sherlock， and you have two entirely different super-geniuses next to each other who have nothing in common."

And like most fans， they've all gone to extraordinary lengths32） for their love of Benedict. Naomi and Kristina both report waiting in line for hours to see him live on stage. Kristina says， "I camped out overnight for ten hours to get a ticket. It was in March， and it was absolutely freezing. Worth it， though." Several of them even made the ultimate sacrifice： going to see Cumberbatch play Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate， one of 2013's biggest box-office failures. Naomi saw it （and liked it?。?， but allows， "I can't hand-on-heart say I would have rushed to see the film if Cumberbatch wasn't starring in it."

“再說，他長得相當帥，不是嗎？”

《神探夏洛克》的成功給康伯巴奇帶來了很多好處。史蒂文·斯皮爾伯格（編注：好萊塢著名導(dǎo)演）不僅邀他參演《戰(zhàn)馬》，還告訴《帝國》雜志（編注：英國著名的電影雜志）說康伯巴奇是他見過的最棒的福爾摩斯扮演者。去年，康伯巴奇似乎無片不在：從在《星際迷航：暗黑無界》里飾演能力超常的大反派可汗，到為《霍比特人2：史矛革之戰(zhàn)》中的巨龍史矛革配音，再到作為聯(lián)合主演之一出演奧斯卡提名電影《為奴十二年》和《八月：奧色治郡》（編注：《為奴十二年》最終獲得了奧斯卡最佳影片獎）。

盡管如此，康伯巴奇也不大可能是一位偶像派演員。畢竟按照傳統(tǒng)的審美觀，他并不是一個高大強壯的健美男子；他臉色泛白，身體精瘦，長相還有點怪。沒錯，他的英倫腔為他加了分，但這無法解釋他擁有的那些英國影迷——《神探夏洛克》第三季首播時的收視量在英國達到了930萬，超過美國收視量的兩倍。再者，我們無意貶低約翰尼·李·米勒，但他也是英國人，也在飾演現(xiàn)代版的福爾摩斯（在美國哥倫比亞廣播公司制作播出的《基本演繹法》中），可他似乎就遠未能激起粉絲們那種虔誠的追捧，而康伯巴奇現(xiàn)在卻做到了。

不過，倘若你想揭開康伯巴奇的魅力所在，有一個簡單的辦法：只需問問他的粉絲?！八麑嵲谔胁帕耍菔裁聪袷裁?，” 娜奧米說，“還有，他睿智、迷人，而且對粉絲禮貌有加、和藹可親。他最近迅速躥紅，但還能那么謙卑低調(diào)……再說，他長得相當帥，不是嗎？”

“貝克街寶貝”的另一位成員瑪麗亞·弗萊施哈克欣賞康伯巴奇演戲的投入和戲路的寬廣：“他很入戲，飾演的每個角色全都與之前演過的角色迥然不同。只要對比一下他在《霍金的故事》和《神探夏洛克》中的表演，你眼前就會并排出現(xiàn)兩位完全不同的大天才，他們毫無共同之處。”

像大部分粉絲一樣，康伯巴奇的粉絲們?yōu)榱吮硎緦λ膼劭芍^不辭千辛萬苦。娜奧米和克里斯蒂娜均表示，為了在現(xiàn)場一睹舞臺上的康伯巴奇，她們都曾排隊等待過好幾個小時?？死锼沟倌日f：“我曾經(jīng)為買到他的一張票通宵扎營露宿十個小時。當時是3月，天冷得要命，但我覺得值?！眰€別影迷甚至還做出了最大的犧牲，跑去看康伯巴奇在影片《維基解密》中扮演的維基解密創(chuàng)始人朱利安·阿桑奇，而《維基解密》是2013年票房最慘的電影之一。娜奧米看了這部影片（而且非常喜歡?。寡裕骸拔也桓冶ＷC如果沒有康伯巴奇做主演，我還會去看這部電影。”

They're not Cumberbitches， they're Cumberpeopleendprint

Sensing a trend， the media leapt on33） the growing Cumberbatch following and dubbed34） his female fans "Cumberbitches". A catchy name， to be sure， but one that's been roundly35） rejected by every fan we spoke to. Although to be fair， a certain segment of the fandom still embraces the term.

The generally accepted alternatives are "Cumberbabes" or the more inclusive36） "CumberCollective"—a term Cumberbatch endorsed37） on The Graham Norton Show. Yes， even the man himself has weighed in38） on the Great Cumberbitch Controversy， and he sides with the non-bitch faction. "I won't allow you to be my bitches，" he told the Radio Times last year. "You are ... Cumberpeople."

她們不是“康伯白癡粉”，她們是

“康伯大眾粉”

媒體覺察到了這股潮流，開始對康伯巴奇日益增長的粉絲產(chǎn)生了濃厚興趣，并稱他的女粉絲為“康伯白癡粉”。誠然，這個稱謂醒目又好記，但我們采訪的粉絲們?nèi)紖柭暰芙^了這個稱謂。不過說句公道話，有一部分他的粉絲依然接受這個稱謂。

粉絲們普遍接受的另外一些稱謂是“康伯寶貝”或更具包容性的“康伯粉絲團”——康伯巴奇在《格拉漢姆·諾頓秀》（編注：英國脫口秀節(jié)目）里力挺這個稱謂。沒錯，就連康伯巴奇本人也在這場“白癡粉”大爭論中發(fā)表了意見，而他支持的是非白癡派。“我不允許你們因我而變成白癡，”康伯巴奇去年在《廣播時報》中說，“你們是……康伯大眾粉?！眅ndprint