Interview with the Fanpire Series 3: CumberbatchWeb CEO, Naomi Roper, explains the Birth of a Fansite and stereotyping “Swooning Cumberbitches”
Social Media Queen and Cumberbatch Guru, Naomi Roper, is one of the top females in the game. A hard working business woman by day, and a super sleuthing bloggerista by night. This internet equivalent of Super-Woman or dare I say, Beyonce, is a one woman stop and shop for all your Cumberbatch needs. She answers over 500+ emails, tweets, questions and is actively involved on her various web pages daily all before dinner time.
How on earth does she do it? In possibly the hardest job of them all, as Benedict Cumberbatch signs up for roles quicker than you can say “Camp”, Naomi exudes strength, a vast wealth of knowledge and a particular sense of humor. How could you not interview her? This in week’s interview series we ask Naomi about her humble beginnings and to explain why all Cumberfans aren’t stereotypical “Cumberbitches”.
Name : Naomi R.
Age : 36
Country : UK
Age : 36
Country : UK
About Benedict
What acting role convinced you that Benedict Cumberbatch was best?
I first became aware of Benedict in The Last Enemy and really enjoyed his work. Then I sat down to watch Sherlock one balmy Summer evening with low expectations. I hadn’t really expected Sherlock to be any good as on initial airing its publicity was very low key and it was airing at the height of Summer which is usually an indication that the series will be poor as traditionally UK schedulers save their best material to launch in Autumn. Within 5 minutes I was completely blown away by the series as a whole and Benedict’s portrayal of Sherlock in particular. I did a bit of research on-line and discovered that Benedict was appearing in a play at the National Theatre (After the Dance) which was shortly to close. I got up at the crack of dawn to queue for day tickets (something I’d never done before). Benedict was completely mesmerising on stage and his performance as David Scott-Fowler was extraordinary. My friends were upset to realise that they weren’t going to be able to see the play and that there wasn’t an up to date resource for Benedict on the internet. I started the website the following day.
What’s your favorite Benedict role?
I think he’s an extraordinary actor that brings so much to every role he plays. It’s tough to pick a favourite. He has the most incredible stage presence whether reading letters at Letters Live, crying on cue at a reading of Look Back in Anger or blowing everyone away with his portrayals of David Scott-Fowler in After the Dance or the Creature/Victor in “Frankenstein”. I really enjoy his voice work – he’s a joy to listen to in Cabin Pressure and Neverwhere and he managed to bring an extraordinary level of nuance and characterisation to Smaug. It was huge fun seeing him as a baddie in a big popcorn movie like Star Trek Into Darkness as well as a smooth spy with a secret in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He was heartbreaking as Chrissie in Parade’s End and Van Gogh In Painted with Words. I guess because Sherlock is the role that brought him to my attention that is very close to my heart but he really is superb in everything.
What’s your least favorite Benedict role?
There are some roles I tend to re-watch more than others but I wouldn’t say I dislike any of Benedict’s roles.
Pick your favorite Benedict quote
He’s not really the sort of man you can distill into a few lines. I suspect most would go for the quote about the personal philosophy he lives life by which was lovely but I do like the closing lines of his last interview with Caitlin Moran in The Times:
“I’ve seen and swam and climbed and lived and driven and filmed. Should it all end tomorrow, I can definitely say there would be no regrets. I am very lucky, and I know it. I really have lived 5,000 times over.”
Something for us all to aspire too…
“I’ve seen and swam and climbed and lived and driven and filmed. Should it all end tomorrow, I can definitely say there would be no regrets. I am very lucky, and I know it. I really have lived 5,000 times over.”
Something for us all to aspire too…
About the Fandom
If you could change just one thing about the fandom with the wave of a magic wand, what would it be?
Nothing. It’s not for me to tell people they should change. As far as I can see the Sherlock fandom is a lovely and very welcoming place.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to do what you do?
Don’t underestimate the vast amount of time and expense involved in trying to run a website. I have a full time job and between running the site/twitter and tumblr I can spend anything from an hour to several hours a day keeping everything on track depending on how busy Benedict is. And that’s not counting the 500 emails a week on a slow week (easily triple that when Sherlock is airing)
Also only do it if you truly love it. I get a lot of people wanting to help with the site and while some are just lovely a huge number will offer to help and then immediately say “and once I start helping you when will I get to meet Benedict/Martin/Mark/what premieres can I go to /can we visit the set etc” but the truth is perks are very very few and far between. If you’re doing something for that reason you’ll be miserable very quickly. It all has to be done because you love it and really want to.
Also only do it if you truly love it. I get a lot of people wanting to help with the site and while some are just lovely a huge number will offer to help and then immediately say “and once I start helping you when will I get to meet Benedict/Martin/Mark/what premieres can I go to /can we visit the set etc” but the truth is perks are very very few and far between. If you’re doing something for that reason you’ll be miserable very quickly. It all has to be done because you love it and really want to.
Why should people add you on social media? What makes you so special?
I’d never presume to say I was special. But I’ve always tried to ensure that anyone following gets all the up to date news on Benedict’s work and details of any public events that he has been scheduled to attend. As well as coverage of events, reviews etc. It’s always really lovely to meet people at different events and have them say that they booked because they saw it on my twitter. It shows I’m doing my job right!
Are there misconceptions that people have about this fandom, or yourself?
I think the only misconception I would like to address is that fans are a group of squealing teenagers. There is no such thing as a “typical” fan. They don’t exist. People can’t be put in boxes like that.
The Sherlock fandom is very open as it’s based on Twitter/Tumblr. I’d argue there isn’t much of a fourth wall. Brands and outlets have realised the sheer power of fans and of Twitter and Tumblr as platforms. They’ve realised that if they play nice and post good content fans will promote their films & tv series for them and they’ll drive up ad revenue by linking people to articles about their idols. Which is why you have the BBC on Twitter and Tumblr re-blogging fan graphics and gifs and starting memes and discussing ship names.But while all these outlets and corporations have realised that fans are now hugely important tools in how they sell their products they still don’t understand fans and fandom. You can see it in pretty much every article ever written by the news outlets about fans. They have this vision in their head that male fans are 50-year-old bespectacled virgins who wear anoraks over their Star Trek uniforms and live with their mother and the women are either crazy cat lady spinsters or love struck teens. It’s ridiculously offensive.In the Benedict fandom we got the term Cumberbitches after Alan Carr’s researcher trawled the Twitter account of a group of very young girls and it was then applied to all and now it’s here to stay. And it conjures up an untrue image. Benedict’s fans range from tiny kids to 90 year olds. In my experience his fans are brilliant, talented, intelligent, kind and compassionate women (and men! The boys often feel quite left out) who frequently do amazing things for charity. So I always grit my teeth every time I get interview requests that assume I’m at school, or assume that I’ll curl up and die if they mention a girlfriend (I once turned down a profile piece in a well-known outlet which wanted me to be photographed wearing a tee with Benedict on while kissing his photo) or we get some patronising article referring to Benedict’s “swooning Cumberbitches” etc.
The Sherlock fandom is very open as it’s based on Twitter/Tumblr. I’d argue there isn’t much of a fourth wall. Brands and outlets have realised the sheer power of fans and of Twitter and Tumblr as platforms. They’ve realised that if they play nice and post good content fans will promote their films & tv series for them and they’ll drive up ad revenue by linking people to articles about their idols. Which is why you have the BBC on Twitter and Tumblr re-blogging fan graphics and gifs and starting memes and discussing ship names.But while all these outlets and corporations have realised that fans are now hugely important tools in how they sell their products they still don’t understand fans and fandom. You can see it in pretty much every article ever written by the news outlets about fans. They have this vision in their head that male fans are 50-year-old bespectacled virgins who wear anoraks over their Star Trek uniforms and live with their mother and the women are either crazy cat lady spinsters or love struck teens. It’s ridiculously offensive.In the Benedict fandom we got the term Cumberbitches after Alan Carr’s researcher trawled the Twitter account of a group of very young girls and it was then applied to all and now it’s here to stay. And it conjures up an untrue image. Benedict’s fans range from tiny kids to 90 year olds. In my experience his fans are brilliant, talented, intelligent, kind and compassionate women (and men! The boys often feel quite left out) who frequently do amazing things for charity. So I always grit my teeth every time I get interview requests that assume I’m at school, or assume that I’ll curl up and die if they mention a girlfriend (I once turned down a profile piece in a well-known outlet which wanted me to be photographed wearing a tee with Benedict on while kissing his photo) or we get some patronising article referring to Benedict’s “swooning Cumberbitches” etc.
For those interested in exploring the Sherlock/Benedict Cumberbatch fandom, where would you tell them to start?
Get a Twitter and Tumblr. Follow all the creators and actors. Follow myself and other sites like Sherlockology and just talk to people. It can be a bit daunting at first I know. But you all have the exact same thing in common so once you start talking you can build up a huge number of friends in no time.
How do you find the time to interact with fans? or create content or be active on social media?
Well it’s all sort of part of the job!
Anything to say to your followers/fans?
Thank you very much for being kind enough to follow me and I hope you enjoy what I post.
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