One reason why Richard Armitage still does it for me and might for a long time, marketing notwithstanding
It’s a long weekend here in the U.S. and so I had no incentive to be awake this morning at the point at which the Richard Armitage arrival in China broke. I picked it up a few hours later via various sources. And it made me so happy.
I like the (at the moment much rarer) shots of what Richard Armitage sees more than the selfies (as fun as they are).
@TheHobbitMovie @wbpictures Beijing thank you for coming to meet me at the airport ❤️ pic.twitter.com/jSVilW2eSt
— Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) January 18, 2015
I think because I get an idea of what exactly might be meeting him from his perspective. And then I think that he was on a plan for fourteen hours to get there (plus the ramp-up ahead of time) and I appreciate even more the smile with which he greeted these fans, who greeted him with the “Misty Mountains” song.
@TheHobbitMovie @wbpictures Beijing ‘Northern Capital’ Fans sang Misty Mountains at the airport. 最好的欢迎 pic.twitter.com/8McXmzAcSS — Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) January 18, 2015
Manners maketh man, as we’ve said before about Armitage, as at his statements about his former teacher broadcast at her funeral. I’m not a big fan of “virtuous Armitage” as an idea. I don’t think this is extraordinary politeness — it is normal manners to respond to people who give you an enthusiastic welcome — though I do think it comes from an extraordinary capacity to be kind and accommodating, something I saw repeatedly at the Crucible stage door this summer. And it benefits him and his handlers as much as it does us. I appreciate that, but I appreciate something else even more.
Because there’s that look that says — despite how he, and we, know how heavily this activity is related to publicity and marketing and all that stuff in the huge market that is China — “I know how silly this is — and I can enjoy an absurd moment myself along with all the people who make it possible.” Sweet, silly, happy, a bit astounded, aware, embarrassed, flattered — just — a silly grin.
A cap someone made from this vid.
I love serious Armitage. And I live for that silly grin. I know this is all scripted. I know he decides to do this. It’s the fact that he does it. Over and over again. Thanks, Mr. Armitage.
Me + Richard Armitage 
Scripted or not, he always seems quite sincere to me and I adore him for it. And he looks great! And fresh 😉
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I so rarely see pictures of his smiling out of character. He looks a little like Jon Hamm in the picture where he’s smiling.
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He’s such a professional! Even after hours in the airplane. I know, it’s part of his “job”, but I’m always impressed, seeing him doing this fan-thing. melting away
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indeed — I meant to put that in there but forgot. He’s really professional. I gets to the whole issue of why manners are really important for me. It’s not even that you have to “feel” it — it’s that it makes even situations where you aren’t enthused bearable. He seems to be genuinely enjoying himself here (while conscious of the absurdity) but the other thing, too, is that if you behave in a certain way often enough it can also change your own attitudes.
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Ritualisiertes Verhalten, das sich (auf positive) Weise verselbständigt. Ich weiss nicht, wie er das macht, aber er wirkt niemals gequält. Eine grossartige Fähigkeit! Ja, ich denke, meine “Anhänglichkeit” ist nicht komplett unbegründet. 🙂
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He’s such a doll.
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He is definitely the professional but he is also a person and he cares. Scripted or not he still feels the fans deserve his all in meeting them. Love it.
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He really is such a lovely human being …. I’m proud to love him!
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🙂 People looks like cough dwarfs 😉 from his perspective.
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There was a picture of him taking this picture on tumblr — he was holding his phone above his head to take this shot. However, it’s true that Chinese people tend to be slightly shorter of stature than many Westerners.
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ah-ha! above his head..so this photo was shot in rarefied air? 😉
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Huuuu, good point, but off political correctness 😉
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Hey Girls! where I said “Chinese people”? hmm?:)
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fair enough. 🙂
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and to be fair, a lot of people look dwarves in comparison to him. Initially some people thought the women in the skiing picture from two weeks ago were children.
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Yes, me too!!!! I had to look twice. But it was this tall bloke (what’s his name??) in the front who makes them look like children. Not that unobstrusive fellow in the background 😉
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Yeah, it was this tall hot and unpretentious bloke not that tall hot and unobtrusive fellow 😉
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Oops, you left me a little bit confused. But I think I got it. The hottest background-boy on skiers ever. Forget the other one (this time). 🙂
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Hey, pas de problem. No one mentioned “chinese” 🙂
Btw: I thought that too ;-€
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😀
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Perspektiv macht’s möglich.
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re: Perspektive: So you’re big in Japan…. (Source: Alphaville)
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Huge, so to speak.
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It took me years to understand this song. Sowas von peinlich 🙂
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At last! it’s someone’s heaven 😉
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Once again he seems to good to be true. Amazing.
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or certainly trying to be 🙂
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this really warmed me on a very chilly day 😉 It was just so nice to see him like that and hear his voice on that video and remember how warm he actually is with and around people. Job or not he connects to people in a warm and engaging way. And still seems a bit surprised by it all, i thought it was a very exciting reception in China and all directed at him and i’m very happy about it. The whole thing made me feel happy and fuzzy inside and i’m enjoying it very much. It’s nice to see this part of him again which is so much more than just the nice images/photos, news/articles and so on 🙂
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This one was interesting to me because I had committed myself to something that was going to prevent live blogging … I’m always a bit preoccupied by how doing htis makes me feel.
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It is amazing to observe RA among his fans. He’s friendly, approachable and extremely polite – a particular trait Asians look for. No doubt he will be endeared to many more Chinese fans as they get to know him. I’m thrilled that he, at last, has a personal exposure to a behemoth Asian market as China. Imagine this, BBC’s Sherlock (Martin and Cumberbatch) commanded 30 million Chinese viewers on the last season in China. I believe UK posted around 9 million. “Curly Top” as the Chinese fans nicknamed Cumberbatch will only get bigger. I hope RA ‘s visit to China will generate the same exciting exposure for him.
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Are Asians more focused on politeness than westerners? (asking out of ignorance)
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Well I think I should pop up now. Greetings, Servetus, from Beijing. I was at the airport yesterday and there are something more about fans. The Misty Mountain song was the sweetest of course because more than 3 group of fans(from different online communities) sang it together. There were banners showing ‘Welcome King under the Mountain’ ‘One Last Time’ and a The Crucible poster. In a pic taken by my friend, some guy brought a copy of Hannibal by Thomas Harris, another lady had a MI5 DVD. Many Middleearth fans took copies of The Hobbit, Thorin posters and Lonely Mountain maps with them, I got a copy of North & South DVD(Chinese edition) in my hand… though RA was unable to see the other side of passage where the other half of his fans were waiting because all the camera guys rushed to his side as he started signing. It was a little bit chaotic in the end as travellers kept asking ‘who is that’ and taking pics. But before he went away, he turned back, took a picture of the crowd and waved back, that was absolutely sweet!
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Thank you for your report. It is good to hear from someone who was there.
From the small clips of video it was obvious how well he was received. Lovely that he didn’t have to share with anyone.
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And I’m still wondering how RA got his pics posted on Twitter. I can’t even have access on this site without a VPN!
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Thanks so much for this report and the effort to VPN in — I really appreciated reading your report. Maybe he has access to a VPN in the hotel he’s in? It would be inconvenient for international business travelers to have big chunks of their internet blocked just because they were in China, I suppose.
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It’s not the hotel because just one or two mins after he took that picture of the airport crowd, he posted it on Twitter. That was in the business passage of the airport, and I don’t think airport wifi has that kind of service. So someone must have set up his phone.
PJ was using his weibo.com account (an equivalent of twitter or fb in China) yesterday, you may find more updates about him and Richard here: http://weibo.com/PeterJacksonNZ
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interesting.
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I also love seeing how pleasant he is toward everyone. ..more than manners or duty, it seems a respect for others and for their time, efforts and feelings. Consideration is a lost art, it seems – but not to him. As Martin Freeman said, “ He’s just a decent human being. ..” It has been a pleasure seeing this side of him so consistently for so long! It really is cause to smile and admire. I love his boyish grin and sense of wonder.
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The grin absolutely slays me. Then again, he consistently passes it on to me.
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[…] Here. Many thanks! […]
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Findirien reports from the airport in Beijing | Me + Richard Armitage said this on January 19, 2015 at 10:09 pm |