James Bond Racist

[Asterix]

Moore was a bit of a joke as far as the physical aspect of a trained killer went.

Did you ever see him run? He make Steven Seagal look like Usain Bolt.

[anonymous-user]

Halb said:

Why now? Since Bond has survived height, eye-colour, hair-colour, has had the protagonist both acknowledge previous Bonds and deny/assume their life, and has been rebooted at least once.

Skin colour (black and white terms) is a fundamental difference though. You cannot miss it! Eye colour, height, can you put your finger on (without googling now!) the exact eye colour and heights of the various Bonds? Can you imagine a black person having much chance of being the son of a Scottish Laird? The odds just don't stack up.
Not against the idea but it would mean a reinvention of who Bond is and what Bond means.........

[Grumfutock]

So a black James Bond in Moscow? Hmmmmm he wont stand out much now will he! Silly idea by the silly leftie PC brigade once again. Pathetic.

[Legend83]

I have no particular issue with the skin colour debate but I can see why for some it would be hard to accept on the grounds that Bond's description in the books, and the previous characters in the films, have all been white. If you apply everything you know historically about Bond and take the that forward it makes it difficult to be creditable.

My main problem would be casting Elba at all. He was fantastic as understated drug-gangster in The Wire, excellent as the on-the-edge Sarf-Landan-boy cop in Luther, but has been pretty crap in everything else. I just can't see him playing Bond - for one thing, any attempt to make his accent more 'polished' will just seem forced.

The bloke from 12 Years a Bore or the bloke who just played MLK in Selma would be better.

I always thought Richard Armitage would make a decent Bond.

[eharding]

Legend83 said:

I always thought Richard Armitage would make a decent Bond.

I saw him in The Hobbit - he could never play Bond, because he's only three feet tall. Quite handy with an axe though.

[Asterix]

He was good in the first Strike Back series.

[Big Rumbly]

In the same way that Tom Cruise would make a good Martin Luther King?


In the same way that tom cruise would make a good Jack Reacher

[Rude-boy]

I could not care less about the colour of James Bond's skin.

I would not really consider it right if Bond spoke with anything other than a Scottish or English accent - even Welsh or Irish would be a bit odd.

Then again if the Americans think that it is right to rewrite history for the films (Argo and U-571 for a start) perhaps Bond could be played by someone with a broad Russian accent

[Legend83]

Asterix said:

He was good in the first Strike Back series.

And Spooks.

[RobGT81]

Works for me. Idris Elba or Tom Hardy

[NAS]

MarshPhantom said:

You sound like Hitler watching Jesse Owens at the Munich Olympics.

Berlin.

[Halb]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

You might think I'm quite sad...but err, yeah ; height, hair and eyes. I'm a bit of a geek for stuff like that. The biggest kick-back so far was Craig. He was the first sub-six foot and blond Bond. But physically, for me he was spot on. Yeah skin colour would be a big step. The only real block is profit though, nothing about history or books (can be rebooted or as I've posted prominent black figures were not unknown and could add more) that were written half a century ago.
pre-Craig I used to think of Clive Owen or Jeremy Northam as Bonds, and they are both Bond 'classic'. I am not restrained by that anymore.

[Watchman]

Legend83 said:

The bloke from 12 Years a Bore

Chiwetel Ejiofor... yes, he'd be spot-on. He has the right accent, build and is a talented martial artist.

[Digga]

To be honest, the big screen Bond has constantly - subtly sometimes - evolved to remain contemporary. the gentleman thug has become mildly more proletariat, the outlandish misogyny was diluted during the nineties and noughties.

I for one would like to see a bit more of the upper-class nutcase return, but I don't for a moment feel the future has to lie with a white actor.

[Moonhawk]

Bond has a air of pomp and stiff upper lip about him that just seems to suit a white actor better.

I guess this type of discussion could work either way though. Would Bruce Willis make a good Shaft, Chris Hemsworth a good Axel Foley or Arnold Schwarzenegger a good BA Baracus? I suspect not.

Something tells me the resistance to such actors playing those roles would be just as strong - but is this racism or realism?

[Halb]

Digga said:

I for one would like to see a bit more of the upper-class nutcase return, but I don't for a moment feel the future has to lie with a white actor.

I'd quite like that. I think the Chewie guy mentioned above would be good for that. He has the classy assassin type down.

[McWigglebum4th]

Saying a white actor could play a black role is racism against blacks as any idiot knows only a black actor could meet expectations

Saying a black guy could not play a white role is racism against blacks as any idiot knows only a black could meet expectations

[wiggy001]

I hate all the PC crap and wish those here that have used the term "racist" to describe the original comment or any on here would have a word with themselves... "you" are the only bigots on this (and similar) threads.

[JuniorD]

It would be no good having a black Bond. Anecdotally factually speaking, the token black in a movie usually gets whacked in the first scene.

[Moonhawk]

It seems in vogue at the moment to cast black actors in roles that originally featured white characters. To list a few recent ones:

Nick Fury in the Avengers.

Human Torch in the new Fantastic Four movie.

Annie in the most recent version of the film with the same name.

Felix Leiter and Miss Moneypenney in the recent bond movies.

Robert McCall in the Equaliser

Harvy Dent in Batman

Kingpin in the movie Daredevil

Idris Elba as Heimdall in the movie Thor

Red in the Shawshank Redemption

J in Men in Black

Jackie Brown in the movie Jackie Brown

Whilst some of the casting choices have raised a few eyebrows (I actually agree with most if not all of those above) - non have (as far as I am aware) initiated what is commonly referred to as a "race row". However on the rare occasions it does occur the other way around:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/b...

Actors should be cast based on their suitability and believability in the role - nothing more.

Edited by Moonhawk on Monday 30th March 13:32