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Black In Bond - Have black actors had a fair crack of the whip in Bond movies?
NicNac
Administrator, Moderator
Well it all started ok with John Kitzmiller as Quarrel in Dr No. But this film was set on a Caribbean island and if made today there would most certainly have been more suitable parts for black actors.
And as the 60s unwound it proved for a fact that there really wasn't much of a place for black characters in Bond. Outside of Earl Cameron who made zero impact in Thunderball, and the banana eating Jamaican girl in OHMSS did we see any?
LALD bucked the trend somewhat, but I have always thought that despite plenty of room for black characters in Bond, they have been generally ignored.
Recently the likes of Jinx, Robinson and the new Moneypenny haven't improved the situation, they simply highlight the lack of parts for black actors.
Up to date with Spectre, in a cast of 40 or so there were two black actors - Naomi Harris and Marc Zinga who had one scene (and for all that he was excellent).
Does anyone agree, or am I just trying to think of a discussion thread that we haven't had before? ;)
And as the 60s unwound it proved for a fact that there really wasn't much of a place for black characters in Bond. Outside of Earl Cameron who made zero impact in Thunderball, and the banana eating Jamaican girl in OHMSS did we see any?
LALD bucked the trend somewhat, but I have always thought that despite plenty of room for black characters in Bond, they have been generally ignored.
Recently the likes of Jinx, Robinson and the new Moneypenny haven't improved the situation, they simply highlight the lack of parts for black actors.
Up to date with Spectre, in a cast of 40 or so there were two black actors - Naomi Harris and Marc Zinga who had one scene (and for all that he was excellent).
Does anyone agree, or am I just trying to think of a discussion thread that we haven't had before? ;)
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Comments
That's quite a change as far as I'm concerned, and at least in the case of Harris, I think of it more as a form of affirmative action because I haven't been impressed in the slightest by her interpretation of the role. What I'm saying is that I believe there are far more suitable actresses for the part of MP (even from within the Craig films - Arterton for instance).
I can appreciate the lack of diversity in the 60s, given the times. We definitely saw more inclusivity in the 70s (LALD as you noted. Heck, nearly the entire cast apart from Bond, Solitaire and the regulars was black!). The first female henchwoman since #11 was black in the 80s (Grace Jones' Mayday) and it was a memorable part. .
So no, I think black characters have been reasonable well represented for this franchise over the years. Perhaps the more appropriate question is whether we have had enough representation of other ethnic groups who reside in Britain in the Bond franchise. On that, I would say more improvement is most certainly required.
Yes of course. I forgot him. And as I posted this without too much research I even forgot Geoffrey Wright!
So it seems in order to redress some kind of balance, they have re-cast classic Fleming characters with black actors (Leiter, Moneypenny) rather than casting more one off characters with black actors.
I think the way they did it in the Brosnan era and prior was better actually. Create new memorable characters (even if they are non-recurring) rather than mess with the originals. That way it looks less like one is trying to make some sort of political statement. Rather, it just is more reflective of the makeup of society.
L'American have atleast mix of English, French, Maroc, American and Dutch elements.
LTK had Leiter's co-workers Sharkey and Hawkins, who were significant to the first part of the story.
And the first black Leiter was Bernie Casey way back in NSNA in '83.
Unofficially of course,the first official black Leiter is Wright. ;)
They were also the first to acknowledge Bond's age, the relevance of the OO program and an M switchover. As we know the official series has taken that to new levels recently. The much lambasted NSNA was very much a film ahead.
The first film of the series has a black man as Bond's ally (and he's one of the best allies I might add) and the reason for that is because the film is set in Jamaica.
In the next film he has a Turkish ally because? Yep that's right the film is set in Turkey.
So then we have another black ally in the Bahamas, a Japanese fella in Japan, a black bloke in Harlem and San Monique, a Thai in Thailand, an Italian in Italy, an Indian in India and on and on.
In fact at the risk of being hounded into an early grave by the Twitter police for being a Nazi aren't black people actually over represented? We have never had an Indian or Pakistani - not going to say Asian as I'm always bemused, given how race is the be all and end all to some people, how Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Thais etc can all be lumped together as 'Asian' - Bond girl (unless you count that bird who has her tits zoomed in on by Rog in OP?) in the entire series. We have had Robinson and now Moneypenny with plum jobs inside MI6 but never someone from the Indian subcontinent despite people from Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds outnumbering black people in this country.
At the end of the day Bond films are set largely in Europe not Africa so you're mostly only going to get your diversity boxes ticked when he visits the Carribbean or liaises with UK or US staff.
When he goes to Istanbul, Switzerland, Venice, Bratislava, St Petersburg, Montenegro or Austria he's obviously not going to interact with black people as much as he is if he stayed in multiethnic London or Jamaica.
Cripes!! Surely the expression is 'elephant in the room'?
H&M got into a lot of hot water for less.
OHMSS already went far enough during the banana scene.
You could've said "I watched Octopussy last night. Honest Guv, I didn't mean to cause any offence!"
I only realized in the last year that Pussfeller totally turns into a white guy for a moment when he and Quarrel fight Bond.
He must be of mixed blood.
=)) I read the headline and thought...
Yeah i was wondering about that too!
Thought it's just some example of very black comedy (pardon the pun) which is just my thing.
Aren't we all.
Hopefully a horse racing reference. If not then...oops!
That'll do for me!
Especially on your TV. ;)
Ah, you were channeling your inner Zorin, hey? Good show! (We'll back you up if anyone says otherwise)