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To make generalizations about black women in Bond films is...um...what's the word?
Woke!
Are you referring to my comment about Felix or are you mistaking me for @Stamper ?
Deadline's Crew Call podcast with Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, talking about Daniel Craig, who's gonna be the next Bond..
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barbara-broccoli-and-michael-g-wilson/id1434867623?i=1000548321974
Well they do in the podcast, even mentioned Idris is on the list
That's why I think they copped out of the idea, because Felix already met his fate.
BTW I always loved how they "stole" the Black Felix from NSNA. NSNA was really progressive in that choice. I remember it stirred a lot of talk.
So what ist the exact reason why Nomi should have died in the film? You could also say that Madeleine should have died or Paloma. As if there are not enough people dying in that film.
"James, I have something to tell you." Madeleine was going to tell him about the pregnancy, not about Safin (so it's misdirection). She doesn't really have a chance to tell him in the car after that..."I'd rather die than..."
It had to be nanobots because they would eventually find an vaccine/antidote for just a virus.
That was in past tense, right? Idris Elba is turning 50 this year.
Edit: looks like you were wrong @Contraband
“I think we have decided that until No Time to Die has had its run and Daniel has been able to – well, we’ve all been able to savour, reap the benefits of Daniel’s wonderful tenure, we’re not gonna think about, or talk about anybody else.”
"James, I'm pregnant. That is my secret. Let's name him James. James Bond Jr."
Cut to Madeleine crying on the train.
“You’ll never see me again.”
Well that's the inherent tragedy of events. Bond is acting out through the physical and emotional shock of the explosion at Vesper's grave site.
Venting that on Madeleine, she struggles to express she's pregnant but like Bond is confronted that he cannot so cleanly leave the life he led. She is ready to do that at the point the DB5 is T-boned in Matera. That pause adds to her own shock and eventual realization she must protect her unborn child from the inherent danger a life with James Bond would hold. [And I think I took your additional point.]
I take these suggestions as a way Daniel Craig can return as Bond. I think . Bless your hearts regardless.
Anyway that's not the point, the point is that the third act has some excellent action, but messes up the drama. Nomi being killed by either Safin or the Scientist, would have upped the ante, and made much more sense.
Now, they put themselves in a corner with the killing of Leiter, this storyline has it's own arc, but IMHO not as satisfying as if they decided Nomi would die instead.
I think the character of Nomi serves no purpose, she doesn't help in the forest, she barely compete with Bond, she's just there as a nod to then current feminism trends.
This part of the film is the one that has gotten old instantly due to the delays in the release.
This won't age well, I find it boring already on replays.
The "woke Ghostbusters film". "Feminism trends." You have it all figured out, haven't you? The mean, evil women will come to get you, is that it?
Wasn’t her whole thing that she wanted to come to Matera to see if he can leave his past behind without constantly looking over his shoulder and by the time he stands in the hotel room bloodied and beaten and is pulling her after him the answer is a pretty resounding no? Even if it isn’t his fault.
Come to think of it, Lea Seydoux could have played the train station scene much more hard edged in a „get away from me and my unborn child“-way. Arguably she could have done that for her entire performance. It is remarkable how this man really only ever brings her incredible trauma and yet she still seems completely helpless against his charms.
To be fair, quite a few people in real life have commented to me about the 'black woman 007' in the film, and how it's a pretty obvious 'woke' inclusion. It doesn't bother me in the slightest, I quite like the character, but I think most people can see it for what it is. She doesn't exactly have any involvement in the plot, does she?
I've got no anti-woke agenda, but you can't say the Bond franchise isn't following current trends with their casting and plot lines. Don't expect another Kananga or Wint and Kidd anytime soon,
A woman who is not impressed by Bond in the slightest is as old as GF. A character that doesn't exactly move the plot forward... I guess that's more or less always been a staple of the series, no? But she happens to be black, so... "WOKE"! Let the mayhem commence. If she'd been a Molly Warmflash type, hey, just another good looking lass in the film, yeah, great. But Nomi is black, therefore there's an agenda, it's political, there's obviously a "reason". Let's try this for a change:
Bond retired.
Someone else got the number.
If people want to reduce that someone to her sex and colour, then that's on them. I guess some would prefer to return to "Quarrel, fetch my shoes!", like in the "good" old days...
See, this is the problem with commenting on anything to do with the current trend of inclusion in the media these days. There's always someone on-line playing 'spot the racist'. It's a very fashionable sport.
As I said, I like the character, and I never said that they shouldn't have included the character in the film. But to deny that a black woman 007, a gay Q, black Felix or a black action-secretary Moneypenny isn't all part of current inclusion trends is a bit naïve. And it's good, there should be such changes which reflect the changes in society. But we should at least be allowed to recognise and comment on this without someone accusing you of winching the swastika up the pole.
You mention Q being gay. The very fact carries no narrative weight and Wishaw is a gay man so that's not so different from Stephen Fry playing a gay man in V For Vendetta. If they really wanted to go 'inclusive' in a heavy-handed way, they could have made a big point of Q being gay, possibly included the other guy and started a conversation about his sexual preferences too. A passing comment that "He'll be here soon" is no more "inclusive" than having a gay couple hold hands in the background of an outdoors scene.
Felix is black, yes, in fact, he has been since 2006, as has Moneypenny since 2012. But both Wright and Harris are accomplished, beloved actors who may have been cast for purely artistic reasons rather than because they "represent". (Wright will play the first black Gordon in The Batman. Is DC pushing for an agenda too? Was DC pushing for an agenda when they cast Eartha Kitt in the '60s? Or could it be that people simply, I don't know, like the actors?) Was NSNA pushing an inclusive agenda with the first black Felix nearly 40 years ago?
So, we're back at Nomi. She's a woman with an attitude and she's black. What I found surprising, to be honest, is how little she steps on Bond's toes. For all the fuss about her, she's fairly uncompetitive and unthreatening towards Bond. Relatively quickly does she seem to accept his reinstatement as 007. And while she helps him a little at the end, he does all the heavy lifting during the climax. If I didn't know any better, I'd call her a subservient character rather than another case of the infamous "Bond's equal" we've been hearing about from Bond women since nineteen-forever. If Nomi is supposed to go for women empowerment or whatever, the screenwriters did an awful job. Paloma scores better in that department: she effortlessly resists Bond's charms and kicks some serious ass even with only a handful of training sessions behind her. If any woman in this film comes close to neutering Bond, it's her. Yet she's one of the more beloved elements in the entire film.
Lastly, I'm not saying, @ColonelAdamski, that they couldn't go over-the-top with inclusion if they really wanted to. Of course, they could. But that would mean spitting one Internet hysteria after the other in our face, and NTTD doesn't do that, at least not in my opinion. I walked in a tad worried, if you must know, but I was surprised how little "inclusive" this film actually is. I'd say it's fairly neutral, for the most part.
If Eon ever tries to revisit the problematic LALD story, a black Felix might be interesting...
I'm reading LALD now for the first time, and that would be a really interesting way to revisit that story in film if they wanted to!