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Jon Stewart (black) and Hal Jordan (white) are 2 different Green Lanterns, not one and the same. However, we can use Nick Fury as an example, he was a white guy in a comic book:
David Hasselhoff played Fury in the 1998 film.
Then Nick Fury get played by Samuel L. Jackson:
The Ultimate Nick Fury, they used Sam Jackson's look for that comic series:
I don't see anybody complaining about Nick Fury going from White to black. But for Bond, I don't know. How are we supposed to explain to the audience how Bond became Black that means rewriting James' parent history , Andrew Bond (Bond father) is now what, a British Nigerian or Jamaican and his mother, Monique Delacroix is now what a Swiss-born African whose parent immigrated to Switzerland from a french speaking African country (Mali, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Zaire) or Haiti:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_immigrants_to_Switzerland
Is that even plausible, and also if Bond turn black, that's going to stir up some race joke like one person would say "oh I'm sure a black Bond would really please the girl with his big "you know what'" and another person say "the Bond girl will love Bond's big...."
My take on this: I don't know.
Sure there will always be a white actor who could play Bond well. But if a black actor did a better job than a white actor in auditions, and showed he understood the character more and could do a better job, wouldn't you prefer the black actor to get the part?
I know your a Fleming purist @jetsetwilly and I appreciate where you're coming from but I don't agree.
It's close to Fleming now, but in the Moore, Brosnan and for some of the Connery era it wasn't. So it has evolved away from the books in the past and it could do again in the future.
Also, Craig proved that you could play a close to Fleming Bond while looking fairly different (the short blonde hair and the fact that he was ripped, Fleming thought Connery was too buff), etc.
Would you rather have a white actor who played Bond that way, or a black actor who played Bond in a Dalts/Craig type, close to Fleming way?
This is not a racist issue either. It's just basic common sense. The main character which Fleming wrote is white British who thinks the Empire still exists, with all the baggage that carries with it. Change the skin colour, and there will be different baggage which comes with the character.
The character of Bond has nothing remotely to do with Green Lantern or any other DC comic BS. It is completely irrelevant to the debate.
With Moore and Brozza you still had the basic essentials of the traditionalist, Imperialist, Empire-waving, upper-class British snobby character which is essentially what Bond is. That has never remotely changed, throughout 50 years!
Craig still passes for an upper-class British Imperialist stuck in the past, despite the blonde hair.
A black actor playing a tough guy in a seious way is great in an action movie. I'm all for it, but suddenly call him James Bond, then this won't be Fleming's character anymore.
We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one then. Although I think even if you're dead set against the idea, boycotting the franchise if it happens a bit extreme (saying that though I'd do the same if Bond became a woman).
Sorry boys and girls.
Please coninue in the existing thread...if you have to. I feel this is ground we've walked back and forth before. And always come up with the same answer.
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