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Villain and Henchmen Deaths in LALD?
It's been said by some commentators (especially in the 2002 Virgin Books book Bond Films by Jim Smith and Stephen Lavington) that the black villains all meet their commupence in one way or other at the hands of James Bond, giving out a not-very-palatable message to black audiences at the time and even since then. Quoted below is the critical passage relevant to this thread:
"The most prominent - for some the most problematic - Bond film in this respect is Live and Let Die. Some find it inherently racist that the principal villain is black., and the hero is white. Also dubious is the presentation of Solitaire - a young white girl imprisoned by, and in the power of, these villains who is saved by Bond. This reading, however, is slightly reductive. The part of Solitaire was written for a blavck woman (screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz wanted Diana Ross cast) and a white actress was only hired because Uniited Artists made clear to Eon that it would be difficult for them to sell a picture with a white leading man and a black leadiing lady in several American states.
[...]
The key problem that many have - Bond's victory over Kananga - is easy to explain. The villain ultimately loses, like so many before him, because he is up against James Bond. Bond is the hero it's his movie. End of story."
(Quoted from 'Racism?: Jim Smith and Stephen Lavington, 'Take this honky out and waste him.', Bond Films, (Virgin Film, Virgin Books, London 2002), pp. 127-128.
I believe that this critical line could not be further from the truth if it tried to be. An analysis of all of the villain deaths in LALD will bare this out:
Dr Kananga - overinflated and then blown up with a gas pellet from a shark gun
Tee Hee - disarmed by being thrown from train window to his death due to failure of steel hook for arm
Whisper - knocked inside a heroin watertight container and then locked inside of it - demise or otherwise besides this unknown. May still be in the container some 40 years on, 1973-2013.
Rosie Carver - Rogue CIA agent shot dead by her own side's scarecrow face gun.
Adam - has petrol thrown in his eyes and dies when his speedboat hits a shipwreck
Baron Samedi - thrown into a coffin of snakes to his seeming death, but he reappears on the cowcatcher of the train Bond and Solitaire are on, laughing straight at the camera and lifting his top hat - there was talk of this character returning in a later film a la Jaws. God of Cemetaries and the Undead so his resurrection may be explained by this. (?)
Taxi Cab Driver - in Harlem and New Orleans - survives.
This hardly seems to be excessive - both Whisper and Baron Samedi appear to have survived - I assume this was done as a sop to film audiences who didn't want the whitre James Bond to completely vanquish the black villains that he came up against in LALD.
I'd really love to hear your views on this subject area, as always.
"The most prominent - for some the most problematic - Bond film in this respect is Live and Let Die. Some find it inherently racist that the principal villain is black., and the hero is white. Also dubious is the presentation of Solitaire - a young white girl imprisoned by, and in the power of, these villains who is saved by Bond. This reading, however, is slightly reductive. The part of Solitaire was written for a blavck woman (screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz wanted Diana Ross cast) and a white actress was only hired because Uniited Artists made clear to Eon that it would be difficult for them to sell a picture with a white leading man and a black leadiing lady in several American states.
[...]
The key problem that many have - Bond's victory over Kananga - is easy to explain. The villain ultimately loses, like so many before him, because he is up against James Bond. Bond is the hero it's his movie. End of story."
(Quoted from 'Racism?: Jim Smith and Stephen Lavington, 'Take this honky out and waste him.', Bond Films, (Virgin Film, Virgin Books, London 2002), pp. 127-128.
I believe that this critical line could not be further from the truth if it tried to be. An analysis of all of the villain deaths in LALD will bare this out:
Dr Kananga - overinflated and then blown up with a gas pellet from a shark gun
Tee Hee - disarmed by being thrown from train window to his death due to failure of steel hook for arm
Whisper - knocked inside a heroin watertight container and then locked inside of it - demise or otherwise besides this unknown. May still be in the container some 40 years on, 1973-2013.
Rosie Carver - Rogue CIA agent shot dead by her own side's scarecrow face gun.
Adam - has petrol thrown in his eyes and dies when his speedboat hits a shipwreck
Baron Samedi - thrown into a coffin of snakes to his seeming death, but he reappears on the cowcatcher of the train Bond and Solitaire are on, laughing straight at the camera and lifting his top hat - there was talk of this character returning in a later film a la Jaws. God of Cemetaries and the Undead so his resurrection may be explained by this. (?)
Taxi Cab Driver - in Harlem and New Orleans - survives.
This hardly seems to be excessive - both Whisper and Baron Samedi appear to have survived - I assume this was done as a sop to film audiences who didn't want the whitre James Bond to completely vanquish the black villains that he came up against in LALD.
I'd really love to hear your views on this subject area, as always.
This discussion has been closed.
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B) Here.
C) Locked.