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https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jun/28/researchers-find-culture-of-nepotism-in-british-film-industry
That's probably why she's backing it. I actually think this is really cool of her, helping others who want to get into the industry but who don't have the advantages in life that she had and promoting greater diversity too. If more well off people did that across all walks of life then the world would be a better place. Fair play to her, I always liked her don't get me wrong (well as much as you can like any celebrity you don't actually know) but I really have a newfound respect for her after reading that.
Interesting.
Well we have had Harris, Wright, Salmon & Dench in the recent Bond films, so we're doing alright there. Perhaps it's time for someone from an Indian or Chinese background to show up at MI6.
Indeed. And clearly doing her bit to put a stop to this by hiring Gregg Wilson who obviously got the job entirely on merit.
I think this is an issue to be honest. Bond as a series has displayed a shocking lack of diversity and the producers attempts to address it seems to extend solely to making another of the recurring allies black.
Bond really should be more diverse series than any other. He goes all over the world and yet almost always seems to find himself interacting with white Europeans, Brits and Americans. In fact the series sometimes goes out of the way to keep it that away: there's the exiled Afghan prince who's also a white Frenchman, or the time Bond went up against North Korea which of course coincided with a plot involving literal whitewashing.
I know some will hate this post because I'm advocating diversity for the sake of it (funnily enough the whole "as long as there's a good story reason" line never comes up when casting a straight white role) but Bond should and could be setting a real example. With all the globe trotting the series does, it has no excuse not to be more diverse than it has been up to this point. Lets see the different cultures of these exotic locations past money shots of exotic landmarks and stereotypical locals. We've gotten away from outright racism (LALD, OP) and the Craig era has steered clear of whitewashing roles but the roles there still, for the most part, remain white. 24 films into this globe trotting franchise and there's been one film with a non white main villain. One. There's also been two films with a female main villain and even those are up for debate (FRWL and TWINE). Off the top of my head, there have been six non white Bond girls in the franchise (the YOLT girls, Rosie, Wai Lin, Jinx, Lupe).
For a franchise that's lasted 50 years and has globe trotting as one of its selling points, it isn't good enough imo.
Yawn.
I don't see anyone whingeing that King Fu films always feature Chinese actors or the lack of opportunity in Bollywood for white actors from Tunbridge Wells but for some reason (yet to be explained to me) Bond would automatically be immeasurably better if all the cast came from different continents and half were women and the other half gay.
You're could have Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington on the cast but if the script is by P&W it's still going to be rubbish.
It's good to see them acknowledge a possible problem in the industry.
Although I'm not necessarily in favour of diversity for the sake of it, I agree that Bond can set an example. I think they've done a pretty good job overall though.
Certainly when he is on location somewhere they should use the local talent where possible. I realize Jourdan was not Afghani, but he was age appropriate for Moore, & was quite a charismatic villain (I think that should be the more important criteria). We also had the trio of Bedi, Amritraj & Moses for a more representative flavour in OP. They had Art Malik (great actor) in TLD as well.
The Craig films have had a bit of a Euro tinge to them, truth be told (primarily Nordic, French and Spanish). I'm not complaining though as the performances have been quite good overall.
We haven't had too many Chinese actors/actresses in major parts in Bond films, at least that I can recall (Yeoh is Malay). Same goes for Indian actresses. Both their film industries are huge, so I am sure the talent is there.
When you say the franchise should be an setting an example, an example of what? If Bond isn't good enough, what isn't it good enough at being? You say the franchise lacks diversity, but only if you choose to define "diversity" solely in terms of race, which seems to me to be quite an arbitrary metric.
Where do I state that? They are a genre of movie just like Bond is. Thus where is the outrage at Shaolin monks always being played by Chinese actors or no black actors featuring in the final big song and dance number in a Bollywood film? These types of films are shockingly uninclusive in their casting but where are the people on soapboxes to put an end to such discrimination?
Bond inhabits a world of privilege and wealth based largely in Europe. Quel surprise then that most of the characters are white. But that's down to history and global politics not Bond films being racist.
As for the point where are all the nonwhite and female Bond villains: well the producers are just trying to base the films in reality because as everyone knows all middle aged white men are evil.
Quite.
Abitrary is the word. I'm not sure what having an 80% black cast would achieve (apart from giving more work to jobbing black actors).
Is the point of a Bond film just so actors from minorities can look at the screen and think 'If that guy can play second henchman I can also make it in the film business?'
Would've thought looking up to people like Denzel, Morgan Freeman, Sam Jackson, Viola Davis, Spike Lee or Steve McQueen would provide more inspiration than small parts in Bond films being filled by minorities as a box ticking excercise.
+2
Yes, there are some impatient people on here!
A Bond Universe
Please see previous posts.
I'm saying Bond isn't good enough at representing different races, which wouldn't be an issue if the series didn't make a point of going to different countries all the time. It's actually fairly progressive in a lot of ways. Bond girls being one example, mostly strong female characters from the beginning, although more female villains would be a nice change. But what I find a bit troubling is how, when it comes to the main cast, Bond always finds himself surrounded by white faces no matter where in the world he is. To use a recent example: Severine, victim of the Macau sex trade but did they get an Asian actress to play her? Nah. A French actress will do. Or how about the time Bond was sent to India to investigate an unusually white Afghan prince. Or the time he was sent after a North Korean colonel who conviniently turned himself into a white man after the first fifteen minutes.
I want Bond to set an example when it comes to being culturally and ethnically diverse because with all the globe trotting he does, it has the perfect platform to do so without it coming across as really forced. How about we actually get a sense of the different cultures of these places (some of the earlier films were better at this) instead of just moneyshots of the tourist locations, and have Bond actually interact with people from there? That'd be a nice start.
I'm not saying that every film needs to be a melting pot for the sake of it but we've had one non white villain in a series of 24 films that goes all over the world, even when the scripts have called for one of a different ethnicity (Chinese? Lets cast a white guy. Afghan? That French guy suits the role). I can't be the only one who thinks that's an issue. If a large portion of Bond 25 for example is set in Japan than how about a Japanese Bond girl or a Japanese villain, or both? Don't think that's too much to ask for. More often than not the natives of the country Bond's visiting seem to be restricted to bit parts and supporting roles at best.
Yes, maybe all those Cary Grant roles should have been given to an actual American! And they gave the role of Jack Bauer to an Anglo-Canadian!
Look with each news item I like to discus it.
Hear hear. And who has ever PROVED diversity, in any respect other than cuisine and possibly music, is a good thing? Ultimately, the Left's full court press for diversity is a political ploy meant to eradicate the power of whites in the civilization they built, and to hand that power to people who, as often as not, are inimical to that civilization. To the extent that the Bond films become a multiculti slurry, they cease being genuine Bond.
Diversity is just a another word for racism.
You seem to have a solid grasp of whats going on.
To be specific, this latest story, like all the others, is based on a tweet by Jeff Sneider of The Tracking Board website. Sneider's tweet was referenced a few pages ago on this thread. Other entertainment websites (Movies. Birth. Death. among them) have been citing Sneider the past 2-3 days.