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Comments
Ordinarily, I'd have said no to his casting, though after watching Luthor, my immediate though was..."Damn, this guy would make a good Bond."
With that said, he would be getting a little long in the tooth by the time Daniel steps down, though as they say "black don't crack."
Always enjoy your learned and erudite contributions to the humble board musings.
As I suggested earlier Bond must be cast in the Fleming mold.
Anything else is insanity, or worse, PC run amok...to wit Amy Pascal at Sony, who hasn't a clue when it comes to what Bond is all about.
But as I said earlier, eventually the Bond persona will be thrown wide open, much like Holmes and other cultural icons, and we'll see all sorts of different takes on Bond.
The market will decide what flies.
Somehow I think Bond as presented by Fleming will always dominate the Bond landscape
There really isn't much latitude with this character.
Bond is what he is.
It's blatant racism against the forum rules?
Say what you have to say, like a big boy, and stop trying to censor others who have been on these boards, a hell of a lot longer than, since you turned up in full whine.
All racial considerations aside, Idris Elba is too old for Bond. I would also venture too famous now.
Oh and one more thing the Shaft comparison does work. For one thing Shaft has been played by two actors.
Bond has proven more durable as a franchise that's why he's been played by 6 (with due deference to Barry Nelson, David Niven, Bob Holness etc).
Also you seem to be happy comparing apples and oranges in attempt to prove your point. Why are you defining Shaft as 'black private dick' but Bond as 'British secret agent'?
Seems like its fine to define Shaft by his race but not Bond? Why not drying Shaft as 'American private dick' or Bond as 'white secret agent'?
In 2014 it's also very possible to have a white man from the same background as Shaft.
If you are in favour of a black Bond then you have to be happy to accept a white Shaft as well. Can't have one rule for one and one for the other.
Just out of interest can anyone shed any light on whether people would be up in arms if a white man was cast as Shaft?
So it is the same with Bond: I could see a non-White playing him, as long as he looks like Bond. Jason Isaacs is Jewish, would that count as non White? A few years ago, he would have been ideal. Now he is too old.
Again, you can't say it without saying like a bigot, but would I prefer Bond to stay white? Yes. Would I abandon the series and never watch it if a black man played Bond? Absolutely not. It's not something I want, per se, but it's not something I would hate, either. I'd give it a shot. Hell, we weathered through DAD, nothing could be worse than that!
The answer then, is indubitably, yes. A non-white can no more play Bond than a woman can play Superman.
You and I are going to have to disagree on this. I don't think a non-white (no matter what ethnicity) should be excluded from consideration.
I'm not advocating for him, as anyone who has read my posts on this issue can see, but I think it would be wrong to exclude them from consideration.
The way I posed the question is critical.
However, there has also been a conscious effort to bring back as much of the old Fleming Bond characteristics and flavour from the books, and update it to modern times. This has been easier to do with modernising characters around Bond (Moneypenny and Felix), without doing too much to Bond himself.
Turning Bond black for the sake of it, whether it is for a political agenda, or some exec at Sony thinks the next Bond actor should be black and not white, or whether there is a black actor out there that has the acting chops, charisma, coolness and ruggedness which beats every other white English actor currently available on the market (highly unlikely), the move will be seen as very controversial across the globe, and cause huge debate which will no doubt end up with pissed off fans being called racist, and is a totally unnecessary thing to do the franchise. Why would you change his colour just because you can? Look what this subject does to this forum every time it is brought up? Think what it will do on a larger scale if it actually happened. It would open up all sorts of debates, and would always eventually end up branding someone racist.
I personally don't want to see Bond black, because I am a Fleming purist, and I want to see as much of Fleming's original creation on screen as possible, even in today's modern era of James Bond. Dalton probably came closest to it, but to me Craig still embodies the essence of Fleming's old-fashioned 50's creation, even if a black actor could also have played Bond in CR, QoS and SF.
See it, flag it, we'll deal with it.
And to answer your question, yes I would be up in arms if the next Shaft film was played by a white actor, because Shaft was originally written as a black character. Why would you want to change him, just because it is 2014, and because you can?
Does this make me racist against white people?
Imagine how it would be if this was the reality for the next Bond. It would split the Bond fan-base divide far more than Craig's casting ever did in 2005. I could imagine every thread turning into a nasty, heated attack from all sides, with the racism card being dealt at the drop of a hat, with mods frequently issuing warnings and closing threads left, right and centre.
Yes, maybe the producers are trying to tell us something, too! :)
Also isn't this picture in Elba's response enough to tell you that Elba is too old to be in his first Bond movie in around five years time.
I would rather see a black Bond than one with a zimmer frame invented by Q.
No ones saying we should have one or the other and there are plenty white British actors who could play Bond but it doesn't mean we're only gonna have a black Bond when we run out of white British actors.
Quick note: (I'm not supporting Elba at all but i am supporting the idea of having a much younger black actor)
If they find a black actor whose better than all the white actors, then they're gonna choose him. In summary (this isn't directed at you @jetsetwilly btw) his colour shouldn't even be an issue or even debated, but to be honest I am part of a fandom that had people who thought Bond being a blonde was a problem.
People are called racist on here when they are. Simple as that. Most if not all forum members suggesting a black Bond is possible want Bond to remain as Fleming intended, white. The only people who lose their shit are the bigots who can't deal with this conversation.
As for a young black English actor who is a far better choice than any other white male
English actor available on the market, you know that is never going to happen.
The acting pool is a never-ending supply of talent - always has been, and always will be.