Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

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  • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

    I love how if you don't agree with the fact that Elba should be Bond you're automatically an idiot. You can almost taste the irony.

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    • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

      I'm not commenting on Elba or calling anyone "idiot," I'm just asking about Bond. If it destroys his character so fundamentally, it should be easy to point to one vital character trait we'd lose by making him black. What do we lose?

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      • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

        Originally posted by dmizzo View Post
        I'm not commenting on Elba or calling anyone "idiot," I'm just asking about Bond. If it destroys his character so fundamentally, it should be easy to point to one vital character trait we'd lose by making him black. What do we lose?
        Again, you'd lose the character himself. James Bond is not like John McLane or Rocky or Neo or any other action hero that anyone talented enough can play in a remake/reboot. Bond is associated with a specific culture and heritage, and that's Anglo in nature. A black actor can play John McLane in a Die Hard reboot, or Spiderman or Neo or The Terminator or any other character that wasn't born of a specific culture.

        But Bond is different. He's a product of Ian Fleming's Anglo sensibilities: his psyche, his sense of honor, his religious views, his attitude towards England, etc. are all bound up in his heritage. Anyone who's read the books knows this. There's a reason why the non-Anglo Bonds (Connery and Brosnan) nevertheless adhered to the PORTRAYAL of Bond as Anglo, and you just couldn't do this with someone like Elba.

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        • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

          No one listens to mgwriter. Did I not say this thread would only get worse? maybe I can help push this thing toward lockdown status, before people really start to offend.

          -What would happen if they made the character Felix Lighter non-white? Would it ruin the franchise?

          -What if they made M a woman? would it ruin the franchise?

          But if Bond became black, certain more conservative types will stop supporting the francise for whatever reason (doesn't matter) and then the blame would fall on Elba and he deserves much better than that. He deserves his own franchise but as yet, the powers that be don't want to make one.

          -What if they made Cleopatra (most beautiful woman of her time) nonwhite? We all know she was white, Elizabeth Taylor played the role. It's 125 degrees in the shade over there and someone of Taylor's complexion just happens to come from there? Did she ruin the character because of her skin color? Did she help the character because of her skin color?

          -What if they cast the part of Moses as a darker complexion nonwhite? would that change the nature of historical events?

          -What if Jesus had blond hair blue eyes and fair skin? that's how he's often depicted. Did changing the projected image of Jesus change the power structure surrounding the Christian religion? Would lighter complexion Christians have trouble worshipping a darker complexion god? Would certain Bond fans have trouble watching a darker complexion 007?

          -What if the Moors were played be Caucasians who looked more like Vikings? Would that ruin their story/change history?

          One thing no one will admit, but that history tells us is that powerful black men make certain types of people uncomfortable. Elba does have a commanding, power presence and yes he is black, and at times that might work against him in terms of casting. Generally, certain types of people will not support movies nor actors who make them feel uncomfortable or less than powerful since they've grown accustomed to having their own likeness automatically placed in a position of power as a norm in popular entertainment.

          Hope this thread closes soon, before I have to get specific...then again, I can just stop looking in here. I'll try my best to do that.

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          • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

            I would be fine with a black Bond. I nominate, however, two other incredible actors who happen to be black: Blair Underwood, or Chiwetel Ejiofor (from Red Belt). A Bond with acting chops! Like the original (Mr. Connery).

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            • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

              Originally posted by entlassen View Post
              Again, you'd lose the character himself. James Bond is not like John McLane or Rocky or Neo or any other action hero that anyone talented enough can play in a remake/reboot. Bond is associated with a specific culture and heritage, and that's Anglo in nature. A black actor can play John McLane in a Die Hard reboot, or Spiderman or Neo or The Terminator or any other character that wasn't born of a specific culture.

              But Bond is different. He's a product of Ian Fleming's Anglo sensibilities: his psyche, his sense of honor, his religious views, his attitude towards England, etc. are all bound up in his heritage. Anyone who's read the books knows this. There's a reason why the non-Anglo Bonds (Connery and Brosnan) nevertheless adhered to the PORTRAYAL of Bond as Anglo, and you just couldn't do this with someone like Elba.
              Your statements come off as offensive. A black Englishman would or could possess the qualities of honor, religion, duty, patriotism, culture, etc. just as much as any white Englishman would or could.
              "The Hollywood film business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Hunter S Thompson

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              • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

                Originally posted by entlassen View Post
                Again, you'd lose the character himself. James Bond is not like John McLane or Rocky or Neo or any other action hero that anyone talented enough can play in a remake/reboot. Bond is associated with a specific culture and heritage, and that's Anglo in nature. A black actor can play John McLane in a Die Hard reboot, or Spiderman or Neo or The Terminator or any other character that wasn't born of a specific culture.

                But Bond is different. He's a product of Ian Fleming's Anglo sensibilities: his psyche, his sense of honor, his religious views, his attitude towards England, etc. are all bound up in his heritage. Anyone who's read the books knows this. There's a reason why the non-Anglo Bonds (Connery and Brosnan) nevertheless adhered to the PORTRAYAL of Bond as Anglo, and you just couldn't do this with someone like Elba.
                Yeah, I'm sorry, but those characteristics have nothing to do with color. Black British men can have the same attitude toward England as Bond. They can have honor and religion like anyone. I can't think of anything that a white Bond could do that a black Bond couldn't. I can't think of any attitude or reaction a white Bond could have that a black Bond couldn't.

                Apparently, neither can you.

                One could certainly craft a James Bond story that deals with race, but none of the modern movies deal with it in a meaningful way. Live and Let Die probably comes closest - and if you were proposing a faithful adaption of its plot, I'd argue that a black Bond would require changes. But for the Craig Bonds, for new stories that take place in the 21st century, Idris Elba can do everything a white actor can do. If you have any specific examples of things I've overlooked, please speak up. I'd be curious to hear them.

                Saying that casting a Black actor destroys James Bond for you is not the same thing as saying it destroys James Bond, the character. As writers, I think it's important to recognize the distinction.

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                • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

                  Originally posted by entlassen View Post
                  Anyone who's read the books knows this.
                  Btw, I've read the books. I don't agree with your assessment. So maybe stop speaking for everyone?

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                  • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

                    If it's Ok for Bond to be black, why not Japanese? or Latino? Tai? Maybe it would be cool to see that martial arts freak from Ong Bak play Bond? Uh... no.

                    Obviously, character background is a very important factor in casting decisions. I'd rather see Elba play a CIA superspy in a new, ORIGINAL film franchise with a distinct, American backstory. I already have a title: Superstrike.
                    I'm never wrong. Reality is just stubborn.

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                    • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

                      This thread is ****ed up. I can't tell the bigotry apart from what I hope is trolling.
                      Ring-a-ding-ding, baby.

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                      • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

                        Originally posted by FoxHound View Post
                        If it's Ok for Bond to be black, why not Japanese? or Latino? Tai? Maybe it would be cool to see that martial arts freak from Ong Bak play Bond? Uh... no.

                        Obviously, character background is a very important factor in casting decisions. I'd rather see Elba play a CIA superspy in a new, ORIGINAL film franchise with a distinct, American backstory. I already have a title: Superstrike.
                        You realize Elba is British, not American, right?

                        To my knowledge (please link if I'm wrong), no one affiliated with the franchise has suggested an actor of Japanese or Latino descent, so I'm not sure what your comment has to do with the discussion. Turning James Bond into an Ong Bak style martial artist would clearly change the character in a fundamental way, but again, no one here has pointed out a single thing that would need to change with a black, British actor.

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                        • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

                          Will Idris Elba Be the Next James Bond?

                          http://entertainment.time.com/2012/1...xt-james-bond/

                          At a recent New York City press event for the upcoming James Bond film Skyfall, actress Noamie Harris, who plays Bond's fellow agent Eve, said that there was no discussion on set of the various actors' races and that actresses of several different racial backgrounds auditioned for the part she ended up playing. And now it looks like those race-blind casting choices may go even further for the franchise: in an interview with The Huffington Post that was published this week, Harris said that the British actor Idris Elba-with whom Harris recently filmed Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, in which she and Elba play Winnie and Nelson Mandela-has been in talks to play James Bond. Elba told Harris that he had spoken to Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, she said.

                          I'm not sure we need much more than that...
                          "Write every day. Don't quit. The rest is all bullshit." - Brian Koppelman

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                          • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

                            Originally posted by dmizzo View Post
                            I'm not commenting on Elba or calling anyone "idiot," I'm just asking about Bond. If it destroys his character so fundamentally, it should be easy to point to one vital character trait we'd lose by making him black. What do we lose?
                            I called people idiots. And I meant it.

                            Some of the arguments in here are so off base, they're AWOL. Idris Elba fulfills every one of the Bond criteria... like BDZ said, he's cool, calm, suave, fit... the dude is just a bad ass, and it's time the world at large took notice.

                            The echoed argument against him as Bond in this thread is the fact that Bond is "anglo." It's beyond retarded. As others have said... Idris can wear a tux, he can order a martini, he can bed the Bond Girls, he can fire a gun, drive a dope car, run and jump off high ****...

                            What's the problem again? Oh yeah... he has more of a dark pigmentation in his skin than other dudes who played the character.

                            Gimme a break.

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                            • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

                              For the record I'm coming down in the middle on this. One side is being over-protective towards Bond and the other is being too sensitive over what they percieve to be racism. Any good points made in this thread are going to get drowned out.

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                              • Re: Idris Elba: The First Black James Bond???

                                The whole point of Bond is that he's compensating. If you make him black and give him a huge cock, it ruins his character.

                                White power.
                                QUESTICLES -- It's about balls on a mission.

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