Octoberist
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- Joined
- May 13, 2005
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Night Manger is awesome.
There are a lot of urban legends regarding who Ian Fleming wanted to play Bond, so I'm not sure what to believe anymore. I've heard Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, and David Niven as being the main names that are usually mentioned in terms of who Fleming wanted. Lee probably makes the most sense given his relation to Fleming and his real life work in espionage.
There are a lot of urban legends regarding who Ian Fleming wanted to play Bond, so I'm not sure what to believe anymore. I've heard Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, and David Niven as being the main names that are usually mentioned in terms of who Fleming wanted. Lee probably makes the most sense given his relation to Fleming and his real life work in espionage.
I'd be fine with Cavill. The guy has charm and charisma, when they let him (looking at you Zack Snyder).
It's hard for me to picture Christopher Lee in sex scenes.
There are a lot of urban legends regarding who Ian Fleming wanted to play Bond, so I'm not sure what to believe anymore. I've heard Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, and David Niven as being the main names that are usually mentioned in terms of who Fleming wanted. Lee probably makes the most sense given his relation to Fleming and his real life work in espionage.
I still really like Dan Stevens for the role. He is handsome and charismatic, yet also can have the look of an ice cold killer.
Tom Hiddleston is a fantastic actor who can be dashing yet dangerous.
Henry Cavill is completely wasted as Snyder's miserable and cynical version of Superman. He can be charming with that great smile of his... but he's also got a steely look to him, kind of like Dalton actually.
It would be cool if he where any of those. There's only one thing James Bond has to be and that's British, or at the very least, Australian, I guess.
James Bond isn't just a white man. James Bond is the walking embodiment of white supremacy/hegemony and the British Empire.
- He can go anywhere in the world and be accepted.
- Everywhere he goes he's in control or has access to anything he wants.
- He has sex with any woman he wants regardless of where or what she is. "Bond Girls" come in all ethnicities (note how no one complains about or questions that).
- He can be as good if not better at a thing than the person born into it or whose culture its from.
- He operates at the behest of his country so anything he does is a representation of that country's might and strength.
James Bond IS white supremacy. Its easy for us to buy into the character because thats all we've seen for the last few hundred years. White men go anywhere in the world and do anything and be great at it. That's what European and American history consists of.. recounting tales and events of this very thing. We've been conditioned to accept this. That's why if you make that particular character a nonwhite person you can't buy it. Not just because its derivative but because a black, brown or asian man doing what that character does just isn't possible in reality or easily acceptable in fantasy.
In a story James Bond can waltz into the darkest parts of Asia, Africa or South America and barely raise an eyebrow. And even where he would stick out like a sore thumb there's ALWAYS some helper (usually female) willing to help him gain access there. No one calls bs on it because there is real life precedent for that. White men have gone all over the world and gained access to places you wouldn't think they would have been able to usually with the assistance of some native/indigenous person. There is very little real life precedent of some nonwhite person gaining access to anywhere in Europe. Or some nonwhite man coming in and big footing his way around European countries have sex with any white woman he comes across. If that did happen its not something that's freely told and made mandatory info we need to know.
Bond stories can take place anywhere but usually happen in Europe, does anyone really believe a black Bond is going skulking around some classified facility in Germany or Finland or Russia and people just NOT notice the black guy no matter how fluent in the language he is?? And even with a helper its hard to believe that some nonwhite person would gain access to any country in Europe or any foreign country really. It would stretch our suspension of disbelief too far. Which is messed up because that means we could easier believe a white man can fly than believe a black/brown or Asian man can gain access to a villain's nuclear facility in East Germany. If Bond were to become nonwhite the basis of the story and world he operates in would need to be changed.
Consider Black Panther. Most white superheroes come from places that if they have a fictional name are just stand-ins for real places, like Gotham and Metropolis are stand-ins for New York. And even if they do come from a truly fictional place like Krypton they usually don't stay there long as they spent nearly all of their time or lives in a real place. Kal El left Krypton as a baby and grew up in real world real white Kansas. Namor or Aquaman may come from some Atlantis like place under the seas but they spend much of their time in America. T'Challa comes from a place that isn't just fictional in name it has no real world basis whatsoever. At least not in the popular conscious of the public. The closest real world example for Wakanda would be Ethiopia but is it common knowledge that country was never fully colonized in African history? As far as the general public is concerned Wakanda is as fantastic and fictional as Krypton or Atlantis. And its the only way we can accept a superhero coming out of Africa.
Its the same deal for a nonwhite Bond, either we as an audience would have to ignore race as a factor or issue in this world, that the world is color blind and its perfectly acceptable for a nonwhite Bond to do the things white Bond usually does and behaves...
Or nonwhite Bond becomes some kind of allegory about race and perception and in a low-key way has to re-educate the world on the fact that nonwhite people can in fact do great and fantastic things...which kind of puts a damper on the mindless fun and adventure of the stories.
In any case a nonwhite 007 James Bond would be hard to accept for more reasons than just copying. Its the same issues if you make the character female since Bond clearly exists in a patriarchal world even tho he works for a Queen.
I see your point and if we were still in the 60s and 70s what you've written might stand but even in a modern age where racism still exists I don't see a MODERN interpretation of the character, if depicted as non white, would be a problem.
Bond, let's be specific, travels anywhere and everywhere without suspicion because he works for the British Government and usually uses his connections to get out of trouble again and again.
I agree that 007 should be a designation and james bond a code name that could be given to anyone who reached that level of operative in MI6..and bond is a operative not a spy...spies just gather info and come back...if bond shows up on the scene someone is going die..thats a special forces operative thats a hit man for the queen..lol...and as such anyone can do that role.I can see where you are coming from, but i personally don't agree with it. Sure, there is a whiff of arrogance to Bond, but people are more interested in how he uses his charm and wit to get out of tricky situations, i mean, i don't think i have ever watched a scene and thought 'he got away with it because he is white'. I would love the oo section to be expanded and we see more characters, i have always felt that the oo7 code is just that and that Bond was never the first oo7. what if as a young recruit, oo7 was the best spy and was tragically killed, leaving a gap Bond filled and took the oo7 code name.
I don't know, i think the world still shamefully has racist people, but to say bond is white supremacy is a bit harsh.
I agree that 007 should be a designation and james bond a code name that could be given to anyone who reached that level of operative in MI6..and bond is a operative not a spy...spies just gather info and come back...if bond shows up on the scene someone is going die..thats a special forces operative thats a hit man for the queen..lol...and as such anyone can do that role.
heres a thing..dr who has been on for decades...he's an alien who regenerates periodically..but so far in the history of the show has only regenerated from white male to white male..why?? why should dr who (gender neutral title) even be a male all the time?
the racial politics of how our societies function dictates how theses stories are presented.