A black 007?

[garbon]

I don't see why not considering it alone, its not like Bond's appearance is consistant otherwise.
But making him black just for the sake of making him black and trying to be all modern and cool and that....nah

What about the sake of picking a good actor?

[garbon]

Hey, garbo, as a black man on black issues, what are your opinions of race blind casting in general?  Basically what I'm asking for is that you fully validate my opinions.

Sorry but what you posted seems backwards to me.

Actually to expand on that - I think racial based casting only makes sense if you are either a) trying to highlight the effects of racism in the work (so it wouldn't make sense to have white women playing the black roles in The Help) or you're trying to get at a culture/sub-culture where it would be awkward if you didn't pick someone of that race (like Tyler Perry films).

So I guess that kind of goes with what you said though I'd say something like Nick Fury doesn't fit as his original backstory has no role in the film and as such his race doesn't really matter.

It is a little off putting in a historical film.  If FDR is played by a Pakistani actor, it's a bit strange.  I would make an exception with a Shakespearean play,  when you pick someone to play Henry V, you aren't actually playing the historical king, you are playing character a from the play who is essentially a distinct character.

You're right that'd be another reason, might be odd for a historical character - though who knows. I mean we've had lots of white people play characters that weren't exactly lily white.

[garbon]

I don't know. I guess because we have people like Meri who would be put out because he isn't white.

Oh, for fuck's sake. 

What I actually said was that I didn't know how I would feel about it. That it would take a leap, and that I would probably be fine with it.

I don't see how that contradicts what I said.  You'd be put out at first because a Bond who isn't white isn't Bond.

[garbon]

Well, Dench came on the scene in Goldeneye as someone stepping into the job. There was continuity then. They changed a lot more than just M's gender(or conversely, Bond's age) for Casino Royale. I'm not huge on reboots(though Batman was done quite well) and changing major characters' sex or race seems pretty gimmicky. However, I'm a sucker for spy thrillers and so would probably give it a chance.

It's gimmicky to pick someone good for the job if their race happens to be different from the previous people who filled the role?

[Josquius]

I don't see why not considering it alone, its not like Bond's appearance is consistant otherwise.
But making him black just for the sake of making him black and trying to be all modern and cool and that....nah

What about the sake of picking a good actor?

...would of course be fine.

[Eddie Teach]

It's gimmicky to pick someone good for the job if their race happens to be different from the previous people who filled the role?

Are they really good for the job if their appearance isn't what the audience is expecting from the role? I mean, you wouldn't cast Kathy Bates as Helen of Troy, or Arnold Schwarzenegger as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors.

There's nothing wrong with the concept of a British black superspy, but calling him James Bond is just an attempt to keep milking the name, a gimmick.

[garbon]

It's gimmicky to pick someone good for the job if their race happens to be different from the previous people who filled the role?

Are they really good for the job if their appearance isn't what the audience is expecting from the role? I mean, you wouldn't cast Kathy Bates as Helen of Troy, or Arnold Schwarzenegger as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors.

There's nothing wrong with the concept of a British black superspy, but calling him James Bond is just an attempt to keep milking the name, a gimmick.

So if he acts like James Bond but isn't white then he's not what the audience expects or wants from the role?

[Tonitrus]

It's gimmicky to pick someone good for the job if their race happens to be different from the previous people who filled the role?

Are they really good for the job if their appearance isn't what the audience is expecting from the role? I mean, you wouldn't cast Kathy Bates as Helen of Troy, or Arnold Schwarzenegger as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors.

There's nothing wrong with the concept of a British black superspy, but calling him James Bond is just an attempt to keep milking the name, a gimmick.

So if he acts like James Bond but isn't white then he's not what the audience expects or wants from the role?

Like the great moan of audience disappointment with Morgan Freeman playing God. 

[Fate]

How so, M?

Well, I think Idris Elba could totally pull it off. He has that suave, sexy attitude that makes Bond Bond. But James has always been white. So, it would take a big leap for me to accept someone who is not white for the role. Doesn't mean that I can't/won't make it, but it will still be a bit of a jolt on some level.

See, I'm not usually for race-blind casting, because a character's race usually informs their character to such a degree that by changing their race you are radically changing their character (you cannot, for example, just cast a black dude as Superman and say, "Diversity!", for example, although as times move forward, it's becoming less of an issue; and Nick Fury as a black guy is really problematic if you retain Nick Fury's original backstory, almost as problematic as making Captain America black; casting black Norse gods is actually, maybe ironically, far less quarrelsome because that modern kind of racism didn't exist on the Gothic steppe where those guys originated).

But James Bond?  Fuck it.  I've been waiting for years for the Bond movie where they finally pull the trigger on the concept and the Bond played by the marquee actor actually dies at the end of the first act, to be replaced by the new model 007.  James Bond is a caricature, or more charitably multiple characters filling one role, not an integral character to himself.

Also: I'd vote for Chiwetel Ejiofor.  I hear Idris Elba's name a lot, but I've never seen him in anything but Prometheus and that movie suuuuucked, and he really was not that great in it.  OH HE CAN DO A SOUTHERN ACCENT WHAT A MAMMOTH TALENT YOU HAVE.  But I guess he'd be fine, sure.

Son, watch some Wire. Elba exudes the definition of bad ass.

[Tonitrus]

A very fine actor in The Wire, though not a good demonstration of ability to play the Bond character.  The quiet competence from the former role doesn't work for the flashy, suave latter.  But then, the later bonds, especially Dalton on, are a pretty harsh clash from the Connery Bond (my favorite).

But granted, I haven't seen enough of his range of work to judge if he could pull off the role.

[The Brain]

If you make bond black you will have to explain why he is black...

While if you make Bond Irish or Scottish, or Australian then you don't need to explain. If having a black bond is ok, why isn't anybody thinking about a chinese bond?

I don't follow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz0rGmc5u_c

Sweden is pretty neat.

[The Brain]

Why are people worrying about the British accent btw?

[Tonitrus]

Why are people worrying about the British accent btw?

Are you suggesting we should not be put off is 007 had...say...a Polish accent? 

[The Brain]

Why are people worrying about the British accent btw?

Are you suggesting we should not be put off is 007 had...say...a Polish accent? 

Well, worrying that a British actor wouldn't use a British accent seems somewhat irrational.

[The Brain]

About Bond's ancestry: I've met several ultra-Swedish people who were black as pitch or brown as... something brown. I'm sure adoption occurs in the UK as well.