General / Off-Topic My name is Elba. Idris Elba

[Stigbob]

007 'James Bond' is an agent and a alias, not a certain person, am I rite? I think so at least
Anyone can be 007 as long as they qualify. So I see no problem with a black James Bond.
(I just hope they can bring the old feeling of the movies back, I haven't liked any Bond movie
since Golden Eye.)

What annoys me though is when they change famous historical characters to a different
ethnicity.

A black Achilles.. Really?!

That fella's a little too old to be watching BBC cartoons, and he's definitely too old to be annoyed about them.

Jesus should always be portrayed as middle eastern though, currently crucifixes are historically inaccurate.

 

[Morbad]

What annoys me though is when they change famous historical characters to a different
ethnicity.

A black Achilles.. Really?!

Highly unlikely that Achillies was a historical character. He's only half-human and was taken to the underworld to be dipped in the Sytx, after all. If there was ever even a vauge historical basis for him, it was lost well before any known surviving account was written.

Regardless, I watched the Netflix series and it was probably the best overall depiction of Achilles' character I've ever seen on film or TV. Plastering contemporary western mores and sexuality over the character is far more jarring than having him portrayed by a black actor.

The production had other problems, but Achilles wasn't one of them, IMO.

Ok maybe that is a stretch but i've certainly heard that Jesus 'could have' been black, or atleast much darker than we think of him.

How dark do people think he'd be?

I always thought it would be fairly obvious that someone from the Levant in the 1st century would probably look almost nothing like the ethnocentric European depictions made of him hundreds or thousands of years after the fact. If his appearance were unusual (and a white skinned, light haired, pale eyed person who wasn't some Roman auxiliary would have stood out starkly in that area at that time) there probably would have been accounts of it from before his death, but there aren't.

Blond, Jane Blond

Played by, Sacha Baron Cohen

I'd watch it.

I might even pay to see it.

 

[Vasea Azure]

I like Elba, and I definitely can see him as new 007. Overall I`m not a huge fan of new "realistic" more "brutal" approach to Bond stories with Daniel Craig, with exception of the first one in the Casino. I hope we will see gentleman Bond with gadgets again played not by Craig so thumbs up for Elba. [up][up]

 

[Gortron]

I like Elba, and I definitely can see him as new 007. Overall I`m not a huge fan of new "realistic" more "brutal" approach to Bond stories with Daniel Craig, with exception of the first one in the Casino. I hope we will see gentleman Bond with gadgets again played not by Craig so thumbs up for Elba. [up][up]

I hated the Daniel Craig version of bond at first because it is a bit more "realistic" and "Brutal". Bond was a bit too gritty for me with him; I like tongue in cheek bond (Roger Moore was my favourite). I'm converted to the new gritty version though.


Not sure how I feel about a black bloke as Bond; seems to me a bit like casting Morgan Freeman as Abraham Lincoln or Hugh McGregor as Mahatma Gandhi.

I totally accept a black dude as 100% English/British and if anyone can pull off the role of 007 it is Elba. I just don't feel it lore wise.... if it is true I hope he is good. [heart]

 

[Chaparral]

Elba is awesome... but he is 45. Shouldn't Bond be younger?

Sean Connery was my man for this role, but I have fondness for my childhood years. I was heartbroken when my glass insert 007 thermos inside of my James Bond lunchbox broke in 1st grade.

 

[lysan]

I hated the Daniel Craig version of bond at first because it is a bit more "realistic" and "Brutal". Bond was a bit too gritty for me with him; I like tongue in cheek bond (Roger Moore was my favourite). I'm converted to the new gritty version though.


Not sure how I feel about a black bloke as Bond; seems to me a bit like casting Morgan Freeman as Abraham Lincoln or Hugh McGregor as Mahatma Gandhi.

I totally accept a black dude as 100% English/British and if anyone can pull off the role of 007 it is Elba. I just don't feel it lore wise.... if it is true I hope he is good. [heart]

I like the Daniel Craig version of Bond, much more like Sean depicted him. What I will not do is pay to see how they change the franchise just to be PC, give me some new and exciting charterers, like black panther.

 

[Para Handy]

I had a real chortle this morning reading an article in the Guardian about the reaction in some quarters to this "theory":

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...ghters-james-bond-not-on-your-team-idris-elba

...a little sample:


Guess what this week’s big-wedge issue on the far right is. Is it some notional attack by “antifa” (ie anyone who disagrees with them)? ............ No! It’s who might or might not play a pretend person in a movie. James Bond, to be precise, which in its current iteration is essentially a franchise about a man who has to have sex with as many beautiful women as he can in the world’s leading spa hotels. It’s like the Condé Nast Traveller version of Pokémon Go. But sexy, and with GCHQ top notes. And when the actor gets interviewed about it afterwards, they have to come off like the job’s slightly more gruelling than the Shackleton expedition.

The whole article is very amusing.


There is another article in there today which examines trend of ignoring "ethnicity" in casting:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/17/why-dev-patel-in-ens-could-change-film-for-ever

... good stuff.

 

[Speedcuffs]

I had a real chortle this morning reading an article in the Guardian about the reaction in some quarters to this "theory":

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...ghters-james-bond-not-on-your-team-idris-elba

...a little sample:


Guess what this week’s big-wedge issue on the far right is. Is it some notional attack by “antifa” (ie anyone who disagrees with them)? ............ No! It’s who might or might not play a pretend person in a movie. James Bond, to be precise, which in its current iteration is essentially a franchise about a man who has to have sex with as many beautiful women as he can in the world’s leading spa hotels. It’s like the Condé Nast Traveller version of Pokémon Go. But sexy, and with GCHQ top notes. And when the actor gets interviewed about it afterwards, they have to come off like the job’s slightly more gruelling than the Shackleton expedition.

The whole article is very amusing.


There is another article in there today which examines trend of ignoring "ethnicity" in casting:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/17/why-dev-patel-in-ens-could-change-film-for-ever

... good stuff.

Well, was having a bad day, that's cheered me up no end.

 

[hairychris]

He'd have the presence but, unfortunately, I'm going along with the opinion that he's a bit too old to be starting a run of Bond movies after the next one is released.

 

[Eriseley]

Highly unlikely that Achillies was a historical character. He's only half-human and was taken to the underworld to be dipped in the Sytx, after all. If there was ever even a vauge historical basis for him, it was lost well before any known surviving account was written.

Regardless, I watched the Netflix series and it was probably the best overall depiction of Achilles' character I've ever seen on film or TV. Plastering contemporary western mores and sexuality over the character is far more jarring than having him portrayed by a black actor.

My only other TV/film experience was "Troy" with Brad Pitt, and man, that was bad. But in both cases I can't blame an actor, it's just trying to make a very foreign saga have mass-appeal just...doesn't work. Odyssey is better yet still really bad for that. Beowulf has the same damn problems. Now I hear they can't be bothered to hire eastern European actors for Witcher/Netflix and...well whatever. Just tired. It's not necessary but I imagine if you got a motivated cast of eastern-Europeans to play that, it would be quite good. Rather that than Henry Cavill, etc.

 

[Eriseley]

He'd have the presence but, unfortunately, I'm going along with the opinion that he's a bit too old to be starting a run of Bond movies after the next one is released.

Got a young Brit to suggest? Honestly it seems to me like they've always cast an older fellow for Bond, as in 30s+, and I kinda rank 30s and 40s together versus 20s..

 

[Para Handy]

Got a young Brit to suggest? .........

Please not James Norton or Dominic West - right twerps that wind me up something chronic. Richard Madden seems in the right mould judging by what I have seen of the "Bodyguard" on BBC.

 

[Eriseley]

Please not James Norton or Dominic West - right twerps that wind me up something chronic. Richard Madden seems in the right mould judging by what I have seen of the "Bodyguard" on BBC.

I am super-biased. Well he is a handsome fellow. I just have a hard time thinking a later-20s/early 30s guy can NAIL it. Idris can nail it.

 

[Rade Konn]

Please not James Norton or Dominic West - right twerps that wind me up something chronic. Richard Madden seems in the right mould judging by what I have seen of the "Bodyguard" on BBC.

Your actually on point here and to me he slowly faded away after Rob Stark so he comes back as Bond with a bang! Honestly GoT went downhill after the red wedding.