… racism! Yeah, folks, Idris Elba is implying that he didn’t get the role of James Bond because of racists. And here I was thinking he was a pretty cool dude.
Idris has long been a fan favourite to take over as James Bond from as far back as 2015. When I say fan favourite, I mean only people who don’t respect a character’s heredity or personal history and want to use the said character to virtue signal on social media. Anyway, during a recent interview on the SmartLess podcast, Elba says that he got turned off from the idea of playing Bond when the conversation once again became about race.
He explains (or is that complains?):
“I was super complimented for a long time about this. We’re all actors and we understand that role is one of those coveted. Being asked to be James Bond would be like: ‘OK, you’ve sort of reached the pinnacle’. That’s one of those things the whole world has a vote in.
It was a huge compliment that every corner of the world except for some corners, which we will not talk about, were really happy about the idea that I could be considered. Those that weren’t happy about the idea made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting, because it became about race. And it became about nonsense and I got the brunt of it.”
Some valid points by Idris, but let’s address the elephant in the room here. He didn’t get the part of James Bond not because of racists, but because he’s not the right (or is that white?) man for the job. Sorry dude, but it’s as simple as that.
James. Bond. Is. White.
As I’ve said a thousand times if Hollywood is so hellbent on “authenticity” and “being faithful to the source material”, then it’s obvious that James Bond is a white man and should remain so.
Ian Fleming created Bond back in 1953 with a very clear description and back story. In the 1964 book You Only Live Twice, Fleming reveals that James Bond‘s mother is Swiss, and his father is Scottish: a Highlander from near Glenco in fact. In another novel Live And Let Die, Fleming notes that “Bond and Felix Leiter stick out in a predominately black area because they are two white men.”
Let’s also note that Felix was later portrayed by Jeffrey Wright, a black man, in three James Bond movies – Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and No Time to Die. So much for racism.
It’s Not Racism
So all in all, Idris not being cast as James Bond has nothing to do with “some corners, which we will not talk about” and it certainly has nothing to do with Elba’s acting ability, which he has in abundance. He is simply not suitable to play 007.
As you can imagine, the same people bleating on about how James Bond should be able to be played by any actor regardless of skin color, are the same people getting their arse hairs in a twist when you mention casting anyone other than a black man to play Black Panther, Shaft, Luke Cage, Blade, Axel Foley, a Michelle Obama Biopic, etc. They universally scream on cue:
“You can’t cast a white man for those characters, it’s disrespectful to their heritage!”.
The irony is lost on the Borg. And as for the racism claim, do we need to remind Idris and the hive-mind that he was cast as Roland Deschain, also known as The Gunslinger in the Dark Tower books? A character who has been illustrated as a white man ever since he first appeared in 1978. And how about when he was cast as Heimdall in the Thor movies? Heimdall is a character based on Norse mythology and is also white. Nobody “in those corners” cared and they still don’t.
And finally, Edra was cast as Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and I’m 100% certain that Knuckles is a red hedgehog and not a black man, which makes Elba’s casting nothing more than Hedgehogism. Make of that what you will you Hedgehogphobes!
Enough with this nonsense!
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