Regardless of the color of his skin, or the differences between him and the literary figure, Idris Elba would make an amazing addition to the list of men who have played James Bond, regardless of what close-minded fools think.
As 2014 came to an end we started to hear rumors that there would be a new actor playing James Bond, the archetypical man’s man and international spy working for queen and country in Mi6, breaking women’s hearts and men’s bones simultaneously in big budget films. Obviously the role has been filled in the past by some of Hollywood’s most dynamic leading men, ranging from Sir Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, but there has always been one common denominator between all of the men who have filled the shoes of the prototypical gentleman spy: They have all been white.
Elba, whose parents hail from Sierra Leone and Ghana, is an actor of titanic possibilities. Though American audiences might know him best from his time on HBO’s “The Wire,” those of us with Netflix should recognize him from the groundbreaking BBC crime drama, “Luther.” Questioning Elba’s abilities as an actor, however, is not the complaint being heard when it comes to his possible casting as agent 007.
Rush Limbaugh, an outspoken conservative radio host who has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth, stated late last year that Elba shouldn’t even be considered for the role of Bond. The reasoning behind Limbaugh’s tirade? The radio host claimed that James Bond, who was created by Ian Fleming, was a white, Scottish secret agent, and that Elba, obviously not white, should not be considered for the role in anyway shape or form. Now, anyone who is familiar with Limbaugh’s tendency to foam at the mouth when it comes to liberal change should not be surprised with such an outlandishly antiquated stance when it comes to a subject as charged as race. But, here is one minor fact that Limbaugh, and all those who would seek to keep the character of Bond away from Elba, should take into account: Out of all the men who have played Bond, only Connery was Scottish.
The men most linked with the character of Bond, at least when it comes to the films, have been predominantly English. Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore, and Daniel Craig have all been born in England. Pierce Brosnan, the man tasked with playing the character prior to Craig’s enlistment, was born in Ireland. So, if close-minded conservatives are going to cling to the supposed cultural roots of a fictional character in order hide their racism, then they should be consistent with it. Either ensure that only Scottish born actors are able to portray this character, or let go of your idiotic issues and except the fact that Elba would be an amazing addition to the cinematic history of James Bond.
