[mpalmer]

Did you fail to notice the diversity of the cast in the last 20 years of Bond films?

And if you mean the title character, you are presupposing that:

A. the quota existing means Bond won't be a white man (he absolutely will be in the first Amazon outing), and

B. Bond ceases to be Bond if he isn't white.

There's no reason for modern Bond stories to require a white Bond. He does have to be a guy, but don't see why race changes the story.

[trts]

maybe both of us are doing some presupposing

[fazeirony]

> He does have to be a guy

why?

[mpalmer]

It's certainly a matter of opinion, but the character's flaws and conflicts are very much tied up in his masculinity. Making the character a woman changes things so much it's essentially a different property with the same name. Just make a good original story about a woman who's a spy, don't ride the franchise's coattails for the wrong reasons. We don't need representation at this level of granularity.

[cjpearson]

Bond is the embodiment of white male privilege. (I suppose you could add handsome and straight privilege as well.) A well-dressed, handsome, white male with an abundance of confidence can easily gain access to many places without a second glance. Along with seducing women who have information, this is one of his main investigative strategies.

Unfortunately, women and people of color often don't have the same advantages and in some places are completely locked out. This makes it more difficult to change than someone like Leiter, Moneypenny or M who are much more flexible characters.

While it would still be possible to make a Bond without these attributes (they can still drink martinis, shoot bad guys and make quips) it would be a drastic change to the character.

I suppose the other perspective is that if Bond is primarily intended to be a personification of Britain, perhaps it's right that the character looks representative of Britain.

[mihaic]

Food doesn't have to taste good, but the people that consume it generally like it that way.

[croes]

He has to be a James

[lazide]

Personally I can’t wait for Snow White to be played by a 60 year old retired plumber from New Jersey.