A New James Bond

A Sony email was recently leaked suggesting that Idris Elba, a black actor, was up for the role of James Bond. 

This sparked some controversy. Rush Limbaugh went on a rant against the idea of a non-white Bond, saying, "James Bond is a total concept put together by Ian Fleming. He was white and Scottish. Period. That is who James Bond is."  He later says, in frustration, "We have 50 years of white Bonds because Bond is white!" And while the actors in the past who have played Bond have all been white, not all have been of Scottish decent, so it why does it matter if the actor has a different color skin?

Limbaugh also went on to say that Elba playing the role of James Bond would be like if George Clooney and Kate Hudson were cast as President Obama and Michelle Obama. This is an absurd thing to say; James Bond is a fictional character. Actors cast for these fictional characters can be anyone; it's a creative decision made by the director.  

Private Eye, a satirical magazine (sort of like a U.K. version of The Onion), published this spoof letter about the suggestion that Elba may play James Bond. Viewers can sit and watch all of Bond’s crazy endeavors (like defeating an army while only being armed with a pencil), and find them believable. But if a man with a different color skin were to play the role of Bond, it would be ludicrous?

This would be a great step if Idris Elba was cast as James Bond because it would show that you can replace a cast member with one of different ethnicity and it would still be the same story. It’s the same concept as the remake of Annie, with two African-American actors cast as Annie and Will Stacks (main characters in the movie). Minorities should be given more of these lead roles. We need to see more diversity on the screen.