By Gabriel Princewill
Veteran actor Roger Moore has been embroiled in a row about comments he made that Idris Elba cannot play the next James Bond because he was not English English’. The veteran actor holds the French magazine responsible for the subsequent furor that followed over his words.
Sir Roger made the comments in an interview with French magazine Paris Match, although the former Bond star claimed his words had been ‘lost in translation’.
The famous 87 year old actor, who left Britain in 1978 and spent most of his time in Switzerland and Monaco said: ‘An interview I gave to Paris Match implies I said something racist about Idris Elba. That is simply untrue. However, the precise interpretation of what he said as quoted by the Daily Mail was ‘although James Bond may have been played by a Scott, a Welshman and an Irishman, i think he should be English English” Nevertheless it is an interesting idea but unrealistic.
Bond claims his comments were not made in the context of British Actor Idris Elba who has been offered the role, though it has not been ascertained whether he in fact knew that Elba was being considered for the role. However, when asked directly whether he thought Idris Elba should be the next James Bond, he replied ”a few years ago I would have said that Cuba Cunnings should be the next James Bond but that was a Joke. That statement categorically implies that he would not seriously think it appropriate for a black man to have that role .Leaked mails from Sonny entertainment suggest that Idris Elba is fancied for the job, the deduction being that Sir Roger Moore was voicing his objection in advance, perhaps to avoid what he see as an absolute disaster and demise of what James Bond was traditionally instituted to represent.
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Sir Moore comments are not difficult to analyze. Even the notion that the Scots or the Irish should be exempt from the role is itself racist since it his recommendation would purport to discriminate against another race in favor of another, in this case, the English . If he thinks the Irish and the Scot who are white should be left out, it can deduced that the Black man surely should not get the role.
TRADITIONAL BOND
It is understandable to a degree why a film role played traditionally by the Englishman might be desired to remain so, if anything to preserve the image kids have always had of the popular action role of a handsome charismatic white man adept in fighting and a charming womanizer retain its original identity. After all, there are white individuals who do not find black people attractive in the same way there are white people who only go for white blondes not brunets or white brunets not blondes. Besides, if the tables were turned around, many black and Asians may equally come short if the traditional role given to one of their own creed over the decades were suddenly to be transferred to a completely different race. However, this will not change the fact in such hypothetical scenario that it would be racist if a motion purporting to restrict a privileged position to a race were to be voiced.
There is no moral obligation on what type of person attracts people. However, when one now articulates publicly a view that other races should be marginalized from a position of privilege on the sole basis of color, that view is manifestly racist. Moore is quoted to have also said ”I once said Cuba Gooding(a black actor) would make an excellent Bond, but I was joking”.
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In this case, it does not necessarily mean that Sir Roger Moore is himself racist, but what it means is that his statement was reckless and can reasonably be construed as racist. He should have more foresight in future, it should have been hard to predict the reactions that those comments could provoke. Sir Roger Moore is an ambassador for UNICEF and has acted in at least 7 James Bond films over the years.
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