Is James Bond a Republican?

[Dogmeat]

No, James Bond is not a republican. He is a loyal subject of the Queen of England.

*of the United Kingdom

Bond is Scottish.

[Ifreann]

Agreed. Frankly, I don't see how there's much at stake here. We've had a bunch of different Bonds, with different personalities, different phenotypes, different accents and therefore different inferred cultural/geographic backgrounds. What does it matter if the new guy has some extra melanin? Even if we assume for the sake of argument that James Bond needs to have ethnic Scottish ancestry, I'd like to assure everyone that it's entirely possible for a dark-skinned person to have Scottish blood.

Personally, I think the new Bond should be a gay black Scottish woman: the illegitimate daughter of the original 007. She won't be one of those old-school lesbians, no no. She inherited her deadbeat dad's rakish tendencies and goes around having noncommittal flings with every woman that breathes (of which there is conveniently one per movie).

Then we will have to acknowledge that humans are more alike than different... or something.

In Ian flemmings commissioned bond artwork he’s always 100 percent shown as white, never black

Ian Fleming is dead.

[Internationalist Bastard]

Agreed. Frankly, I don't see how there's much at stake here. We've had a bunch of different Bonds, with different personalities, different phenotypes, different accents and therefore different inferred cultural/geographic backgrounds. What does it matter if the new guy has some extra melanin? Even if we assume for the sake of argument that James Bond needs to have ethnic Scottish ancestry, I'd like to assure everyone that it's entirely possible for a dark-skinned person to have Scottish blood.

Personally, I think the new Bond should be a gay black Scottish woman: the illegitimate daughter of the original 007. She won't be one of those old-school lesbians, no no. She inherited her deadbeat dad's rakish tendencies and goes around having noncommittal flings with every woman that breathes (of which there is conveniently one per movie).

Then we will have to acknowledge that humans are more alike than different... or something.

In Ian flemmings commissioned bond artwork he’s always 100 percent shown as white, never black

He also never portrayed him as several completely different people

[Infected Mushroom]

In Ian flemmings commissioned bond artwork he’s always 100 percent shown as white, never black

Ian Fleming is dead.

Yes but we should preserve his works best we can

[Hurdergaryp]

In Ian flemmings commissioned bond artwork he’s always 100 percent shown as white, never black

Ian Fleming is dead.

Quite a few Bond movies strayed from the source material, sometimes hilariously so.

[Infected Mushroom]

In Ian flemmings commissioned bond artwork he’s always 100 percent shown as white, never black

He also never portrayed him as several completely different people

Well we realistically have to switch actors because they get old etc

[Dogmeat]

Ian Fleming is dead.

Yes but we should preserve his works best we can

Well then you should hate Pierce Brosnan, who is Irish, not Scottish, and who's James Bond doesn't even chain smoke!

[Internationalist Bastard]

Yes but we should preserve his works best we can

Well then you should hate Pierce Brosnan, who is Irish, not Scottish, and who's James Bond doesn't even chain smoke!

Anyone else remember when everyone was furious over Daniel Craig?

[Ethel mermania]

In Ian flemmings commissioned bond artwork he’s always 100 percent shown as white, never black

Ian Fleming is dead.

He doesn't think much of you either.

[The New California Republic]

Ian Fleming is dead.

Yes but we should preserve his works best we can

Having a black actor play Bond isn't somehow sullying the franchise, regardless of what you say. If the skin colour of Bond bothers someone that much, then they are clearly letting something superficial undermine their love of the franchise, and if something superficial can undermine their love of the franchise then they can't have been that much of a dedicated fan to begin with...

[Jerzylvania]

Ian Fleming is dead.

Yes but we should preserve his works best we can

Formaldehyde is the solution.

[Hurdergaryp]

Well then you should hate Pierce Brosnan, who is Irish, not Scottish, and who's James Bond doesn't even chain smoke!

Anyone else remember when everyone was furious over Daniel Craig?

Yeah, but that was to be expected. People tend to be furious about pretty much anything these days. People should find something better to do with their lives instead of being angry all the time.

[Iridencia]

"But it's changing the James Bond canon!"

The man has been in his late 30s since the 1960s with his behavior and beliefs (such as towards women) constantly changing to reflect the attitudes of the era, and people are pretending they give a shit about "canon." Unless it's canon that Bond is just this really open-minded immortal creature, stop lying, no one ever gave a shit about canon beyond making sure he wears a suit, bangs women, and likes his drinks shaken not stirred—a black guy can do all that.

His legal given name is actually Dorian Gray. He was born in July 1890 and just turned 128. This can't paint a pretty portrait on Bond.

Oh my god... you're right. They're both British. They're both hedonists. They're both tall, dark, and handsome. They both run around causing incidental destruction and mayhem.

It all makes sense now!

[Greed and Death]

He would be a Tori.

[Internationalist Bastard]

He would be a Tori.

I’m glad I’m not the only one very confused by the title

[Jerzylvania]

His legal given name is actually Dorian Gray. He was born in July 1890 and just turned 128. This can't paint a pretty portrait on Bond.

Oh my god... you're right. They're both British. They're both hedonists. They're both tall, dark, and handsome. They both run around causing incidental destruction and mayhem.

It all makes sense now!

Finally. Someone (other than me )checked it out after all these years.

[Arlenton]

James bond is British and the GOP is generally seen as too far right for the average Brit. So no, probably not.

[Ethel mermania]

He would be a Tori.

Tori spelling?

[Rabukurafoto]

In Ian flemmings commissioned bond artwork he’s always 100 percent shown as white, never black

Plus in the 50s/60s being a black agent would have been a HUGE deal especially that high up in an English gentlemen club, author would have spelled it out; he didn’t so he was white

Well, sure, but the details have changed. Having a Bond movie set in the 50s/60s imposes certain constraints: in such a movie, it's probably most plausible for Bond to be white. But presumably, the new movie will be set in the present day, as is customary for the franchise. If we accept that major details such as the time period in which this person exists can change from movie to movie, shouldn't we also accept that other details can change, especially when constraints upon those details shift as a result of the changing setting?

Or if you are really serious about preserving Bond exactly the way Fleming originally wrote him, shouldn't you be insisting that every Bond film needs to be set in 1953, or if not, at least scale the age of Bond to remain true to his original birth date of approximately 1920?

Why is the color of his skin more important than major details such as his age and the time period in which he exists?

Edit/addition: in the original novel, Bond was explicitly described as having black hair. Are you not outraged that Roger Moore, Daniel Craig, etc. don't have black hair? And if not, what's at stake here that makes the color of his skin more important than other details of his physiology?

[The Empire of Pretantia]

If I were James Bond I'd be more than wary about politicians' policies and underlying motives, so I probably wouldn't even vote.

[Ifreann]

Ian Fleming is dead.

Yes but we should preserve his works best we can

His works are the books he wrote. Casting Kumail Nanjiani as the next James Bond won't somehow erase all copies of Casino Royale.

[The New California Republic]

Ian Fleming is dead.

Yes but we should preserve his works best we can

I have finally found proof that shows that Bond was always envisioned to be black, so we can finally put this "Idris Elba shouldn't be the next Bond" argument to bed. I mean, just look at this early concept art:

/s

[Greed and Death]

He would be a Tori.

Tori spelling?

Tory

Bloody Brits and their use of y's when a i makes the most sense.

[The New California Republic]

Tori spelling?

Tory

Bloody Brits and their use of y's when a i makes the most sense.

Meh. Tory looks right to me. Tori just looks like a woman's name.

[Infected Mushroom]

Yes but we should preserve his works best we can

I have finally found proof that shows that Bond was always envisioned to be black, so we can finally put this "Idris Elba shouldn't be the next Bond" argument to bed. I mean, just look at this early concept art:

/s