Just as everybody else I’ve been
reading the debate over the idea of Iris Alba a black man playing the role of
James Bond 007. Most people follow the
debate directly and argue should a black person be allowed to play a character
which has historically been played by white actors? While that is an interesting question I think
a better question is why would a black person want to play 007?
If a Black/African person was to
become James Bond they would be a sell-out.
Not the actor who played him the character in the movie. First let’s look at who agent James Bond Mr.
007 is. James Bond is an agent for the
British Secret Service AKA Her Majesty's Secret Service. He doesn’t work for the people of Britain he
protects the Queen and her empire which happens to include England and other
foreign interests. These interests are
countries in Africa.
Selling
a Black James Bond would not be easy because of the role England has played and
still does play in Africa. James Bond is
respected as a smart man and if he doesn’t know what England is doing in Africa
to his own people then he would be dumber than Babar. I was taught that you
have to help yourself before you help others.
For a black superhero to run
around protecting New York or any other city is like a father who protects the
neighborhood but does nothing about the people robbing and mistreating his own
family.
Also
being a secret agent is really a punkass move.
When you think about the concept of a secret agent it’s a slick way of
fighting. Its like slipping small pox in
blankets and giving them to Native Americans or presenting a city who you can’t
beat with a Trojan Horse. Sure war isn’t
fair but I respect the warriors like Mimnon who Brad Pitts character in Troy
was based on. He would challenge the
general of an opposing army to a one on one fight to side step an army to army
battle. I respect the fighters in Kung
Fu movies who had honor in their fights and would bow before they would start
fighting to the death. Sniping and
spying are punk moves but we enjoy them.
We accept them when they are used to protect us from dastardly villains.
I say
all of that to still say would I go see Idris Alba as James Bond? Hell
yeah. I love James Bond. I just think there is a lot to think about
when writing a Black 007 story. When I
think of a black spy I think of The Spook Who Sat by the Door. I think for a black person to be a spy or
even a global hero they have to be clear on who the enemy is and who they are
fighting for. That’s a concern I have
with black superheroes like Black Panther.
I don’t
think it is wrong for there to be a black version because as many others have
said James Bond is a rebooted character.
A variety of actors have played him.
I also think black people should create their own black spy
stories. As a writer I of course have my
own spy story. In fact I am part of
group of black writers headed by author Milton Davis who are developing black
secret agent stories to put into an anthology.
We call it Spyfunk , so support us on Facebook. We are not the first black people to write
black secret agent stories. My favorite black secret agent story is by Nigerian
author Valentine Alily called Mark of the
Cobra. My facebook friend Steven
Barnes and his wife Tananarive Due have a series starting with Casanegra: A Tennyson Hardwick. Then there’s Black Pulp an anthology of black syp type heroes.
