I had no idea what the author Anthony Horowitz meant when he described Idris Elba as being “too street” to be the next James Bond. I am not really up to date with modern slang, but given his prompt apology I am guessing it wasn’t exactly a compliment. I certainly didn’t see any racism within the phrase – I hope we are all a bit more grown up than that – but I stand to be corrected.
The obvious issue about Elba is that he is black. Well, I say it is an issue, but is is, really? To date, James Bond has been white, albeit hailing from Scotland, Wales, Ireland and even Australia at various times. The fact that Bond’s nationality has changed has been neither here nor there for me. I loved Connery’s Bond, I thought Moore’s very English bond was great fun as was the Irish Pearce Brosnan and the dark, brooding Daniel Craig is the best of the lot, so far anyway.
I am unlikely to be asked who I feel the next Bond should be. He would certainly have a tough act to follow but I can’t say I have an open mind about it. I think Idris Elba would make a terrific Bond. I don’t know if Ian Fleming decreed that the character should be white, but even if he did, so what? I am far more interested in the role going to the best possibly candidate and I would not read anything into suggestions as to how good it would be for the various communities of colour and race.
Elba’s a great actor, he has a terrific personality, he comes across as a real human being with a great sense of humour. I’d say that would put him in position A. He’s also wonderfully self-deprecating judging from his tweet after the suggestion was made that he would make a great Bond: “Isn’t 007 supposed to be handsome?” I am not in the best position to judge, admittedly, but to my uneducated eye he looks very handsome indeed and I can just imagine him in that opening sequence.
I am sure that one day soon someone’s colour will not even be considered when discussing matters of such trivia, but I suppose it was less than 40 years ago when the Black and White Minstrel Show was mainstream telly. As the great bard Fatboy Slim explained, “You’ve come a long way, baby” and so we have.
