Would A Latino James Bond Alter Stereotypical Perceptions?

By Dustin Mendus

The idea of an African-American 007 has been tossed around in the past few years, if my memory serves. “Bond 23,” the next installment in the long-running franchise, is on the horizon, but this does bring up an interesting question for society in general. James Bond — Ian Fleming’s super-spy famous for fighting bizarre henchmen, alcohol consumption, and romps in the sheets with numbers of women from a variety of places — is a historically white character. Bond also is an outlet for what many men want to be and have: fast cars, gorgeous women, and a life of thrills.

But these traits of masculinity are common in our society among men of different races. White, black, Asian, Latino, and many other American men are influenced by the Bond fantasy. With the change of societal demographics in the United Kingdom, the idea of an ethnic Bond should be tossed around, even in the U.S. the idea has been mentioned.

However, is it right to adapt Bond’s race to match the changing color palette of society?

It’s doable within the 007 universe. There seems to be no coherency among the franchise, save for a few films before Daniel Craig’s “Casino Royale.”  However, one can watch “Thunderball,” “Dr. No,” and “Goldfinger” in that order and have no consistency issues — Bond’s appearance changing would be acceptable from that point. Outside of that, though, things get iffy.

A non-white James Bond presents a bigger problem for all minorities. It’d be the opposite of a step forward in media representation. Sure, if we had a black James Bond (or for us stateside folks, a Latino John McClain of “Die Hard”), it would put a minority actor into the spotlight, but it would also suggest strongly that minorities can only fill shoes that have already been filled. That we cannot create our own heroes and characters. The last message that minorities need to send to is that we can’t create a path for ourselves.

I love Bond, but let’s stop clamoring for a “black” or “Latino” or “Asian” version of popular characters and stunting our own creativity. Powerful characters that minorities can claim as our own can be made by minorities — and not by swapping the identity of current characters.

A white Jules Winnfield, an Asian Gregory House, a black James Bond, and a Latino Bruce Lee? Remaking what’s been done and putting a new coat of paint (or skin) on what’s been established is going to be a farce.

Dustin Mendus is an undergraduate student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He focuses on cultural geography.

[Photos by brava_67 and tyger_lyllie]

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