Are "James Bond" Movies Racist?

[TedShatner10]

While it is certain that Ian Fleming was a snobbish racist and it seems to be reflected in his books (which were much more garish and morbid than the campy movies).

Yet I personally do not think the movies are particularily racist, but they are deservedly reknowned for cultural and national stereotyping (but it is more in the vein of Disney Land's "It's a Small World Afterall"). Live and Let Die could be seen as being a little close to the knuckle, but the white hick cops were given a more unendearing depiction.

In You Only Live Twice, Connery being made to look more Asian came across as silly and unconvincing, rather than obnoxious and very mocking like Mickey Rooney's depiction of a Japanese man in Breakfast at Tiffany's. And most of the villains and henchmen are predominantly white Europeans or North Americans, with some essentially being British (like Elliot Carver or, at a stretch, most incarnations of Ernst Stavro Blofeld).

James Bond movies being sexist on the other hand...

 

[Captain Ryan]

I would say it depends on the movie, the older ones were more racist. I really didnt see any racism in the newer ones (the newer ones having pierce brosnan and danial craig as james bond).

 

[The Old Mixer]

I just recently said this in another thread, but what people have to keep in mind with LALD is that the filmmakers are on record describing how they bent over backwards to try not to make the all-black villains in LALD look stupid or buffoonish. What people are reacting to as "racist" is really just how dated it is. The styles and whatnot look silly, but they reflect the times, and you'll find similar things in the wave of "blaxploitation" films of the era that LALD was riding on the coattails of. If it were the "Code of Honor" of Bond films as people seem to think with too much hindsight, the black actors who participated in it wouldn't have liked it then and wouldn't have anything good to say about it now. Yaphet Kotto was one of the most enthusiastic participants on the extras of any of the Bond DVDs. He thoroughly enjoyed getting to play a worthy Bond villain.

I'd say that the portrayal of Quarrel in Dr. No comes a bit close by modern standards of sensibility in the bits of comic relief, but it's pretty reflective of the time in which the movie was made...no more racist than any other black role played for comic relief at the time. What do people expect? Anything is a product of the sensibilities of its time, not those of forty-odd years in the future.

 

[msbae]

Racism and Sexism are in the eye of the beholder. I don't consider the 007 films to be racist or sexist.

 

[Orintho]

I just recently said this in another thread, but what people have to keep in mind with LALD is that the filmmakers are on record describing how they bent over backwards to try not to make the all-black villains in LALD look stupid or buffoonish. What people are reacting to as "racist" is really just how dated it is. The styles and whatnot look silly, but they reflect the times, and you'll find similar things in the wave of "blaxploitation" films of the era that LALD was riding on the coattails of. If it were the "Code of Honor" of Bond films as people seem to think with too much hindsight, the black actors who participated in it wouldn't have liked it then and wouldn't have anything good to say about it now. Yaphet Kotto was one of the most enthusiastic participants on the extras of any of the Bond DVDs. He thoroughly enjoyed getting to play a worthy Bond villain.

I'd say that the portrayal of Quarrel in Dr. No comes a bit close by modern standards of sensibility in the bits of comic relief, but it's pretty reflective of the time in which the movie was made...no more racist than any other black role played for comic relief at the time. What do people expect? Anything is a product of the sensibilities of its time, not those of forty-odd years in the future.

These are some good points. Kotto's Kananga role never came off as either stupid or buffoonish. With 'Dr. No', the Quarrel character never seemed to me to be racist. The one thing that does jump out is that infamous 'fetch me my slippers' line or whatever the Bond character snapped. But that could be the time, as well as the fact that Bond was from the military and was used to barking orders.

 

[Skywalker]

Racism and Sexism are in the eye of the beholder. I don't consider the 007 films to be racist or sexist.

"Off you go, now. It's man-talk time."

 

[Good Will Riker]

And most of the villains and henchmen are predominantly white Europeans or North Americans, with some essentially being British (like Elliot Carver or, at a stretch, most incarnations of Ernst Stavro Blofeld).

So far, we have James Bond films set in Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Macau, and North Korea, yet we do not get one Asian or Asian American actor to portray the main villain in a 007 film, and instead get white actors to portray them.

Personally, among the name actors, James Shigeta ("Flower Drum Song," "Die Hard"), Ken Watanable ("The Last Samurai"), and Jet Li ("The Forbidden Kingdom") would have been great candidates if you ask me.

Also, that fucking Ferrai stickingout of that rice paddy whille a yak herder passes by in 2002 South Korea in Die Another Day...c'mon, guys I know racist Sony (Japan) owns your studio, but the Japanese didn't have to stick it to South Koreans with that racist image, when South Korea looks like this today:


link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Haeundae_2008.png


Also, South Korea has a space agency that would make most fans of You Only Live Twice go shit in their pants! -

Korea has a space partnership with Russia[63] and has launched the Arirang-1 and Arirang-2 which both have surveillance cameras equipped.
Naro Space Center, the first spaceport of South Korea, is scheduled to be completed by 2008 at Goheung, Jeollanam-do. Korea Space Center is expected to send a Korea Space Launch Vehicle into space in 2008.[64] The spaceport will be controlled by the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute and will contain features necessary for spaceflight operation having a launch tower, a control tower, rocket assembly, test facilities and space simulators.[65] The South Korean government has named Yi So-yeon as its first person to go to space after replacing its initial choice Ko San, at the request of the Russian Federal Space Agency, on March 10, 2008.[66]
On 8 April 2008, Yi So-yeon became the first South Korean in space, aboard Soyuz TMA-12.

Racist Hollywood strikes...again.

 

[The Old Mixer]

^Again, Dr. No was a product of its time. And while none of the movies has had an Asian as the main villain, there have been plenty of Asian actors in the roles of allies and heroines, from Tiger Tanaka to Wei Lin. And Teru Shimada, who played Mr. Osato, was the top-billed villain in YOLT, even though his role in the story was as Blofeld's underling. In fact, Connery is the only actor in the top five spots of that movie who isn't Asian.

The one thing that does jump out is that infamous 'fetch me my slippers' line or whatever the Bond character snapped.

I was thinking of the bit where they do the comic take of him downing some rum while keeping lookout for "the dragon".

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I haven't seen a lot of the older 007 movies. (I just recently saw Goldfinger all the way through for the first time.) But what I have seen hasn't seemed that racist. Sexist? A little bit, but only for brief moments and it's not nearly as pervasive or destructive as its detractors claim it is. I mean, it's not like James Bond has ever pretended to be serious social commentary. It's escapist fun. Either have fun & enjoy it or go home.

Also, that fucking Ferrai stickingout of that rice paddy whille a yak herder passes by in 2002 South Korea in Die Another Day...c'mon, guys I know racist Sony (Japan) owns your studio, but the Japanese didn't have to stick it to South Koreans with that racist image, when South Korea looks like this today:


link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Haeundae_2008.png

It never seemed racist to me. I mean, you have farms and animal herders in pretty much every country. I could just as easily see a similar scene with a befuddled shepherd in the English countryside. It's only set in South Korea because of the geography of that particular part of the movie.

BTW, wasn't Die Another Day made before Sony started buying an interest in MGM?

 

[gblews]

While it is certain that Ian Fleming was a snobbish racist and it seems to be reflected in his books (which were much more garish and morbid than the campy movies).

As I remember, and it is quite possible that I'm remembering it incorrectly because its been a long time since I read it, Fleming's depiction of the black bad guys in LALD was not racist at all. At least I didn't consider it to be, way back then.

In a scene in the book where Bond and Solitaire (think it ws Solitaire) have been captured, the men are noted to be so professional that they refrain from speaking a word to Bond during the trip back to the hideout. I just don't remember anything in the book that made me think "racist".

Not saying Fleming wasn't a racist, just that I don't remember any in LALD, which is where racism surely would have manifested itself.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Racism and Sexism are in the eye of the beholder. I don't consider the 007 films to be racist or sexist.

"Off you go, now. It's man-talk time."

What's wrong with that?

 

[Turtletrekker]

The Fleming books? Definitely.

The movies? Not so much.

 

[Skywalker]

Racism and Sexism are in the eye of the beholder. I don't consider the 007 films to be racist or sexist.

"Off you go, now. It's man-talk time."

What's wrong with that?

You're joking, right?

 

[Goliath]

So far, we have James Bond films set in Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Macau, and North Korea, yet we do not get one Asian or Asian American actor to portray the main villain in a 007 film, and instead get white actors to portray them.

Odd. Are you actually criticizing the Bond films for their lack of Asian villains?

Ordinarily, films are called racist because the villains are non-white.

Which is it?

 

[Aragorn]

Good Will Riker loves The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift because some Asian guy directed it, but wouldn't give it a second thought if the director had been white.

 

[Skywalker]

Good Will Riker loves The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift because some Asian guy directed it, but wouldn't give it a second thought if the director had been white.

Isn't that attitude in itself racist?

 

[CaptainOogy]

Also, that fucking Ferrai stickingout of that rice paddy whille a yak herder passes by in 2002 South Korea in Die Another Day...c'mon, guys I know racist Sony (Japan) owns your studio, but the Japanese didn't have to stick it to South Koreans with that racist image, when South Korea looks like this today:

I just got back from a tour all over South Korea (and a bit of the North) a few months ago. While Seuol and Busan and other middle cities are indeed quite modern and sleek, the vast majority of the coutnryside in fact did consist of quaint fields of rice and farmers herding animals around. This shouldn't be surprising as the same thing is true of the United States and most other countries on the planet. Any remote agricultural area will in fact look like a remote agricultural area, and one need not infer racist intent upon either the writers of the film nor the production company.

-CaptainOogy

 

[Nerys Myk]

And most of the villains and henchmen are predominantly white Europeans or North Americans, with some essentially being British (like Elliot Carver or, at a stretch, most incarnations of Ernst Stavro Blofeld).

So far, we have James Bond films set in Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Macau, and North Korea, yet we do not get one Asian or Asian American actor to portray the main villain in a 007 film, and instead get white actors to portray them.

Do Tan-Sun Moon count? Maybe half a point?

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

IMHO, Bond films should be a bit sexist. Case in point "Tomorrow Never Dies", if Michelle Yeoh's character is Bond's equal...it detracts from Bond. (Which is why she becomes an obligatory hostage at the end) It'd be like Lois Lane being as strong as Superman. Bond is all about masculine fantasy.

Racism, "Live & Let" Die is hokey, not hateful. Can't think of other examples beside that turn white guy into an Asian thing was utter rubbish (which they did an even more absurd reverse of in DIE ANOTHER DAY). But it's all a matter of perspective.

SPECTRE even seemed to be an equal opportunity employer. As long as you can wear a jumpsuit and die...

 

[Harvey]

Racism certainly isn't as pervasive in these films as sexism--that would require its own thread, for sure. I think the few examples that can be named have already been brought up in this thread.

I haven't read the books so I can't comment on Fleming's attitudes, but I wouldn't be surprised if racist elements emerged.