Bond is sexist, but it is an overall male fantasy, so this is to be expected. The racist aspects of Fleming's novels are carried over to an extent in the portrayal of Asian characters, with the British colonial attitude in the form of Bond coming through. "Live and Let Die" is interesting though when looked at closely. This is one of the few Fleming novels I have not read yet, so I don't know his take on race in the book. The film, as has been pointed out, was made to take advantage of the "blaxploitation" craze in the early '70s, and hoped to get Roger Moore established as Bond. The black villains, including the great Yaphet Kotto as Kananga/Mr. Big, are portrayed as Bond's equals, and get the better of him in a number of situations. The other black characters are portrayed responsibly (unusual for a racist Hollywood, especially at that time), from the CIA agent that rescues Bond in Harlem ("White face in Harlem, Bond? Not a great disguise") to the double agent female. At first I thought "yea, the black chick is the traitor, of course", but many white Bond women have been turncoats, so that's a non issue. The southern white lawmen are portrayed as buffoons and the black characters run roughshod over them. The only problematic issues are the somewhat stereotypical character of "Mr. Big" shown as the "black pimp" persona, and the black villian with the white heroine, that has to be "won back" by the white hero. However, once again, in other instances Bond has stolen the villian's "babe", so this can't really be looked at as a stereotypical action. The "voodoo" implications could also be racist, but once again this is diffused by the fact that the "voodoo" leaders are aware that this is a cover for the criminal operation. I went back and watched this film ready to scream "Hollywood racism" (which would hurt because I'm a big Bond fan), but I really couldn't put that tag on it. It's just another Bond male fantasy, the skin color of the characters notwithstanding.
