To destroy a culture, you first take their heroes.
How is casting this guy as Bond “taking our heroes”? If this is a REAL rendition of bond, not some hip-hop bastardization, then I have no problem with it.
IMHO, neither of Elba’s two prime drawbacks to the 007 role have anything to do with race. First, he’s already four years older than Connery was when Broccoli retired him due to his paunch and receding hairline. Eon’s cycle for producing a Bond film is about three years, and a new Bond is expected to lead the charge for at least three films, so Elba would be mid-50s by the time the third installment of the black Bond was released.
And then there’s the accent. Based on his past performances, Elba has shown he can somewhat reel in the Cockney but it’s still Estuary at best, nothing remotely gentrified. I don’t think he pull off anything resembling a believable ‘Posh’ (then again, Sean Bean can’t do anything but Tyke, so it has nothing to do with race). At which point the question bcomes, is the world ready for a Cockney James Bond?
Not to forget the new Doctor Who is a woman, and one of the Beeb’s new Three Musketeers is black (and also happens to be the most skilled ‘swordsman’ [if you know what I mean] of the three). So they’re in on blurring all boundaries.
But I think they’re overlooking my candidate for the next Bond, Aidan Turner, who plays Captain Ross Poldark in the BBC’s Poldark series. He’s got the look, the accent, he does athletic, and he’s 10 years younger than Elba.