Edit: I meant to post this under the category of those who complain about a BLACK James Bond character. not a female character Unable to cut, paste, and re-post, I will leave it here for now with apologies to having posted off-topic. Its either that or delete the entire text.
Here’s what I am accidentally posting:
I actually like the idea of a black James Bond character as long as he’s British—as that is the key to James Bond’s identity. Even the earliest James Bond films were set in an era when classy, sexy black men were considered suave and sophisticated, and intelligent
I will admit that I did NOT like a black Annie character because, even though her role as an orphan—and the roles of other characters, lend well to Annie’s role, I think one of Annie’s traits is her red hair and freckles. That is just part of her identity as Annie.
The same might be said for Robert McCall in The Equalizer. I have no problem with a black man being the new Equalizer—just with him being Robert McCall. Robert McCall, a middle aged white man, was a less likely but perfectly suitable role for who he was. We are used to black men being military heros and suave intelligence alike. Robert McCall, while having knowledge of explosives and big guns and technology, needs to be a white, middle aged, British-sounding man. That’s his character. A black Equalizer should have a different name and some relation with the original Robert McCall.
James Bond might actually be raised to a new level as a black character—sophisticated intelligence is not prejudiced, and neither are the British.