[HN Gopher] Where is James Bond? Trapped in an ugly stalemate wi...
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       Where is James Bond? Trapped in an ugly stalemate with Amazon
        
       Author : gnabgib
       Score  : 99 points
       Date   : 2024-12-27 01:11 UTC (3 days ago)
        
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 (TXT) w3m dump (www.wsj.com)
        
       | gnabgib wrote:
       | https://archive.is/sBNln
        
       | upghost wrote:
       | I feel like I should duck and cover after saying this, but after
       | seeing what Amazon did to Lord of the Rings and what they are
       | supposedly trying to do to Warhammer, I'm not surprised the
       | creative owners are extremely reluctant to hand over the keys to
       | Amazon.
       | 
       | It would be a very different "Bond".
        
         | Athas wrote:
         | What are they supposedly trying to do with Warhammer (40k)? I
         | am aware that Amazon has the rights and are working on
         | developing something, but apart from the Secret Level episode
         | (which was good), has there been any details?
         | 
         | While some of what Amazon has made is terrible, much is good.
         | They produce so much that the average quality is pretty close
         | to the global average, so I find predictions challenging.
        
           | upghost wrote:
           | The rage bait on the internet claims they are changing the
           | lore to accommodate DEI. Don't shoot the messenger plz. I'm
           | just saying I understand why the creative content owners are
           | concerned about Amazon retconning lore and maybe want to see
           | how things like Warhammer play out first.
        
             | __alexs wrote:
             | GW have been trying to add diversity to Warhammer for ages.
             | Most of it is good actually?
        
             | lbcadden3 wrote:
             | Actually Games Workshop started that, probably just being
             | accelerated by Amazon.
        
             | Freak_NL wrote:
             | It might be a moot point anyway. If we can consider Disney
             | a bellwether1, expect more content producers to step back
             | on the diversity front.
             | 
             | Personally I think it completely depends on the story and
             | artistic direction. Wolf Hall (casting mostly reflects
             | historical appearances of characters portrayed) can exist
             | next to Bridgerton (explicitly colour-blind casting). Both
             | have their merits.
             | 
             | 1: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/dec/18/chanel-
             | stewart-...
        
             | blackeyeblitzar wrote:
             | Amazon has a diversity team in the entertainment side of
             | business that literally changes casting and content to fit
             | their DEI goals. It often happens in awkward and forced
             | ways, and that is affecting things like this Bond
             | controversy. Most of this is motivated simply by Amazon's
             | own DEI culture. But part of it is because the award shows
             | have criteria for eligibility (for best picture etc) that
             | require meeting diversity and other requirements that have
             | nothing to do with how entertaining the show is. Since
             | those creating or participating in these shows don't want
             | to be ineligible, they do whatever it takes, including
             | retconning.
        
               | scarface_74 wrote:
               | I worked for AWS for 3.5 years. Their only culture is to
               | treat all employees like shit, a PIP culture and one that
               | they know they can continue being tech's worst employer
               | (despite the newest Leadership Principle) because all of
               | the H1B visa holders will do damn near anything to keep
               | their jobs.
               | 
               | This isn't an H1B Visa _holder_ rant. It's an indictment
               | to the program that keeps them beholden to a company.
        
               | aleph_minus_one wrote:
               | > But part of it is because the award shows have criteria
               | for eligibility (for best picture etc) that require
               | meeting diversity and other requirements that have
               | nothing to do with how entertaining the show is. Since
               | those creating or participating in these shows don't want
               | to be ineligible, they do whatever it takes, including
               | retconning.
               | 
               | Perhaps I'm a little bit too rebellious to be a culture
               | fit for the movie industry, but if this is the case, I
               | would be _very_ encouraged to create an a show that is
               | outstanding, but violates the DEI criteria of the award,
               | so that the awards become a target of ridiculation for
               | not including  "my" show because of stupid DEI criteria.
        
             | scarface_74 wrote:
             | I wonder if these are the same people who whined about DC
             | casting a black woman to play an orange alien from Tamaran?
             | 
             | They also criticized Disney for having a Black Captain
             | America in the movies even though it was clear to any
             | Marvel comics fans that this was always going to be the
             | case.
        
           | Fomite wrote:
           | There have not been any details. There have been YouTubers
           | making things up and desperately pretending Henry Cavill is
           | their champion standing bravely against "woke".
        
           | chuckadams wrote:
           | Just Warhammer, not 40K. I would turn my mother over to the
           | Inquisition to get to see the latter. Venerate the Immortal
           | Emperor!
        
         | Yeul wrote:
         | Daniel Craig was already a very different Bond from Roger
         | Moore.
         | 
         | Although the Sovjets are the bad guys again...
        
           | Joeboy wrote:
           | He was also I think the first big internet casting
           | controversy, although everybody's kind of forgotten that now.
        
             | andrepd wrote:
             | Such quaint times. Nowadays every media release has some
             | people having extremely intense feelings of hatred towards
             | it, amplified several fold by the Algorithm.
        
             | ksec wrote:
             | Before we all watched the movie, "Who was the idiot that
             | picked Daniel Craig as Bond".
             | 
             | After we watched it "Who was the genius that picked Daniel
             | Craig?"
             | 
             | Now I miss him. Often thinking if Tom cruise could do so
             | many MI, I am sure Daniel Craig could do just one more
             | Bond.
        
               | kirubakaran wrote:
               | Layer Cake was basically is Bond audition
        
           | squarefoot wrote:
           | Am I the only one who thinks Craig could have been a hell of
           | a Russian spy villain in the original franchise?
        
             | dghughes wrote:
             | I've always thought Craig could play Putin in a movie, or
             | his brother.
        
               | ethbr1 wrote:
               | Next Bond movie: circa-1990 with Craig as KGB-era Putin.
               | 
               | Start a tradition where previous Bond actor gets one turn
               | as a baddie.
        
           | HarHarVeryFunny wrote:
           | Craig was arguably more like the Bond in the books - a
           | government assassin. I grew up watching the bond movies with
           | my Dad (who'd read the books), and to me Sean Connery was the
           | real bond, since he came first, but Roger Moore playing it
           | for laughs was entertaining too. I never cared for any of the
           | others.
        
             | EliRivers wrote:
             | I thought Roger Moore played the sociopathic side of Bond
             | quite well; the same level of bon mot whether he's playing
             | cards or just sliced someone's head off.
        
         | zahma wrote:
         | And seeing where they're at with the plot line killing off
         | Bond, it's definitely an inflection point to see how they
         | reinvent the series. Until now, Bond never actually died, but
         | Amazon might just find a way...
        
           | eagerpace wrote:
           | That was Craig's request as a way to close out his series.
           | They will start fresh with a new timeline.
        
         | JKCalhoun wrote:
         | Until Fleming started writing the books with the films in mind,
         | Bond was already a very different Bond.
         | 
         | The books are uneven, IMHO, but "Casino Royale", the first of
         | Fleming's novels -- written well before the "Dr. No" film -- is
         | enjoyable and will give you a very different Bond from what you
         | are used to. Insecure, self-doubting, no "gadgets"....
         | "Diamonds Are Forever" was perhaps my favorite of the books
         | though.
         | 
         | (The film "Goldfinger" actually improved upon the plot of the
         | original book in my opinion -- in the book Goldfinger actually
         | tries to steal the gold from Fort Knox.)
        
           | ttyprintk wrote:
           | Agree about Goldfinger. Moonraker made an awful lot of money.
        
           | ubermonkey wrote:
           | My take after reading those is that the films are generally
           | better works, but the other thing that's worth remembering is
           | that Eon was out of the business of "adapting" Fleming novels
           | after _Live and Let Die_. The follow-up (_The Man With The
           | Golden Gun_) shares a title with a novel, but little else,
           | and after that the films are mostly just a pastiche of
           | whatever's-hot-in-Hollywood (e.g., _Moonraker_ having a space
           | battle) and story elements pulled from lesser Fleming works
           | and short stories.
           | 
           | The exception obviously is the _Casino Royale_ with Daniel
           | Craig, which most fans view as one of the best Bond films.
           | I've forgotten the specifics, but that book was unavailable
           | to Eon for decades due to some copyright and licensing
           | shenanigans.
        
             | rjsw wrote:
             | > The exception obviously is the _Casino Royale_ with
             | Daniel Craig, which most fans view as one of the best Bond
             | films. I've forgotten the specifics, but that book was
             | unavailable to Eon for decades due to some copyright and
             | licensing shenanigans.
             | 
             | Some info on the copyright issues here [1].
             | 
             | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casino_Royale_(1967_film)
        
           | FireBeyond wrote:
           | Daniel Craig's more bitter Bond is far closer to the Bond of
           | the original books. Dark, morose, bitter, at times very
           | disenchanted (several resignation letters, if not
           | resignations), spends time alone with a bottle, womanizing in
           | the "not sexy" way...
        
           | tomjen3 wrote:
           | I am not interested in a different Bond. The entire point of
           | Bond is that he is a male fantasy. There is no need to make a
           | different Bond.
           | 
           | Entertainment is full of brooding losers - thats not what the
           | fans want.
        
         | airstrike wrote:
         | I mostly enjoyed Rings of Power, particularly Season 2, despite
         | its differences from the source material and the atrocious
         | direction and editing in some episodes
        
         | tonystride wrote:
         | I don't understand the hate for Amazon's LotR compared to what
         | they did to Wheel of Time! I'll admit I'm not a huge LotR fan,
         | but I didn't hate the time I spent watching the Amazon
         | adaptation. Wheel of Time though, they drove a truck through
         | that poor franchise. Then backed up over it, and drove over it
         | several more times!
        
           | IshKebab wrote:
           | I haven't watched the Rings of Power though I have seen
           | enough YouTube analyses of it to know I don't want to. I
           | think the issue with it is that they spent $1bn on it, so
           | you'd think they'd make sure the story and action scenes were
           | top notch, not middling cliche.
        
             | tonystride wrote:
             | I get it, I just finished Arcane and that was pure _chef's
             | kiss_. It can be done and it's so disappointing when it's
             | not, especially considering the budget. Although maybe with
             | that much money involved it's probably hard to keep one
             | unified vision as I'm sure there are many interests
             | competing.
             | 
             | That being said, it was still better than Wheel of Time.
             | I'd argue that LotR was watchable, where as WoT was
             | absolutely not!
        
             | ethbr1 wrote:
             | > _though I have seen enough YouTube analyses of it to know
             | I don 't want to_
             | 
             | Eh. Probably don't trust ragebait TV.
             | 
             | YouTube optimizes for clicks and eyeball time, not honest
             | considered takes.
        
             | AtlasBarfed wrote:
             | Do you like even reasonable accuracy to the canon of a
             | fairly well fleshed out and documented universe?
             | 
             | Do you like character development that rises above B-grade
             | movie tropes?
             | 
             | Do you find blunt multicultural recasting for the sake of
             | awkward forced multicultural injection, shock value, virtue
             | signalling annoying?
             | 
             | Do you like epic battles between empires fought between
             | more than 10 people?
             | 
             | Do you like timelines to be somewhat realistic?
        
           | ghjfrdghibt wrote:
           | I'd forgotten about WoT. I was going to mention what they did
           | to The Expanse when they took over the show but as a straight
           | steaming pile of shit WoT takes it. I couldn't even finish
           | the third episode.
        
             | w0m wrote:
             | I liked most of the first season of WoT; though it got more
             | and more divergent (and felt worse for it) as the season
             | went on. The final episode lost me. I've been meaning to
             | watch the second season but haven't been able to bring
             | myself to do it yet. (I say this as one who happily
             | completed multiple rereads of the original series as new
             | books came out)
        
               | tonystride wrote:
               | Agreed, it started out alright but got worse and worse as
               | it diverged from the books. The finale of S2 is truly
               | laughable. If you switch your expectations to
               | fantasy/comedy you mighhhhht be able to enjoy it?
        
               | cthalupa wrote:
               | There's no world where anyone adapts the book series
               | closely with live action. The series is simply too long,
               | particularly for the level of CGI, etc., we expect out of
               | this sort of "premiere" television. I think overall
               | they've done a good job given how difficult the task is,
               | though there's certainly some changes that I think were
               | mistakes, and other things that while I might not
               | outright believe are mistakes, are different from how I
               | would have done it.
               | 
               | I will say I agree that the last episode of S1 is my
               | least favorite, but, they had a lot stacked against them
               | and had to rewrite the final two due to Mat's actor not
               | coming back after covid forced a filming break. That set
               | off a chain reaction with a lot of far reaching
               | consequences.
               | 
               | I liked S2 more than S1. Quality went up on basically
               | every metric for me, though the finale still wasn't as
               | epic as I would have hoped for... but is probably about
               | all you can hope for without a LOTR-like budget. If they
               | somehow make it to Dumai's Wells, hopefully they have
               | more money then.
        
           | cthalupa wrote:
           | I'd consider myself a WoT megafan. I've read the full series
           | more than 10 times since AMoL, and did a re-read of the
           | series before every book release when it was being written.
           | I'm in the middle of a re-read right now, even - I just
           | finished a chapter from A Crown of Swords right before
           | opening HN and reading this article.
           | 
           | And... I think the WoT adaption is fine. It's not exactly how
           | I would have done it, and there are a few choices that I
           | think are just bad, but on the whole I have enjoyed the show
           | and think it captures most of the primary elements of the
           | series.
           | 
           | It's a 14.5 book series where the books average 600+ pages.
           | Any adaptation is going to have to make massive changes, at
           | least if they're filming it with real people. They also got
           | dealt a raw hand with covid resulting in all sorts of set
           | limitations and Mat's actor just... not returning after they
           | filmed the first 6 episodes.
        
             | phinnaeus wrote:
             | Is that seriously why Mat just disappears?? Good grief.
        
               | xracy wrote:
               | Yeah, made for some continuity difficulties that I think
               | they handled pretty well considering the circumstances.
        
               | cthalupa wrote:
               | Yeah. His storyline was supposed to track the original
               | series much more closely, but filming got shut down for
               | covid, and the actor didn't come back when it resumed.
               | Deleted all his socials, etc. Didn't take any more work
               | until just recently, too.
               | 
               | No one knows what the deal was - lots of people
               | speculated it was vaccine requirements when it was
               | announced, but filming resumed before vaccines were
               | available, so that couldn't have been it.
        
               | aleph_minus_one wrote:
               | > No one knows what the deal was - lots of people
               | speculated it was vaccine requirements when it was
               | announced, but filming resumed before vaccines were
               | available, so that couldn't have been it.
               | 
               | Relevant:
               | 
               | > https://www.reddit.com/r/WoTshow/comments/154r20d/barne
               | y_har...
        
             | xracy wrote:
             | I reread the books after watching the show, and I have to
             | say that I am in complete agreement with this take. I think
             | there are 2 things that impact why people hate the
             | adaptations.
             | 
             | 1. Some people just don't like adaptations, and they need
             | to understand what different mediums limit in terms of
             | story telling. If you think of WoT as being 10,000 pages of
             | content, and how you would shorten that to make it finish-
             | able within a single human lifetime, then they have to
             | change some things. But I gotta say, I think they capture a
             | lot of the good of the books within the show.
             | 
             | 2. Most people just have a picture in their head of what
             | the thing is going to look like, and when that picture
             | doesn't match up to what's made they're unhappy. And they
             | don't understand why they couldn't just do the thing in
             | their head because they don't understand the limitations of
             | the medium.
             | 
             | 2a. I think a thing that's important to a lot of people is
             | the characters looking like the characters they imagine,
             | and when casting is more diverse than that, people have a
             | pretty negative reaction to the characters not "looking"
             | like the characters. I think this ends up being more true
             | the further from the description people feel like the
             | characters are. ^This is a thing that has been hurting LoTR
             | for a lot of people, in my opinion. I don't think it's a
             | reasonable thing to expect.
        
               | cthalupa wrote:
               | For sure.
               | 
               | I've also learned that some people just... didn't read
               | the books all that closely, either. Or at least not
               | character descriptions. Two Rivers people are described
               | as being dark eyed and dark haired with fairly dark
               | complexions - probably mediterranean - but people seemed
               | to think they were supposed to look like they were from
               | England, forgetting that Elaida explicitly mentions Rand
               | is too fair skinned in EoTW. Or everyone outraged about
               | Moraine/Siuan, apparently not understanding what RJ meant
               | when he said they were "pillowfriends," despite lots of
               | other fairly explicit hints at what the phrase meant.
        
           | ivansmf wrote:
           | I have not read the books, so I guess I'm the target
           | audience. It was very hard to watch. The actors were fine,
           | actually better than fine, but the writing was painful. There
           | are lots of standard adventure and fantasy arcs that are just
           | impossible to carry forward with the type of "modern" they
           | wanted. For instance, you cannot have the most diverse
           | village in the history of villages anywhere, then later the
           | Orc (?) stares at one of the kids once and goes "you are not
           | from this village, you are certainly from this other village
           | because of how you look". How? Aura color? At least change it
           | so the kid has a tattoo or some birth mark then. I could go
           | down a long list of dumb stuff like this that makes me come
           | back to reality instead of allowing me to stay with the flow
           | and enjoy the fantasy.
        
             | buildbot wrote:
             | There's actually an in book way to explain that, the
             | clothing is always described as specific to the two rivers,
             | and only Aiel have red hair. I agree The show was awful!
        
               | geraldwhen wrote:
               | Wheel of time takes place in Brooklyn, in the Amazon
               | cinematic universe though.
        
           | FireBeyond wrote:
           | > And... I think the WoT adaption is fine. It's not exactly
           | how I would have done it, and there are a few choices that I
           | think are just bad, but on the whole I have enjoyed the show
           | and think it captures most of the primary elements of the
           | series.
           | 
           | It's (and I say this as someone who sees themselves quite
           | progressive) a bit too feminist.
           | 
           | It seems determined to make Nynaeve and Egwene the heroes of
           | the show, the badasses on which everyone, including Rand,
           | rely on. Not content with them already having access to the
           | Power, and being among the strongest among the Aes Sedai,
           | Amazon made them even more powerful and heroic than the
           | books.
           | 
           | In contrast, in the books, Nynaeve and Egwene (it may be
           | Elayne - in either case, two of these three) were actually
           | rather "put out" by the fact that Rand was who he was and his
           | access to the Power. Paraphrasing from the book:
           | 
           | "They were shocked, and not a little annoyed and upset. The
           | Tower had told them that they were the strongest they'd seen
           | with the Power in centuries, perhaps the strongest ever, and
           | along comes Rand, barely able to control it himself, and yet
           | even with them both fighting with all their might, he
           | controlled both of them so... effortlessly... and then to say
           | he wasn't even using a fraction of the Power he'd drawn
           | before!"
           | 
           | I do give kudos to Amazon for respecting the diversity of the
           | books, though.
        
           | chrisweekly wrote:
           | I might be in the minority here, but I couldn't stand the
           | Wheel of Time book; given its popularity I gave it about 200
           | pages before discarding it as poorly-written, under-edited,
           | over-wrought, unoriginal, derivative drivel. Different
           | strokes, I guess.
        
         | HenryBemis wrote:
         | I got a friend who is a proper 40k guy (paints, mini-dolls, the
         | lot)(I call them mini-dolls instead of figures or figurines to
         | piss him off, and it works!!!).
         | 
         | He was initially excited to see "Superman" being involved, but
         | now he also fears that this would turn to a shitshow.
         | 
         | Worse case it tanks, Amazon has yet another TV failure, and the
         | fans continue to enjoy their mini-dolls and pretend-battles.
        
           | LanceH wrote:
           | There is an expectation in the community that Games Workshop
           | will only be concerned with the money and ownership of the
           | property (for the money). They don't play well with others.
           | They seem unconcerned about their customers in general.
           | 
           | It's an abusive and expensive relationship. It's like an old
           | school company that has no clue about inventory management,
           | but they're in the 21st century now. They can have a million
           | preorders for things which are _mass produced from molds_ ,
           | and they can't manage to deliver them. Or books. Instead, any
           | limited run ends up in the hands of scalpers.
           | 
           | Now they move into the entertainment industry. What are we to
           | expect there? It's a notoriously difficult industry to
           | operate in. They have to deal with Amazon and whoever is
           | producing, but can they leave their hands off something long
           | enough to let it get made? I have serious doubts.
           | 
           | They will meddle. I assume Amazon is negotiating to guarantee
           | some level of control.
           | 
           | I think the best hope for any good content will continue to
           | be fan create videos.
        
         | gradus_ad wrote:
         | Right, it's so simple to make a good Bond film once you accept
         | that you need to give the people what they want, people here
         | being actual Bond fans (not "society") and what they want being
         | classic male escapist fantasy.
         | 
         | This push to "modernize" Bond is regressive once you realize
         | male desire has not changed and thus there is nothing to
         | modernize. Depictions of a cool spy dude getting beautiful
         | women to fall for him is not "sexist" and not in need of
         | modernization.
         | 
         | More generally the "modernization" angle is all about making
         | the films which appeal to both men and women, which is a losing
         | proposition for Bond which is fundamentally a franchise for
         | men. You are always going to create a more compelling piece of
         | content by tailoring it to a specific group, and the vast gulf
         | in the sorts of content men and women tend to enjoy
         | (generalization of course with many exceptions, but generally
         | true nonetheless) means any bridge spanning that gap will be
         | flimsy and weak.
        
           | formerly_proven wrote:
           | Bond could be bi.
        
             | LordDragonfang wrote:
             | While I think this misses the above poster's point (Bond
             | has always been a masculine-in-a-heterosexual-way fantasy,
             | and going against that would alienate a majority of his
             | core audience) it _would_ be interesting to have a Jack
             | Harkness type of Bond.
        
             | jjgreen wrote:
             | Bond is bi
             | 
             | https://www.licencetoqueer.com/blog/what-makes-you-think-
             | thi...
        
               | 3pt14159 wrote:
               | The post doesn't definitively answer whether Bond is
               | bisexual but argues for the importance of acknowledging
               | the possibility. It highlights how the franchise's
               | ambiguity opens the door for diverse interpretations,
               | inviting viewers to see Bond through their own lenses and
               | experiences.
               | 
               | Personally, I don't think Bond is bi.
        
             | dsr_ wrote:
             | There are hints in the novels, but Fleming usually went
             | with the default intolerance of the time.
        
           | scarface_74 wrote:
           | Do you really want to see Bond slapping women in 2024?
           | 
           | https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-9hWeIjwLhs
        
             | brickfaced wrote:
             | Yes
        
             | altairprime wrote:
             | Yes please? If _only_ TV and movies would show the full
             | range of human sexuality and not just cater exclusively to
             | the vanilla fetish crowd. To quote the immortal words of
             | the Joffrey gif from Game of Thrones, "talk shit get hit"
             | can be comedic, dramatic and, in a well-crafted context,
             | sexy content in a movie. Romance novels and fanfic have
             | been well aware of this for an eternity, and certainly pull
             | no punches when it comes to people slapping.
             | 
             | The issues with Bond are that he's uniformly portrayed by
             | white men who are _only_ portrayed sleeping and slapping
             | _women_. Give us a Bond who sleeps and slaps men with the
             | same abandon that he does women, and interest in Bond
             | movies will go through the roof. And:
             | 
             | An intelligence agency that only employs straight male
             | secret agents is an intelligence agency doomed to fail from
             | the start. I have to hope someday that the Broccoli family
             | grows a spine someday and shows us a Bond who is a woman,
             | being just as much of an arrogant slut as Sean Connery's
             | Bond. They did a great job with that Bond, and certainly
             | that's a desirable archetype! It's just gotten boring and
             | overplayed to see that leading Bond role manner only played
             | by the same boring and overplayed white men for decades
             | now.
        
               | JustExAWS wrote:
               | > Yes please? If only TV and movies would show the full
               | range of human sexuality and not just cater exclusively
               | to the vanilla fetish crowd
               | 
               | Did you watch the video? The flaps on the face had
               | nothing to do with "sexuality". It was Bond slapping
               | women to get information out of them.
        
               | asdasdsddd wrote:
               | I thought men and women are equal, what bond does to men
               | is far worse
        
               | diamondfist25 wrote:
               | Should show what Daniel Craig got in casino royale.
               | 
               | The nut smasher
        
               | _boffin_ wrote:
               | Sorry, but he was trying to get it moved over a bit to
               | get an itch scratched.
        
               | scarface_74 wrote:
               | So would you be okay with Bond seducing and sleeping with
               | men to get information?
        
               | altairprime wrote:
               | I've lived with a Bond fanatic before, and still have on
               | my shelf a complete collection of every Bond movie. So,
               | did I _rewatch_ fragments of a bunch of Bond movies
               | through a slapcut alone? No, thank you, that 's a
               | complete waste of my time. I'm already rather familiar
               | with the source material, and I'm pretty sure I've seen
               | that supercut before. Still, though. Can you imagine how
               | much more entertaining Roger Moore's Bond would have been
               | if he used a martial art centered around slaps, and did
               | so completely in character with no acknowledgement that
               | it's _wildly_ funny to Bond lovers? I would love to see
               | that, no matter what the characteristics of the lead.
               | 
               | Bond slapping people is about power and control
               | fantasies. Bond was created at a time when women were
               | finally wielding power of their own again in modern
               | culture, and showed what was appealing to the men whose
               | desires _preceded_ the rise of women having power
               | independent of men. Decades have passed since that moment
               | in time, but Bond has remained fixed in stone, with only
               | the barest concessions to reality, _using_ women just as
               | he always has - that is, needlessly different from how he
               | _uses_ men, without any cause other than stereotypes
               | inherited from the 1950s.
               | 
               | The power fantasy of Bond is that Bond is a high-
               | functioning sociopath, who has no problem using people
               | for whatever meets their needs and then discarding them
               | utterly. That power fantasy _used_ to be the exclusive
               | privilege of straight white men. That is no longer the
               | case. Seeing all Bonds be straight white guys who only
               | slap women is _boring_. That power fantasy is played out
               | and dull and on its way out. I don 't care if _some_
               | Bonds are straight white dudebros, but it sure would be a
               | lot more in character if they slapped _everyone_ - and it
               | sure would be a lot more in character if some of them
               | slept with non-women _on screen_ -- and it sure would be
               | a lot more in character if some of them weren 't white.
               | 
               | Asking an intelligence agency to stop sending people to
               | hit people for information is nonsensical. Only showing
               | people reacting by providing the information _is also
               | nonsensical_. There are quite enough people out there
               | that would bust out laughing at that attempt, not to
               | mention a few that would outright try to bite his hand
               | off the next time he swung at them. I do respect that the
               | mores of the time were afraid to show Bond actually
               | punching a woman, but with all due respect, that was,
               | rounding up, about a hundred years ago. Intelligence
               | agencies have moved ahead with the times. Yes, I
               | pointedly mean that Bond should be doing just as worse to
               | the women as to the men, when it comes to getting
               | information -- whether that 's slaps, punches, CBT, or
               | buying them champagne and getting their shirt off.
               | 
               | There's a lot of us waiting in the wings to see the exact
               | Bond power fantasy portrayed in that slapcut, by people
               | that we _can_ imagine ourselves being. Generic white guy
               | #12 is not going to qualify, no matter how cool he is.
               | (And let 's face it: Foghorn Leghorn is a much better
               | detective than Bond anyways.) Focusing on slapping is a
               | distraction from the real problem: Bond was created, and
               | has been maintained since, as a sociopathic power fantasy
               | _for straight white men alone_. Until that broadens to
               | represent that exact fantasy _for others_ , I see little
               | hope for the future of the franchise.
               | 
               | Don't change Bond-the-sociopath. Just remove the
               | artificial restrictions on Bond's skin color and gender,
               | and who he slaps, hits, flirts, and sleeps with.
        
               | FireBeyond wrote:
               | > An intelligence agency that only employs straight male
               | secret agents is an intelligence agency doomed to fail
               | from the start. I have to hope someday that the Broccoli
               | family grows a spine someday and shows us a Bond who is a
               | woman, being just as much of an arrogant slut as Sean
               | Connery's Bond. They did a great job with that Bond, and
               | certainly that's a desirable archetype! It's just gotten
               | boring and overplayed to see that leading Bond role
               | manner only played by the same boring and overplayed
               | white men for decades now.
               | 
               | There was a scene in _The Americans_ where the husband
               | and wife Soviet agents talked about  / reminisced about
               | their training. And that to the Soviets, sexuality was
               | just another tool in the box. If you're seducing for the
               | job, what does it matter? The husband was taught about
               | seducing men, and the wife women, as much as the opposite
               | sex (this is not an attempt to simplify / reduce
               | sexuality, just how it is portrayed in the show).
        
               | scarface_74 wrote:
               | This wasn't about "seduction". The video shows Bond
               | slapping women when they won't tell him what he wants to
               | know.
        
               | phinnaeus wrote:
               | Agreed, this was blatant sexism. He does far worse things
               | to men who won't tell him what he needs.
        
               | justahuman74 wrote:
               | Bond is violent with both genders
        
               | altairprime wrote:
               | The load-bearing word "is" here overlooks a rather
               | striking imbalance (pun intended). I'm picturing two
               | supercuts and the one where Bond hits men and is hours
               | long, versus the one where Bond hits women and is ten or
               | fifteen minutes long at best. So, yeah, "is" -- but was
               | there some argument you intended to make that your
               | statement supports?
        
               | bbarnett wrote:
               | What was the context? Often these women try to kill Bond
               | in a sneaky way, or have shown themselves be spies.
               | 
               | Anyone tries to kill me, it's all good.
        
               | altairprime wrote:
               | Yeah, clearly intelligence agencies got the memo on
               | sexuality a long time ago! Portrayals will catch up
               | eventually, I hope.
        
             | everdrive wrote:
             | When they're being hysterical, yes.
        
             | duxup wrote:
             | I don't have a problem with people being flawed even if
             | they seem like the hero in other ways. Happy to see her
             | slap him back too ...
             | 
             | I worry sometimes we're headed for a situation where media
             | and stories are almost whitewashed. There are some fandoms
             | I'm into where fans go through past books and raise issues
             | where "isn't this character being a bully here" and the
             | answer is kind of... but they're also a kid at that point
             | and kids do say mean things ... that's reality.
        
           | fatbird wrote:
           | _male desire has not changed_
           | 
           | Speak for yourself. I find Bond through the Roger Moore era
           | to be gross and masculine in a completely unrealistic way.
        
             | vouaobrasil wrote:
             | Moore was unrealistic but the OP does not imply that we
             | need to keep the style on the level of Roger Moore.
        
               | fatbird wrote:
               | OP is saying that the old Bonds (Connery, Lazenby, Moore)
               | were suited to male tastes that haven't changed since,
               | thus the attempt to modernize Bond is misguided at best.
               | 
               | What I'm saying is that my (male) tastes _have_
               | modernized, that the male tastes that made old Bonds
               | popular are tastes I find gross and unrealistic today,
               | and I don 't feel like I'm alone.
        
               | vouaobrasil wrote:
               | I guess you're probably not.
        
               | some_random wrote:
               | I think the specifics are less important than the general
               | tastes in this case, men still want to be highly trusted
               | international "spies" gallivanting across the world
               | fighting evil with women lusting after them every stop of
               | the way, it's just that the details as to what that looks
               | like have changed.
        
               | fatbird wrote:
               | I think the Craig movies are the high point so far of the
               | series for a variety of reasons. They still have the
               | swaggering machismo of Bond, but with more varied and
               | interesting consequences. Bond still gets laid, but it's
               | not treated as a mid-mission diversion (or post-mission
               | reward) to which Bond is entitled. Craig proved there's
               | lots of modernizing that can be done without touching the
               | core conceit of being a 00 agent.
        
               | altairprime wrote:
               | I agree! Whatever else they are from a critique
               | standpoint, I absolutely love how they've modernized the
               | Bond-the-slutty-sociopath role into something that's
               | actually plausibly what I would expect to find in today's
               | reality. They did beautiful work with _that_ aspect of
               | modernization and the Craig movies are most memorable of
               | all of them to me now (though I will always hold a
               | fondness in my heart for LASER BEAMS IN SPACE).
               | 
               | They did not do so well with modernizing any of Bond's
               | skin color, gender, or bedroom scene co-stars; nor did
               | they portray him assaulting women for information like he
               | would men.
        
             | ozim wrote:
             | Dude hate to hit you up with it but whole Bond is about
             | being unrealistic just like Santa Claus.
             | 
             | Being masculine in unrealistic way is part of the fun. Just
             | the same as cars with machine guns in the hood or wrist
             | watch with laser cutting through things.
             | 
             | It is like nagging that in Star Wars explosions in space
             | have sound and are not like actual explosions that would
             | happen in space...
        
               | fatbird wrote:
               | There's degrees of "unrealistic" though, and it's tied to
               | how relatable the Bond is. The old Bonds were a mixture
               | of action hero spy guy and Playboy-style gentleman. Over
               | time, the Playboy lifestyle has aged poorly and finally
               | been peeled away from Bond.
               | 
               | Now, you can argue that formula for Bond was unique, and
               | what differentiates him from Bourne or Reacher, and worth
               | keeping for that reason. But against that, you have the
               | fact that I and a lot of other viewers find the Playboy
               | lifestyle to be a really silly and distasteful fantasy
               | that seems uniquely laughable now, and far harder to
               | suspend disbelief for than generic action hero stunts.
        
             | TMWNN wrote:
             | >Speak for yourself. I find Bond through the Roger Moore
             | era to be gross and masculine in a completely unrealistic
             | way.
             | 
             | Where are you in this collage? <https://imgur.com/0gL4oxd>
        
             | 2muchcoffeeman wrote:
             | So stop watching it. That's the answer.
             | 
             | The problem with all this "modernisation" (what a
             | euphemism) stuff going on in entertainment is that you're
             | trying to transform and change existing characters and
             | franchises.
             | 
             | It's just a money grab to capitalise on existing characters
             | with existing fan bases.
             | 
             | Inevitably it's ruined. Bond fans aren't watching Bond
             | movies thinking "this is sexist". LoTR fans aren't reading
             | a fantasy series with influences from Christianity and a
             | white guys experience in WWI thinking "we need more
             | representation of people of colour and genders".
             | 
             | The solution to this is also trivial: Forget all the old
             | stuff. Write new characters and stories. Or build fans for
             | modern works.
             | 
             | We're already seen this done: Avatar (not the blue alien
             | one), Dragon Prince, Wheel of Time.
        
           | booleandilemma wrote:
           | Give the people what they want indeed
           | https://youtu.be/q2y9LPC2s_8?si=nwRPU3rw-Pi1JubX
        
           | matthewdgreen wrote:
           | Mission Impossible scratches most of my Bond itch, and it
           | doesn't really have a lot of the womanizing stuff. What I
           | want from Bond is for someone to steal a space shuttle.
        
           | trhway wrote:
           | Yesterday on NPR they said that during last 2 decades number
           | of movies with sex decreased 40% and mentioned Marvel as a
           | showcase. I guess that is modern escapism - very neutered, no
           | sex and a lot of pointless and senseless, in all senses,
           | [imitation of] violence. And judging by how much money it
           | gets - that is what audiences want.
        
         | paxys wrote:
         | > I feel like I should duck and cover after saying this
         | 
         | For stating the most popular opinion on the internet?
        
         | shmerl wrote:
         | Soundtrack in Rings of Power is very good. I liked the show
         | overall.
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7oaZxdAMzI
         | 
         | What complaints did you have about the story?
         | 
         | Fallout turned out pretty good. I wish they wouldn't have
         | cancelled The Expanse, it was a good show.
        
         | stuaxo wrote:
         | A lot of the stuff on Prime is absolute dross.
        
         | duxup wrote:
         | >after seeing what Amazon did to Lord of the Rings
         | 
         | I don't understand how streaming services with huge budgets are
         | so constantly bad when it comes to writing. I found the Amazon
         | Lord of the Rings series just empty and I quit on it, something
         | I couldn't imagine doing. The dialogue was simply dreadful to
         | listen to.
         | 
         | How is it they so regularly skimp on the creative side of
         | things and while they might have nice effects the content still
         | seems so woefully unpolished/amateurish in other ways?
        
           | huskyr wrote:
           | Being good in selling stuff and running servers doesn't mean
           | you are automatically great at producing movies and
           | television series, even if you have a lot of money.
        
           | kevinventullo wrote:
           | Because good creativity is somewhat orthogonal to money after
           | a certain level. Peter Jackson didn't make the greatest films
           | of my childhood because he thought it would make him a lot of
           | money. It was the inverse: he had to convince other people
           | they would make money in order to access the resources
           | required to make the greatest films of my childhood.
        
           | SequoiaHope wrote:
           | Money doesn't buy taste.
           | 
           | And executive teams who are good at running a web service are
           | not necessarily good at hiring creative production teams.
        
           | heraldgeezer wrote:
           | Dialogue is getting worse and worse in almost all newer films
           | and series.
           | 
           | Netflix boss tells writers to "have this character announce
           | what they're doing so that viewers who have this program on
           | in the background can follow along."
           | 
           | https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-49/essays/casual-viewing/
           | 
           | "Several screenwriters who've worked for the streamer told
           | [the author] a common note from company executives is "have
           | this character announce what they're doing so that viewers
           | who have this program on in the background can follow along."
           | ("We spent a day together," Lohan tells her lover, James, in
           | Irish Wish. "I admit it was a beautiful day filled with
           | dramatic vistas and romantic rain, but that doesn't give you
           | the right to question my life choices. Tomorrow I'm marrying
           | Paul Kennedy." "Fine," he responds. "That will be the last
           | you see of me because after this job is over I'm off to
           | Bolivia to photograph an endangered tree lizard.")"
           | 
           | Sounds like all new productions reading this. We really live
           | in idiocracy.
        
       | kitsune_ wrote:
       | I mean, I personally don't expect much from the creative machine
       | that brought us Rings Of Power.
        
         | pluc wrote:
         | The vilain was Q all along
        
         | m_mueller wrote:
         | Have you given Season 2 a try? IMO it's much improved and
         | overall very entertaining, including to many Tolkien fans. I
         | take it over the Hobbit films any day.
        
       | light_hue_1 wrote:
       | The spoiled rich person who inherited control of Bond from her
       | father has a problem with how Amazon wants to run it.
       | 
       | There are no heroes in this story.
        
         | nkozyra wrote:
         | Well it's something she is at least invested in and cares about
         | as a narrative and product, whereas Amazon solely wants to turn
         | it into money.
         | 
         | I don't think we're looking for heroes, necessarily, but if you
         | care about a franchise, you want someone who cares about it
         | deeply enough to preserve its ethos.
        
         | _DeadFred_ wrote:
         | I have a cousin who cares deeply about the family farm he
         | inherited. He's obviously trash because he care about something
         | he inherited not created, right? Hating people is ugly. Hating
         | people because of their characteristics from birth is ugly.
        
       | gooseus wrote:
       | "Do you expect me to talk Bezos?"
       | 
       | "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to provide me a formulaic plot to
       | provide my algorithm another hook to drive up my streaming market
       | share!"
       | 
       | Though maybe the real plot is to irradiate the world's limited
       | supply of James Bond properties, driving up the value of the only
       | ones that remain?
        
         | als0 wrote:
         | Real life clip of Jeff Bezos
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtRzkcoXIlg
        
         | dotancohen wrote:
         | After the last movie, revealing his daughter and his supposed
         | death, the next movie could focus on the daughter. Growing up
         | an orphan, just like James did.
         | 
         | They could call it Family Bond.
        
       | briga wrote:
       | >The two sides are at an impasse: Amazon needs Broccoli to
       | furnish them with ideas for a new Bond movie, but Broccoli
       | doesn't want to make a new Bond movie with Amazon.
       | 
       | No offense to the Broccoli family or the franchise but these
       | movies aren't exactly full of original new ideas. They've been
       | rehashing the same formula since the 60s. It doesn't take a
       | creative genius to come up with these plots and I'm pretty sure
       | ChatGPT could generate new ones just as effectively
        
         | choeger wrote:
         | It's Bond. A certain resemblance is necessary. It doesn't
         | suffice to add a few Martinis here, a PPK there, and end with a
         | showdown against a super villain involving tech gadgets. The
         | movie also needs sexism and humor, at least.
         | 
         | Seriously, reinventing Bond while modernizing it but keeping it
         | a Bond movie is challenging. A challenge that people should
         | accept.
        
           | LtWorf wrote:
           | Bah throw it away. The books are racist AF and the whole plot
           | i about how imperialism is actually wonderful.
        
             | Animats wrote:
             | Ah, the good old days of "Take up the white man's burden."
             | Bond belongs to the era of Kipling, when the sun never set
             | on the British Empire and the broad-backed soldiers of the
             | Queen ruled the world.
             | 
             | (Hm. A Bond movie set in 1890... That might work. Read
             | Kipling's "Miss Youghal's Sais" for ideas.[1])
             | 
             | [1] https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/tale/miss-youghals-
             | sais.htm
        
               | LtWorf wrote:
               | Bond was born outdated when the british empire was gone.
               | Now it's really time to invent something else instead of
               | keep doing the same stuff over and over. No matter how
               | much the visitors of this website might downvote me :D
        
               | aleph_minus_one wrote:
               | > Now it's really time to invent something else instead
               | of keep doing the same stuff over and over. No matter how
               | much the visitors of this website might downvote me :D
               | 
               | Be fine with the fact that you are not the target
               | audience of the James Bond movies.
        
         | ubermonkey wrote:
         | Moreover, there are almost zero examples of Eon films where the
         | Eon ideas were _good_.
         | 
         | The films are pretty straight-ahead adaptations of Fleming
         | novels through _Live and Let Die_. After that, they were out of
         | books they had rights to, and the films take a serious plunge
         | in terms of actual quality. For my money, the only genuinely
         | watchable non-adaptation example after LALD is _Goldeneye_.
         | 
         | I mean, note the huge jump in quality when Craig came on when
         | they finally DID have a Fleming novel they could work from
         | again, right?
        
           | cjpearson wrote:
           | No love for _The Spy Who Loved Me_? Maybe Dalton isn't your
           | favorite Bond, but his entries are at least par for the
           | course rather than a serious plunge.
           | 
           | I'd agree that the last 25 years has given us a lot of duds
           | and _Casino Royale_ is the main exception. However, I think
           | it's more likely that Purvis and Wade are the issue here, as
           | the 1977-1997 era showed that Eon could make a decent
           | original Bond.
        
           | mrob wrote:
           | I found Casino Royal to be a huge disappointment. As far as
           | I'm concerned, the whole concept of "spy action thriller" is
           | inherently ridiculous, so you might as well go all in on the
           | wacky cartoon hijinks and have some fun with it. The
           | franchise peaked with Die Another Day.
        
         | 3D30497420 wrote:
         | This was my thought reading through the article. It makes it
         | sound like the Broccoli family is this enlightened steward of
         | this great and hallowed tradition. But its James Bond. It has
         | been rarely more than shallow entertainment, and at its worst
         | is dated, sexist, and tasteless.
         | 
         | Also, while I understand everyone piling on Amazon for
         | producing bad or mediocre shows (Rings of Power), they do have
         | a number of pretty solid shows as well (Fleabag, Fallout, The
         | Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, partially The Expanse, etc.). It is not
         | as if other streaming networks are only producing solid hits.
        
         | karaterobot wrote:
         | The Daniel Craig Bond movies were a pretty significant
         | reinvention, much welcomed and generally pretty good, with the
         | highs much higher than the lows were low. I don't think it's
         | fair or accurate at all to say that Casino Royale, Skyfall, or
         | even No Time To Die were of a piece with the 60s movies in tone
         | or style.
        
       | ethbr1 wrote:
       | One problem in dealing with large, young companies (especially
       | tech) is that most of them have a sense of entitlement.
       | 
       | I.e. "Sure, you have/are ____, but we're ____. We're the real big
       | deal."
       | 
       | I know Google was essentially laughed out of a Maps partnership
       | inside a major warehouse retailer because Google refused to
       | consider sharing the collected data with the retailer. "You
       | wouldn't know what to do with it" was a direct quote.
       | 
       | It feels like legacy Hollywood, for all its faults, understood
       | how to square ego circles better to get deals done.
        
         | aleph_minus_one wrote:
         | > One problem in dealing with large, young companies
         | (especially tech) is that most of them have a sense of
         | entitlement. [...] It feels like legacy Hollywood, for all its
         | faults, understood how to square ego circles better to get
         | deals done.
         | 
         | I don't know much about this "tech culture", but are you sure
         | that they really have this sense of entitlement? Couldn't it
         | rather be that these "tech people" are simply less experienced
         | in "deal politics" and bootlicking important stake holders?
        
           | justin66 wrote:
           | Jesus. For starters don't call dealing with your stakeholders
           | "bootlicking."
        
         | soared wrote:
         | If you think tech is entitled, you haven't seen established
         | players in longstanding industries. They aren't entitled, they
         | are the king and if you don't play by their rules they just
         | don't do business with you.
        
       | HenryBemis wrote:
       | Considering that James Bond movies are pure money-printers, it
       | will take a lot of "DEI initiatives" to kill the franchise and at
       | the same time it offers the best target to hurt the image of
       | "misogyny and patriarchy".
       | 
       | With that said, to address the worries of the average DEI person,
       | I don't sleep with 10 female spies every week despite the fact
       | that I have watched all 007 movies.
       | 
       | So... Amazon can remove their finger and let the specialists do
       | their thing and just sit back and rake the $bn's.
       | 
       | But they won't...
        
         | superultra wrote:
         | Can you explain what you're talking about some more? Other than
         | mentioning that Brocolli is fine with a gay non-white male (but
         | has to be a male), where in article did you glean anything
         | about DEI?
         | 
         | I honestly think the anti-DEI crowd is nearly as unbearable as
         | the brief reign of SJW in 2018. DEI is becoming a perennial
         | bogeyman for some people...
        
       | 5555624 wrote:
       | While I prefer a Bond movie, after seeing how Amazon handled Jack
       | Reacher, they might be able to do some sort of mini-series.
       | 
       | As long as James Bond is a white, British male. You can't change
       | the character after all this time, just for the sake of changing
       | it. If they want to make someone else "007," fine, since someone
       | will get the license Bond retires or gets killed.
        
         | EliRivers wrote:
         | What if they changed the character, not for the sake of
         | changing it, but to bring out something new and interesting and
         | creative that produced an overall better viewing experience?
        
           | piva00 wrote:
           | Yup, for example: I'd love to see what a good writing of a
           | Bond played by Idris Elba would look like. The only
           | requirement is good writing which seems to not be
           | incentivised much in this world of lame data-driven
           | corporations dictating taste.
        
             | spockz wrote:
             | I think a run with Idris Elba would be wonderful.
             | 
             | But I'm not sure how they will pull it off at all.
             | 
             | The original Bond was stereotypical of how women were
             | treated, for Queen and Country. The Daniel Craig reboot
             | made Bond have a soul and conscience, and more depth in
             | character. This was also aided by more time having passed
             | and the world's theater changed accordingly.
             | 
             | Where can go that won't be a repeat of what Daniel Craig
             | did? Go in the past or future?
        
               | piva00 wrote:
               | Going to the future could be interesting, exploring a bit
               | more of sci-fi, a more Star Trek-y society where social
               | justice isn't as large of an issue, new technologies of
               | terror from a Bond villain marrying with Black Mirror-
               | esque future.
               | 
               | I could see this working broadly without triggering the
               | neo-cons sensibilities about whatever they call
               | "wokeness" but being able to explore cultural acceptance,
               | horrors of new technology, etc.
        
               | vouaobrasil wrote:
               | > Where can go that won't be a repeat of what Daniel
               | Craig did? Go in the past or future?
               | 
               | Why not just repeat Craig style? It would still be
               | entertaining and I'd be happy without anything "new".
        
               | tonyedgecombe wrote:
               | >I think a run with Idris Elba would be wonderful.
               | 
               | I'd have liked to see that but I think it's probably too
               | late now, he is only four years younger than Craig.
        
         | superultra wrote:
         | If you read the article you would've seen that Brocolli is fine
         | with a non-white and/or gay person playing Bond; they have to
         | be British and male though.
         | 
         | I think that's the a good tact to take. Let's not pretend that
         | Bond as a character hasn't changed over the decades.
         | 
         | A good approach is how Machine Games approached Indiana Jones.
         | The older movies, especially Temple, have some really
         | uncomfortable scenes with women and Asian people. So they opted
         | instead to portray Indy as we remember him, which is a gruff
         | everyman who respects cultures and people and hates facists.
         | 
         | Bond can be done the same way right
        
           | 5555624 wrote:
           | I understand Brocolli is fine with it. (I didn't say he
           | wasn't.) I just don't see changing Bond's sex or race. Bond
           | is an established character. if you want, say, an Asian
           | female secret agent, come up with a new character.
        
             | mrkpdl wrote:
             | > I understand Brocolli is fine with it. (I didn't say he
             | wasn't.) I just don't see changing Bond's sex or race.
             | 
             | Your comment changed Brocolli from a 'she' to a 'he'
             | though... So maybe you don't mind so much after all?
        
           | duskwuff wrote:
           | > The older movies, especially Temple, have some really
           | uncomfortable scenes with women and Asian people.
           | 
           | Good lord, yes. _Temple of Doom_ received criticism for its
           | racist depiction of India even when it came out in 1984; it
           | 's downright uncomfortable to watch today.
        
         | rchaud wrote:
         | So I take it you skipped the Sean Connery films then?
        
           | roryirvine wrote:
           | Er, Sean Connery was also a white, British male.
           | 
           | Sure, he may not have visited Britain often in his later
           | years, but that was for tax reasons and doesn't change where
           | he was born.
        
             | rchaud wrote:
             | Er, no, Sean Connery was born and raised in Scotland. He
             | literally had a tattoo that reads "Scotland Forever".
             | Entirely different culture and history and relationship
             | with the British military/imperial apparatus than Bond
             | represents.
        
               | roryirvine wrote:
               | The demonym 'British' covers people from all four
               | countries of the UK, including Scotland.
               | 
               | Are you perhaps confusing British with English?
        
               | blibble wrote:
               | Scotland was very much a driving force in the empire
               | 
               | Ireland too
        
           | 5555624 wrote:
           | Don't confuse the actor and the character. While Connery was
           | not British, Bond was.
        
             | dageshi wrote:
             | Connery was British, he was from the British Isles, hence
             | British.
        
           | daseiner1 wrote:
           | Connery was Scottish, Lazenby is Australian, Dalton is Welsh,
           | Brosnan is Irish
        
       | badgersnake wrote:
       | I can see how Amazon's data driven culture is completely
       | incompatible with creative endeavours. Given their recent focus
       | on short-termism I'm not convinced it's that great for strategic
       | thinking either.
        
         | leoc wrote:
         | They did play probably one of the most successful long games in
         | the recent history of business. It does seem that now they've
         | decided that it's time to take profits, though.
        
           | badgersnake wrote:
           | There's no denying they were great. I just get the feeling
           | they're not great anymore. Too much short term nudging the
           | metric.
        
       | ubermonkey wrote:
       | My take here is that they should just let it die.
       | 
       | The Bond franchise it a remarkable thing, but I don't know how
       | you make it "fresh" without ruining the charm. The Craig years
       | were a soft reboot -- Bond was a freshly promoted 00 in _Casino_,
       | and was thus explicitly not the same guy who bested Dr Julius No.
       | 
       | I just don't know where they go from here that would be
       | _interesting_ , and I 100% do not trust Amazon to treat the
       | property well AT ALL.
        
         | Animats wrote:
         | > they should just let it die.
         | 
         | Yes. Would Hollywood please kill off Bond, Star Trek, and Dune?
         | They're all 1960s products that are way past their sell-by
         | date.
        
         | smackeyacky wrote:
         | Bond is literally dead, at least in the films. In the last one,
         | he got blown up.
         | 
         | It's definitely time to let it go. Nobody is clamouring for
         | "Bulldog Drummond" or "Biggles" any more and Bond lived longer
         | than either of those.
         | 
         | (although I still have the Corgi Aston Martin on my desk as a
         | plaything)
        
           | Applejinx wrote:
           | And that is why.
        
       | pkphilip wrote:
       | Amazon has a real problem "playing nice" with any of the
       | companies that signup on their platform. Even as a product
       | seller, it is virtually guaranteed that if your product ever does
       | really well on Amazon that Amazon will offer to buy you out and,
       | if you refuse, develop a competitor who will then receive total
       | priority on their platform.
        
       | generalizations wrote:
       | "Don't have temporary people make permanent decisions."
       | 
       | I like that. Probably all that's needed to explain the stalemate.
        
       | paxys wrote:
       | Let's not pretend that the James Bond franchise is some bastion
       | of high art and creativity that must be protected from corporate
       | interests. The films are as cookie cutter as they come. The same
       | plots, ideas, stunts have been getting rehashed for 60 years now.
       | Amazon can do no better or worse with it than any other studio.
       | 
       | Giving the character a break after the Daniel Craig era is a
       | calculated business move, and a good one. They'll wait for public
       | interest to drum up again in a couple of years and then magically
       | resolve all their differences.
        
       | wslh wrote:
       | I just discovered that Harry Saltzman [1] was part of the company
       | with the film rights to James Bond. His life was incredibly
       | adventurous, filled with fascinating experiences. He sold his
       | shares in the 70s. His obituary [2].
       | 
       | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Saltzman
       | 
       | [2] <https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/29/obituaries/harry-
       | saltzman...> <https://archive.is/ji1iT>
        
       | gigel82 wrote:
       | I'm more upset about them buying and burying the Stargate
       | franchise (which was just prepping for a new show / reboot).
        
       | intexpress wrote:
       | Overall I feel like Amazon produced TV and movies have been
       | pretty terrible
       | 
       | Apple on the other hand are making some surprisingly good shows!
       | Not always, but generally much better than Amazon.
        
       | paxys wrote:
       | Why is everyone falling for the most obvious negotiation tactic
       | in the world? The copyright owners know that Amazon has money,
       | way more than any regular film studio. Watch their reservations
       | about commercializing the franchise magically disappear once the
       | number is high enough.
        
       | duxup wrote:
       | > Don't have temporary people make permanent decisions.
       | 
       | That seems like the entire streaming ecosystem as services
       | compete to pay more for content than it is worth and ultimately
       | many lose money.... And the content is hidden / hard to find.
        
       | YouWhy wrote:
       | > Don't have temporary people make permanent decisions
       | 
       | IMHO, this one line summarizes remarkably well why Hollywood
       | wrecks fictional universes: Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Fantastic
       | Beasts, DC Universe, and even parts of the Marvel universe.
       | 
       | I see the absence of an auteur capable of respecting themselves
       | and therefore others as the root cause of cliched moves "war is
       | bad so let's kill the God Of War". Clearly, the person making
       | such a decision simply does not have a reputation to uphold; what
       | remains is optimizing ticket sales, one movie at a time.
        
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