I’d agree regarding gay and American, because if there are 3 things the average person on the street knows about Bond, it’s that he’s a spy, he’s British, and he loves the ladies. I can only assume those three are constants in the books as well.
But this is a legitimate question, from someone who hasn’t read any of the books: Is it actually stated or even implied in the books that Bond is white? Or is that just assumed by readers who are white?
I’ve only read “Casino Royale”, and there’s not any explicit mention of Bond being white, but he is described as being reminiscent of Hoagy Carmichael, who is white.
And yet no actor ever cast as Bond has looked anything like Hoagy Carmichael. Is that also a betrayal of the source material?
I’ve heard that the author of Mary Poppins felt the Disney Movie was a betrayal of the source material.
What plot point did they change? There are strategic holes that I’ve noticed in the movie. I’ve read the book once but it was ages ago.
I’m not sure it was explicitly stated, but it would have been the kind of thing that “went without saying.” In the 1950s and 1960s, if Bond had been black (or anything other than white) it would have been unequivocally remarked on given the social circles he was moving in. I’m sure that there were instances of Bond posing as a Russian or German or other European to infiltrate some villain’s hideout. And of course, several stories take place in part in Florida where he would have encountered segregated facilities at the time if he were black.
True that. Despite a Disney movie showing the conflict – and downplaying it considerably – although Unca Walt desperately wanted to make a sequal, she did not allow it.
The movie version of “Ready Player One” can consume fecal matter and expire. Its a horrible abomination of an amazing book.
Jaws the book was about a shark and a love triangle between Brody, his wife and Hooper. Which is why Hooper had to die. I like that the movie got rid of this distraction.
The Shining was definitely not “better for it” though. The book is the best thing Stephen King has ever written to date. A decent movie was made that was loosely based on it but didn’t tell the same story, didn’t develop the characters as written, and lost a lot of what made the book so great. Kubrick’s movie had some great moments but was a substantially flawed piece of work (to watch Jack Torrance / Nicholson gradually go insane is a lot like watching Jim Carrey gradually become annoying; Shelley Duval as Wenday was busy doing a Fay Wray reprise instead of being a strong if damaged character; Scatman Crothers as Dick Hallorann spent frantic minutes getting back to the hotel only to get killed off on arrival, not an improvement in the plot flow; the final denoument of the Jack character forgetting the furnace boiler and the hotel subsequently blowing up is replaced with people running in aimless circles and a fade to a photograph. And Danny, instead of being the hero, is scarcely even the primary vantage point. Shoulda stuck with the source material. And done better casting.
Oh gosh no, the LotR films stay about as true to the Source as you could expect in a film.
Now, the Hobbit films, otoh…
No, it’s not. The fact that it’s even a question shows that the director didn’t understand the work.
Look, the androids are in many ways more human than Deckard. That’s the whole point. Making Deckard into a android misses that entire point, changes it into “Can a android be more human than another android?” which is** fucking stupid. **
And in You Only Live Twice he disguised himself as a Japanese coal miner. Rather more difficult for a black person than a white.
It’s mentioned in the books that Bond has a comma of black hair that be brushes away from his forehead, so at least he doesn’t have an afro. I don’t think ethnicity is ever mentioned.
Of course they could go with the Casino Royale idea that “James Bond 007” is just a code name, assigned to their best assassin/spy. or their 7th best?
He also has blue-gray eyes.
Checking, in You Only Live Twice it’s mentioned that his father was Scottish, from Glencoe, and his mother was French Swiss. So yes, he explicitly was white.
Ages ago for me too. I think it had to do with how the deception of appearing to destroy the October sub was handled. I’ll have to go back and check.
Bringing up graphic novels makes me think of WANTED…did the movie have anything to do with its source material?
IIRC, in the novel, RO made it safe and sound to the U.S.A., and a maskirova was enacted by Ryan/CIA to say that she was destroyed, going so far as to blow up a decommissioned U.S. sub, and to remove some of RO’s readily identifiable bits and pieces and place them in the debris field for “verification” that it was the RO that was actually destroyed.
Meanwhile, the RO laid up in an obscure river channel for a few weeks/months to let the furor die down, before moving discreetly down to a secure Navy/CIA dockyard for analysis. It was during that movement that Tupolev caught up with the RO and the “duel” ensued.
Nah, they made some big changes.
For example, The Ents going to war against Saruman. In the books, at this point Merry and Pippin were pretty much just baggage, with no sense of what needed to be done. They both matured and took responsibility later, but while with the Ents, they were just along for the ride. In the movie, however, it was Merry (I think???) who maneuvered the Ents into going to war against their inclination to stay neutral. That was totally beyond what he was capable of at that point in time.
They also, for some inexplicable reason made the Uruk-Hai hydroponically grown in mud, emerging fully grown and ready to throw on some armor, pick up a weapon and go into battle. There’s no basis for that in the books. And it’s really not necessary, or believable, even in the LOTR world.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked the movies greatly and understand how much of those massive books needed to be cut in order to make the movies a reasonable length. I just have a few quibbles about things that should have been left in and the two items above which DIDN’T NEED TO BE CHANGED!!!