# Racism in Bond movie "Live and Let Die" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 12, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175 "2005-07-12T14:00:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175/21 "2005-07-17T22:18:43Z")
You expect a James Bond movie from the early '70s to be politcally correct? “No, Mr. Bond; I expect you to die.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175/22 "2005-07-18T02:06:35Z")
And remember, the screenplay is credited to Tom Mankiewicz, the worst writer ever associated with the Bond series. IMHO, the three films with his name on them are the nadir of the series (at least, scriptwise). I also blame him for the crappier parts of the first two Superman films. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175/23 "2005-07-18T22:30:36Z")
Yes it is racsit but a special kind of Hollywood 70’s racisim: o me there is an element of a white guy in 1973 trying to be hip and down. e.g. Animal House: “Yo, Otis my man”, every gym you’ve ever been in when \*that \* white guy starts talking black, white guys giving their black business associates “soul” handshakes etc. It is a racism that makes it awkward, and embarassing to whites and blacks alike. It is racism - but a racism of trying too hard and trying to be cool (and that interprets all Black people as slick and cool and down) – which is a different kind of racism than the “Blacks are inferior”-type stuff the charge of racism usually incorporates. A case in point, the white LOLD “pimpmobile” is actually a Chevrolet Corvette fitted with the fiberglass molding of a Cadillac Eldorado - the vehicle was marketed as the “Corvorado” by Les Dunham who claimed that the car was used in the film Superfly in 1972…easy to see why they would use it for LOLD ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175/24 "2005-07-19T03:17:25Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > Of course if you want proper blaxploitation [nobody does it better](http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0069/0069_01.asp) > waka-chika-waka-chika Wow he’s bad! Leroy Brown! Badest man in the whole damn town! Righton brotha! ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175/25 "2005-07-19T03:28:47Z")
\*\*Resume Prestige. \*\* **GOLDFINGER:** Auric Goldfinger: SMERSH treasurer, metallurgist, international smuggler **LIVE AND LET DIE:** Dr. Kananga / Mr. Big: Head of the Black Widow Voodoo Cult, dictator of San Monique, UN member, Harlem crimelord, restauranteur, international herion smuggler. ADVANTAGE: \*Live and Let Die’s \* Dr. Kananga Comment: Kanagna is a triple threat: political dictator, criminal cult mastermind and drug kingpin. **Henchmen.** **GOLD:** Oddjob **LALD:** All of Harlem, all of San Monique, Solitaire, Baron Samedi, Tee Hee, Whisper ADVANTAGE: _Live and Let Die_ Comment: Oddjob is a badass, but so’s all these guys **Bond Girls.** **GOLD:** Pussy Galore **LALD:** Solitaire ADVANTAGE: _Goldfinger_ Comment: Hey, I like Jane Seymour, but Solitatire was just lame, plus you gotta honor Blackmon’s Pussy. **Scheme, The Impossible Scheme** **GOLD:** Gas the reservists with a biochemical attack and contaminate Fort Knox’s entire gold reserve with a time delayed atomic bomb **LALD** : Peddle heroin through a system of inner city fried fish/chicken joints. ADVANTAGE: _Goldfinger_ Comment: Peddle herion through fish/chicken joints? **Theme Music** Goldfinger, by Shirley Bassey Live And Let Die, _by… ah, who cares_… ADVANTAGE: _Goldfinger_ Comment. He wants gooOOoooooOooooOOooooOoollllld! **Worthy Nemesis** _Goldfinger_: third appearance, Connery Bond _Live and Let Die_: first appearance, Moore Bond ADVANTAGE: _Goldfinger._ Comment: By this time, both Connery and the producers were just hitting their stride in the Bond role, and it absolutely shows. **Grand Exit** _Goldfinger_: Plane crash _Kananga/Mr. Big_. Blown up like a balloon. ADVANTAGE: _Goldfinger_Comment: I becha when they told you your spot was gonna blow up, you thought something different. The winner: Goldfinger, by 5-2 ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175/26 "2005-07-19T04:48:26Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **Theme Music** > Goldfinger, by Shirley Bassey > Live And Let Die, _by… ah, who cares_… > ADVANTAGE: _Goldfinger_ > Comment. He wants gooOOoooooOooooOOooooOoollllld! I lurve Shirley Bassey (who should have sung every Bond theme song, or at least alternated with Tom Jones) but _Live And Let Die_ was the only decent song ever performed by McCartney and Wings. (_Silly Love Songs_? _Hey, Hey, Hey_? Give me a break.) I liked Roger Moore as _The Saint_ (a deliberately, silly, slightly foppish role he was born to play). But Brett Maverick or James Bond? Meh. I can’t believe someone hasn’t yet complained about Sherriff J.W. Pepper yet (an obvious attempt to cash in on Southopolixation) yet. Now, there is a truely abominable character, and one that survives to appear, absolutely pointlessly, into the next film. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175/27 "2005-07-19T14:46:29Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Going by old films I’ve seen, it seems common to assign an appellation to people you don’t know well; e.g., ‘Chief’, ‘Mac’, ‘Doc’, ‘Governor’. I took Quarrel’s ‘Captain’ to simply be such an appellation, not a sign of submission. Possibly, but who else ever calls Bond “Captain”? Felix Leiter always calls him “James”. Everybody else calls him “Mr. Bond”. But the black guy doesn’t get to call him by his first name - no way. I don’t know the movie nearly as well as the book (because I can’t stand Moore as Bond), but in the book there is a very unpleasant passage. Bond has been captured (and had his finger broken) by Mr. Big, and is preparing to escape. He is held at gunpoint by one of the (black) henchmen. Bond then remembers some advice Leiter has given him on beating up black people - > [@](#): > > Shins, groin, stomach, throat. Hit them anywhere else, and you will only break your hand. This was a common urban myth about black people. They were presumed to be so primitive and stupid that punching them in the head would do no good, but they fell apart under body blows. Jack Johnson used to make fun of his opponents by allowing them to hit him in the body and then laughing at them. So Bond karate chops the bad guy in the groin. Then, when the bad guy bends forwards in pain, Bond hits him on the back of the head with a gun. The bad guy’s head gives out a dull klong, like hitting metal. :rolleyes: I realize that I am holding Fleming to a standard that didn’t exist in his day, but it adds a jarring note to the book. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175/28 "2005-07-19T15:33:43Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > I can’t believe someone hasn’t yet complained about Sherriff J.W. Pepper yet (an obvious attempt to cash in on Southopolixation) yet. Now, there is a truely abominable character, and one that survives to appear, absolutely pointlessly, into the next film. [The James Bond Film Festival. Part 8: Live and Let Die](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=203474). 😉 > [@Shodan](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Shins, groin, stomach, throat. Hit them anywhere else, and you will only break your hand. > > This was a common urban myth about black people. They were presumed to be so primitive and stupid that punching them in the head would do no good, but they fell apart under body blows. I didn’t take this to apply only to Black people. I thought that the advice was applicable to everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175/29 "2005-07-19T15:44:00Z")
> [@Johnny L.A](#): > > I didn’t take this to apply only to Black people. I thought that the advice was applicable to everyone. I was always told, “Soft target, hard weapon; hard target, soft weapon”. But I got the impression from the situation, especially the “klong” description of the bad guy’s head, and also that Bond had no problems hitting white people in the head (for instance, in the book Diamonds are Forever), that this was in furtherance of the urban myth about black guys. Although, come to think of it, Bond doesn’t punch people very much in the books. He kills a Mexican with a chin jab and chop to the throat in Goldfinger, he punches a bad guy in the jaw in a fight in a fake Western saloon in Diamonds are Forever, and that is about it. He shoots people, stabs them, drowns them in bird poop, but not a lot of punching. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175/30 "2005-07-19T15:53:43Z")
> [@Camus](#): > > “Black Hawk Down” (the movie) was also extremely racist. All of the “villains” in the flick were black. While there were one or two black US soldiers shown, they looked EXACTLY like the “villains” except for the different uniform, facial features, and language. I know this post is probably tongue in cheek, but I’ll respond anyway. Watching the movie for the first time, I noticed how many of the US troops were white and wondered why this element of political un-correctness somehow made it into a hollywood movie. Later I read the book. According to the book, out of the couple hundred soldiers involved in the battle only a few were black. (2-3 IIRC). Upon watching the movie again, it’s obvious that the movie makers went out of their way to give the few black soldiers lots and lots of camera time. It’s surprising that they didn’t elect simply to change the race of the characters to better diversify the US troops. I’m glad they didn’t. It’s the absolute realism and true story aspect that made the movie so powerful for me. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175/31 "2005-07-19T17:40:58Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > It’s surprising that they didn’t elect simply to change the race of the characters to better diversify the US troops. I’m glad they didn’t. It’s the absolute realism and true story aspect that made the movie so powerful for me. Did they show the Somalis using human shields, like in the book? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175/32 "2005-07-21T18:36:23Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > I lurve Shirley Bassey (who should have sung every Bond theme song, or at least alternated with Tom Jones) but _Live And Let Die_ was the only decent song ever performed by McCartney and Wings. (_Silly Love Songs_? _Hey, Hey, Hey_? Give me a break.)… > > Stranger “Lurve”? Is this a slam at Celine Dion? If so, well done, and carry on 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-in-bond-movie-live-and-let-die/312175.md?page=1)