A Self Portrait...

21 July 2019

James Bond

Some time ago I wrote a comment on YouTube about a new mini series I said I thought it was wrong and I stand by that. In my comment I said something about James Bond being transformed into Liberace which I have decided was a little extreme.

James Bond was as almost everyone surely knows written by Ian Fleming a journalist (tells us all we need to know) and author.

The James Bond Fleming created was the worlds best fighter, lover and spy. He was also British which to be fair was Fleming's area of expertise.

But, if it was Fleming's area of expertise why did he create James Bond as a straight man? Surely almost all of the known British spies of his day were not just traitors to the UK they were also gay. This is just the known spies there were probably other, better spies who were and are still unknown but being gay was obviously not a hindrance to work. So why did Fleming ignore the facts and write salacious fiction? Was he afraid to go anywhere near the subject of gay men which to be fair was at that time both criminal and disliked or and perhaps more likely if mercenary did he write James Bond as straight simply to get the books published and sell more.

Today there is a strong element that wants James Bond to be black and that does not make sense. In every book Fleming wrote the enemy was always of European descent and to be fair to Fleming that is where most of the UKs and the Wests 'enemies' were from. If James Bond needed to fit in and he did he had to be European, but he didn't and doesn't have to be straight.

Its kind of amusing that as far as I know not one strong, capable, great fighter is portrayed as gay. Not one and not only is that not historically true its the loss of a major opportunity. To make James Bond black would not work but he can and perhaps should be gay.

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