re: Ben Whishaw 'Would Like to See' an Openly Gay Actor Play James Bond Next

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You know all those people are real and James Bond isn’t, right?

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So was Anne Boleyn.



And obviously...



But more importantly, I think this is a terrible argument. Take Superman for instance. He's been around in the public consciousness for 80+ years. Nearly everyone on the planet knows him. If asked to close your eyes and describe him physically, nearly everyone could give you an almost perfect description of what he looks like as a person and what his costume looks like. They could tell you where he's from, tell you about Kryptonite, they likely know his human name Clark Kent, etc. He's SO recognizable that REAL PEOPLE are often times described as "looking like Superman."

So...why does the fact that he's not now and never has been a living breathing person matter when it comes to his portrayal? Changing his race, sex, personality or even costume amounts to altering the very memory we all have of the character. The fact that he was never real is not relevant here, as we all share the same distinct knowledge about him as we do of any real person. It's why it makes no more sense to make Clark Kent a black man in a red costume than it would to make MLK a white man. We all KNOW it's incorrect.