In Hollywood convention Russians are bad guys, Arabs are bad guys with beards, Brits are bad guys with boarding-school backgrounds, and Mexicans are bad guys with burritos. It seems Mexico has had enough of this, however – and is reported to have offered the producers of the new James Bond movie tax incentives in return for more favourable representation. The producers deny that any changes were made to the script of Spectre because of financial incentives. But as it stands, the villain is Italian and the Bond girl is Mexican. It should also be noted that this will be Mexico’s first ever Bond girl. Read into that what you will.
This isn’t the first time that tax rebates may have affected the casting of a film. Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings was blindingly white despite being set in ancient Egypt. Scott explained the lack of melanin in his Gods and Kings: “I can’t mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such.” I know, that would be way too accurate-and-accurate.
This also isn’t the first time that the Sony email leak has led to a controversy over the casting of a Bond film. Last year a leaked email suggesting that Idris Elba should play the next James Bond spurred a debate over whether a black Bond was realistic. Realism, of course, being a pressing concern in a franchise of films about a fictional character best known for gadgets that defy physics, a liver that defies cirrhosis, and love interests with names like Octopussy and Plenty O’Toole.
Idris Elba was at the centre of a similar debate when he was cast as a Nordic god in Thor. “It’s so ridiculous,” Elba said, in response to the criticism. “We have a man who has a flying hammer and wears horns on his head. And yet me being an actor of African descent playing a Norse god is unbelievable?” Analogous accusations were leveled at the decision to cast Lucy Liu in the role of Dr Joan Watson in Elementary, an American TV show that re-imagines Sherlock Holmes in modern New York. “Casting Lucy Liu as Dr ‘Joan’ Watson will ruin one of the great bromances of all time,” fumed the Daily Telegraph. Someone should probably tell them that Sherlock Holmes isn’t actually real, so there’s no bromance to ruin.
It’s funny how many people seem to get wound up by questions of realism and authenticity when it comes to interpretations of fictional characters. It’s funny also that these questions of realism in casting never seem to be so much of an issue when black or brown characters are re-imagined as white. Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince of Persia? Practically a documentary. Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl, a woman of African ancestry? Put a curly wig and some dark make-up on her, and she’ll pass. But when it comes to re-imagining the race, sex, or sexuality of fictional straight white men – well, that risks undermining the very foundation of culture.
That being said, we are seeing a slow but steady change in casting conventions as studios and networks realise the commercial benefits of appealing to a more diverse demographic. And, perhaps, the PR value of an unexpected casting. More strikingly, however, we’re starting to see countries invest in movies in the same way that corporations traditionally have, and treat casting as a branding opportunity.
The interesting thing about the allegations that Mexico traded tax credits for control over the Bond script, is that it’s basically product placement, just with race. Mexico has long been sensitive to the media’s impact on its brand image and has previously accused Hollywood of promoting racist stereotypes of Mexicans by casting them as “drug dealers and gardeners”. It now appears that they might be willing to spend millions of dollars on getting Hollywood to promote an image of Mexico as a place filled with hot women and men who won’t kill you, sell you cocaine or plant your geraniums.
When it comes to casting cliches, it seems you can evolve your way out, you can agitate your out, or you can buy your way out. On that note, I’m off to set up a Kickstarter for a Palestinian lesbian Danger Mouse.
