James Bond Has Always Been A White Heterosexual Man

ENGLISH author Anthony Horowitz who is the most recent writer chosen to write a James Bond novel by the estate of Bond's creator Ian Fleming, recently sparked an outrage when he said actor Idris Elba was "too street" and not "suave" enough to play Britain's favourite spy. Mr Horowitz later apologized for his comment which some deemed as racist. Though I did not agree with author's claim that Idris is 'too street' to play 007, I found nothing racist about his statement. Idris Elba is the personification of sex in my opinion. He is a versatile actor who can certainly play suave. I have watched him play many varied roles very well indeed. He is a great actor. However, he cannot be James Bond because James Bond is a white guy with white parents. According to Ian Fleming, the creator of this fictional character, James Bond was born in 1920. His father is from Scotland and and his mother is Swiss. His eyes are blue. With that said, it would compromise the narrative to Idris Elba as bond, as worthy and capable as he is. I know someone is already calling me a racist. Let me point out that I'm a black man and I have nothing against the colour of my skin. Furthermore, I'm a huge fan of Idris Elba. He is an amazing actor and I believe he can play the part smoothly. However, the idea of a black actor playing the Scottish-Swiss James Bond is as daft as having a white actor playing Shaft. Furthermore, if Ian Fleming didn't care about Bond's ethnicity he wouldn't have mentioned it. For him to go to the length of describing the colour of Bond's eyes meant he wanted us to know his character's race. Fleming created a white character and we should respect his product. I was listening to the the cast of the latest Bond movie, 'Spectre' last night. I found it ridiculous that some thought it would be a great idea to have a woman play James Bond or that 007 be gay in future films. I'm all for equality, but James Bond has always been a white heterosexual man. 'It's who Bond is. I think people forget we're talking about a character in a movie, that is based on a series of books. This is not a race thing, it's a back story and continuity thing. It's about sticking with the character.James Bond was written as a white heterosexual male just as Shaft was written as a black heterosexual male, some things are just not meant to be altered. Perhaps I don't buy into political correctness bullshit, but are we not supposed to respect the creative mind of the person who invented James Bond? What will be next? A native American Snow? Should we have an Indian girl play Harry Potter? Why is everything sexist these days? Why is everything racist these days? Political correctness gone wrong. James Bond, in the books and films, has spoken of a Scottish dad and a white European mother. I couldn't give two hoots who plays any other role in a Bond movie but if 007 ain't a well spoken British white chap. then it ain't Bond. If certain actors/actresses [if the latter is acceptable to female actors] and/or producers etc want to create films about spies who are different, let them. But they ought not usurp the Bond franchise which has worked so well on its own merits for so long.

MY THOUGHTS ON OSCAR'S RELEASE FROM PRISON

SPRINTER Oscar Pistorius who was supposed to be released from a South African prison on Tuesday was apparently released Monday night after serving one day shy of a year in prison for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013. It is thought his early release may have been to prevent the media from trying to catch a glimpse of the gold medalist as he was driven away from prison. Pistorius, 28, will now serve the remaining four years of his five-year sentence under house arrest. He also will face further attempts by prosecutors to charge him with murder in the death of his girlfriend. Pistorius who was convicted of culpable homicide in September last year has been released from prison under South Africa's guidelines that allow non-dangerous prisoners to be freed upon serving about one-sixth of their sentence. Now, I'm not going to claim I know anything about law let alone the South African law. But in my opinion, I don't think "good behavior" should get a murderer out of prison in a year. Oscar was in prison not a local pub. There were guards and other nut cases in there with him. How the hell do they think he would behave? Practically speaking most convicts could be released under those "good behavior" rules. Why can't it be, behave "good" for half of your sentence, then we'll consider parole and after considering we would say NO? Thanks to this stupid law, this cold blooded murderer is now home in a mansion in a very upscale neighborhood, having steak and eggs in the morning as Reeva's blood keeps crying from her grave for justice. I call Oscar a cold blooded murderer because I don't believe his account of what happened on that fateful night. I read and saw few things on this case and clearly this man intended to kill her. Pistorius killed Steenkamp by firing bullets through a closed bathroom door on Valentine's Day. His defense was that he believed there was an intruder in his home, and had no idea that Steenkamp was on the other side of the door. Well , now that he is back home, Oscar might want to leave the bathroom door open at all times as he does his business.

NO JUSTICE FOR CECIL THE LION

ZIMBABWE has announced that it has abandoned its bid to press charges against a US dentist who killed Cecil the lion, saying his papers "were in order" and that he did not know he was committing any offence. I don't know what is going on in Zimbabwe. That country seems to be driven by very dark forces. Something has to be done at international level to stop the brutal killings, torture and abuse of animals by these serial killers like Walter Palmer. That is a crime against humanity. In this day and age, why do we need to hunt for sport? As human beings, we need to go above our egocentric and self-absorbed needs for unnecessary killing of animals. If that sorry excuse for a man has $50,000 or Euros to throw around, why not give it to a charitable cause? That dentist, or whatever he is, exemplifies what is wrong with the world. Maybe Palmer's papers WERE in order. However, I don't feel that trophy hunting is ethical by any stretch of the imagination. Palmer says he "thought everything was in order". I don't believe him, since he lied years ago about "legally" shooting a bear. I still hope his practice has suffered because of the outrage. There are many who disagree, I'm sure. But that's the way I feel.

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

I WENT to see Straight Outta Compton last night at The Zone in Rosebank and it left me amazed at how far rap music has come.

Now, probably someone is wondering how a movie that was released on August 14th, 2015 can still be in theaters, two months later. Well, apparently the movie only premiered here in South Africa on October 2.

Though I have been looking forward to seeing this movie, I will admit that it far exceeded my expectations. I don't really have a favorite part. But if this counts, my favorite part of the movie is the whole first 40 minutes. It was funny, sad, entertaining, inspiring and brought back old memories. Every music scene in the movie hit hard in the theaters, the bass and just the way it was filmed was amazing.

Straight Outta Compton is definitely up there among the best  biographical drama films ever produced. This movie should and must definitely win an Oscar!

Also, I never thought this movie would be great to watch or even draw me closer to  Eazy E. Watching Straight Outta Compton really made me feel for this guy. It referred many times to the fact that he admitted he wasn't smart or anything like that; which makes sense as to why he never knew about HIV or AIDS.

The movie is also more or less about the hardships that surround trying to start something that has never been done before. Seeing what these rap pioneers went through and looking at what has become of rap music today just makes me wanna cry.

Man I don't know where I'm going with this, but If you have not seen this movie yet, you are missing out. This is hands down a classic. Go see it, you won't be disappointed!

DIEGO COSTA SHOULD BE GIVEN A RETROSPECT BAN

I HATE the feeling of being angry, especially when it is about something I have no control over. But I'm still livid about Arsenal's 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday at Stamford Bridge. My anger is not so much about the loss itself. It is about that ugly son of bitch, Diego Costa.

If you watched the lunchtime kick off, you will probably agree with me that Costa is a horrible excuse for a football player. He is a disgrace.  For the record, I don't doubt Costa's abilities as a player. I think he is a good player. But he is a good player who always treads a fine line and he went way beyond it in yesterday's match. Costa's aggressive behaviour has no place in football.

Also, though it is no surprise, it still infuriates me that Jose Mourinho can defend his player's appalling behaviour. There's one thing worse than a bad loser and that's a bad winner.

How can Mourinho claim, "He played the game like it should have been played."???Chelsea are bullies who are full of themselves, from the top all the way down. Danny Baker quite brilliantly likened the Club to a chav that wins the lottery, he was spot on.

Mourinho cannot say Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, should stop 'crying' after every Chelsea defeat when he is the one who cries and blames everyone but himself when his team loses. Mourinho is on record blaming referees, his own players and his own team doctors in the wake of Chelsea defeats. Jose is the biggest hypocrite of all time and an enemy of football who's never spoken a word about football worth remembering.

Anyway, I came here to talk about is Costa and not his bullish and arrogant coach. The FA should review the situations involving Costa throughout the game not just the ones involving Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel. By the letter of the law, he should've had 8 yellow cards and 2 red and I could've missed some. How the referee Mike Dean missed all of those, yet picked up on two tiny infringements by Santi Cazorla and sent him off, I have no idea.

I should also mention about Gabriel's naivety. It was naive for Garbriel to stick his studs up against Costa in full view of the referee. I understand he was irked, but that was plain dumb. Costa enjoy getting under the the skin of opponent players and Garbriel fell for it hook, line and sinker.

The Premier League should throw the book at Diego Costa.

REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11

FOURTEEN years ago today, thousands of innocent people lost their lives in the US terror attacks.

As someone once put it, "on that terrible day, a nation became a neighborhood, all Americans (if not the whole world) became New Yorkers."

I will never forget that day, where I was, who I was with or how I felt. Rest in peace to the innocent people that lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

My thoughts and prayers are with all victims and their families, friends and loved ones and the thousands who continue to suffer from illnesses caused by the toxic smoke and debris at Ground Zero.

Remember, this is not a day to entertain conspiracy theories or wallop in Islamophobia. Do not generalize. Empathize and employ a broader thought process.

Also, if there is a lesson to learn from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.

‪#‎NeverForget911‬

REMEMBERING PRINCESS DIANA

TODAY marks exactly 18 years since the death of Diana the Princess of Wales. On Sunday August 31, 1997, Diana, her companion Dodi al Fayed and their driver Henri Paul were killed in a car crash in Paris, France while trying to escape the paparazzi.

Lady Diana's tragic death not only shocked the UK but the world at large. I was only 17 when this tragedy happened but I still remember that day so vividly like it was yesterday. I had just arrived home that fateful Sunday afternoon when my baby sister broke the news to me. When I heard the news, it was as though time had stopped. I could not believe the sadness and pain I went through in that moment. It was like receiving the death of a very close relative or friend.

But perhaps this could be the reason Diana was referred to as the People's Princess. Her sympathy and kindness were always sincere and people reciprocated her feelings. Lady Di's life in many ways resembled the fairy­tale about but it is worth mentioning that Diana did a lot of charity work. She personally visited the terminally ill in many countries of the world, led a campaign in animal protection, against AIDS and inhuman weapons, in particular, against anti­personnel land mines.

Princess Diana was one of the first high profile people to be photographed embracing HIV/AIDS patients, helping to remove the stigma attached to the disease. Her tireless work with AIDS organisations and children's charities leaves a lasting legacy, while the Diana Memorial Fund set up in her memory has raised 100 million pounds to date.

HEAL THE WORLD

TODAY the late King Of Pop Michael Jackson would have celebrated his 57th birthday.

I'm not sure about you folks, but my all time favourite MJ song is Heal the World from his 1991 hit album, Dangerous.

In my view, this song encompasses everything. Musically, it is beautiful and I don't think there is a songwriter alive who doesn't wish they had written this song. The lyrics are amazing. It's perfect and I will speak for many when I say the message in this song is how we want the world to be.

Happy Birthday MJ. May your legacy live on.