Every time I hear about this project, I think of this great exchange from Community:
Professor Sean Garrity:
Of course. We just used them in a modern retelling of MacBeth set in gangster-era Chicago.
Jeff Winger:
Fresh take. Never would have thought of it. [to Annie] And you call me lazy.
Iâm pretty sure Iâve mentioned this before but in case I havenât , Iâve spent 20 years of my life in the Middle East, Kuwait. My father was in the construction field over there.
So Iâve been very much exposed to the same industry that these oil rich countries get a lot of flack for.
I can tell you first hand that a lot of these British âJournalistsâ exacerbate issue and a lot of what is said isnât remotely close to the truth. Take it from someone whoâs been there and has a lot of friends and family in the region. I remember around the time of the World Cup there was a lot of controversies around how the numbers they came up with on the construction related deaths were fabricated and in reality it was far lower.
Weâve had Bond Films done in Turkey , Egypt , China where similar arguments could be made.
Also, Tony Blair former UK PM played a significant role in the Iraq War by claiming Saddam Hussain had WMDâs which led to the death of about 600,000 Iraqi Civilians. If you include British troops, other allied combatants and indirect deaths, The total tally sits well above a million.
Does that mean we should stop filming Bond in the UK ? No.
It becomes a quite troubling discussion if one defends one side by saying it is not that bad and the other side is also bad.
Well, we can agree on this: we both want Bond 26 to move forward.
Exactly
Difficult. While I agree that other countries certainly have similar issues we instinctively feel that whataboutism isnât the answer here. If I take money without any kind of moral standard - then consequently no kind of ethical standard must play any role.
Would we have been fine with a Bond film shot on Cambodiaâs killing fields then? I doubt it. As humans we instinctively grasp for ethical guidance. We want our actions to live up to moral standards, even if they can never be absolute and weâll always fall short of the ideal. We strive and that is our very nature.
If a country like Qatar with its various links to Hamas starts financing entertainment like it already does sports events, then this should give us pause. Is it just about a few pretty sights and spectacular set pieces - or do they also want to read the script before? And if they wanted changes, how far would we be willing to go along?
I think from the moment Qatar was mentioned as financiers of this production these questions became important.
Putin already bought himself political parties all across Europe and even the US. A Bond film he could easily finance - and his groupies would be delighted. You can bet the Russians would aggressively push their ultra-nationalist/racist Rus agenda and thatâs nothing but an inhumane bestiality ideology, Nazism coated in Russian. Whatever this filth touches festers and dies.
A Bond film financed by this would be the end of it.
Maybe you take it as whataboutery ,The way I take it is that the yardstick isnât applied equally here. Qatarâs disregard for workers safety in an attempt to meet impossible deadlines pales in comparison to war crimes committed by western countries and many other Asian countries where Bond has been filmed in. The numbers donât lie.
My point is you can make many arguments for and against any regime of any country in the world. So itâs a pointless exercise as a whole. Letâs just enjoy cinema for what is it. Even if Qatar is funding a new James Bond movie they wouldnât glorify the Emir of the country. Weâll just get a high tech concrete desert as the back drop of our man running around chasing villains. If Ghost Protocol is anything to go by thatâs a huge plus in my books.
Your last point on Russia is highly political and I can see you take a very strong stance on that issue which is fine. Youâll find people on the other side of the fence whoâll vehemently disagree with you. I donât have any political inclination on this subject as there are a lot of intricacies at play and itâs far too complex.
Cheers
I would hope so even if it is doubtful - and the normalizing would already be the win they want.
With Putin´s Russia there is no âfine people on both sidesâ-argument possible, and thinking there is no political inclination already is political. Sorry.
Itâs unacceptable and highly inappropriate to make sweeping generalizations about an entire nation or its people based on the actions of a few.
Labeling all Russians as pushing a âbestiality ideologyâ or likening them to Nazis is not only historically inaccurate but also deeply offensive and inflammatory. this kind of language perpetuates harmful stereotypes and fuels division and hatred.
We must be careful with our words and avoid dehumanizing entire populations. Critique policies or specific actions if you must, but never resort to broad, hateful characterizations that diminish our shared humanity. Respectful dialogue is the only way forward. Letâs be better.
Quite so.
This hasâŚveered, although it is understandable why. Anyway, onwards. Until we know somethingâs happening, thereâs little point polarising over speculation whether it might.
Just for the record: I never used those terms, nor did anyone on this board. The critique focused on the governments.
This is still not right
Big time. What a grand day it will be when something official drops. I wake up and check every day. New content brings the entire fandom alive like nothing else.
I know Iâve said this before, but just because we are not being told doesnât mean nothing is happening. CJF was first talked to about introducing Bond 7. FYEO and Octopussy were meant to be introductions to a new Bond so late the screen tests are on the dvdâs.
BB is following her fatherâs lead of âIâll tell you when i f***ing tell you!â
Which is now refreshing in a world of spoilers.
Basically, I agree.
But things have changed so considerably since NTTD.
The rumors around Boyle were certainly there before BB wanted anyone to know. As were several other rumors - EON definitely is not as tight a ship as they would want or claim to be.
CJF is toast since the allegations. And BB constantly says: it will be some time before we move on with Bond - whether to mislead or (as it rather seems to be) because she means it.
In contrast to those earlier EON times when there was no doubt they would be preparing a new Bond film the only clear sign was in NTTD´s end credits âJames Bond will returnâ.
Would it be a spoiler if they at least said âWe will release the next film in 2027â? I think the âwe donât say anythingâ-policy spoils the fun much more, especially with that caesura which NTTD was.
Hah! So⌠it is okay again to be in business with him.
Well, I would not want him back anyway.
Like Masters of the Air this seems like a middle-of-the-road prestige project - frankly, I donât see this taking off with CJF if they werenât reasonably sure heâd be in the clear; by whatever measure the industry would decide such an issue.
