Twitter is synonymous with twisted up panties, in that the twittersphere loves to lock arms and rage en masse when faced with a reason to be mad…sometimes that reason is real, sometimes it’s conflated. Today’s twitter scandal is a bit of both.

The James Bond spy book franchise has had numerous authors over the years, and the latest writer Anthony Horowitz was asked by British newspaper The Daily Mail about outgoing Bond actor Daniel Craig, and the options for the next big actor to fill the macho-icon’s shoes.
First Horowitz raved about 2006’s ‘Casino Royale’ as a “a total return to the gritty seriousness” of the Bond film series. And then he bashed ‘Quantuum of Solace’ and said ‘Skyfall’ was his least favorite.

“Bond is weak in it. He has doubts. That’s not Bond…Secondly, the villain wins. The villain sets out to kill M. The film finishes with the villain killing M. So why have I watched it? And if you have to protect the head of MI6 from a madman, do you take her to a Scottish farmhouse with no weapons? And tell your bad guy where you are, so he will arrive with six people to kill her? … It’s that sort of thing that made me angry.”

Thank you! Total cosign! I know so many people who act like just because ‘Skyfall’ had a creepy villain with a removable jaw and a cool underground bunker, it was good. ‘Skyfall’s last 30 minutes was beyond aggravating…but we’re getting off topic. Horowitz then talked about who could take over as the next Bond Film leading man, and he said: “For me, Idris Elba is a bit too rough to play the part. It’s not a colour issue. I think he is probably a bit too ‘street’ for Bond…Is it a question of being suave? Yeah.”
Cue outrage over the use of the word “street.”
Now, this is a real misstep in that Horowitz clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about…Idris Elba has masterfully performed Shakespearean verse, played Nelson Mandela, and romantic comedy, along with his best role as drug kingpin Stringer Bell in ‘The Wire’ or a flawed detective in ‘Luther’. So he’s perfectly capable of playing womanizing high-maintenance die-hard classic-man James Bond. He is not “too street.”

But Horowitz’s comments may not be as racist as folks think. He seems to be using the word “street” as the opposite of “smooth.” Perhaps meaning Elba’s acting is too gritty and not elegant enough? Not meaning “street” as in “urban” as in code word, “Black.” And Horowitz also suggests a different Black actor, Adrian Lester, instead. (I don’t see how he’s more qualified at all. He’s far less “leading man” in the looks department, and much less experienced. If anything, David Oyelowo, the new voice of the James Bond audiobooks, would be better.) Again, I disagree with the author’s opinion, but I don’t know that I would charge him with a hate crime. It would be better if he could have named other actors who are too “street” for the role…for example, I could see Tom Hardy and Jeremy Renner as being too street for Bond. Where as Michael Fassbender is “sauve” enough. Sauve to me is almost cold. Street is heat.

But taking a quote out of context and not reading the full copy shouldn’t be a reason to us to not enjoy the fruits of twitter outrage…and there were great zingers amongst today’s #TooStreet response hashtag…

There’s unity in the any-Bond over a Diddy-Bond, yes?

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