Examining the benefits of hosting the Olympics, the difficulties black actors face in being cast for Hollywood roles, San Francisco's Eatsa.
Idris Elba: Too black for Bond?
The new James Bond novel, “Trigger Mortis” comes out next week. Author Anthony Horowitz landed himself in hot water this week following an interview with the Daily Mail. When asked what he thought about the idea of casting actor Idris Elba as the next James Bond, he replied that Elba was a bit ‘too street’ to play the suave spy.
Reaction from the Twitter-sphere was swift. Horowitz soon
calling his remarks ‘racially-charged’ and ‘classist.’
The novelist has
I'm really sorry my comments about Idris Elba have caused offence [full statement attached] pic.twitter.com/UD6ouA45Uv
— Anthony Horowitz (@AnthonyHorowitz) September 1, 2015
and admitted his choice of word was poor.
Darnell Hunt is a professor at the Center for African American Studies at UCLA and heads the annual Diversity in Hollywood report. He tells Take Two, there was no mistaking what Horowitz meant by ‘street.’
“Well, it’s pretty obvious, ‘street’ is code for black,” Hunt tells Take Two.
“It’s unfortunate because Idris Elba is an amazing actor. His repertoire, the films he’s been in, the TV shows, they span the gamut.”
While some might argue that Horowitz, a Brit, may have have intended for his remarks to be interpreted differently, Hunt says the writer never would have used the term ‘street’ to describe a white actor of equal edginess.
“White actors aren’t burdened with this notion of who they are as a person racially. By default, whiteness can do anything -- it can represent anything,” he explains.
But, he says, this isn’t the case for most black actors, especially when mentioned in the same breath as the traditionally white James Bond.
Regardless of what Horowitz meant, Hunt says that writers don’t take part in casting for films -- this means his remarks will have little to no bearing on the final selection process.
Still, Hunt contends that Hollywood’s diversity problem remains just that.
“There’s been this long-standing conventional wisdom that films make most of their money overseas in an international market, and so therefore we shy away from casting actors of color because they can’t carry the films internationally -- they won’t make as much money. Of course, that’s nonsense.”
Hunt says the best way to get more actors of color on the screen is to change the racial makeup behind the scenes.
“I think that behind the scenes is -- in some ways -- more important than in front of the camera, because behind the scenes sets in motion a number of choices that are [going to] be made that ultimately impact what we see on the screen.”
Press the blue play button above to hear more.
If LA hosts the Olympics, what's to gain? Ask Atlanta
Ask people around the world about Atlanta, and before 1996 they would say they loved the city and especially its casinos.
They thought it was Atlantic City.
Obviously, the Georgia city had a branding problem. But then hosting the 1996 Summer Olympics transformed its image.
"After the event, no one mistook us for Atlantic City, anymore," says professor Harvey Newman at Georgia State University. "It certainly put Atlanta center stage for international tourism and international investment."
Even decades later, the afterglow from the Games is still going strong, too.
"I've been in cars jammed with people from international flights, and they see the Olympic torch caldron and they jump up and down with excitement," he adds.
Atlanta may have benefitted from the recognition, but Los Angeles already has a strong reputation around the world.
So why even host the Games?
Newman says it can light a fire under politicians to move ahead on public works projects.
"To see our subway system cars jam-packed," he recalls of that time, "for Atlanta, that was a remarkable event to depend so heavily on our public transportation system."
Los Angeles has many infrastructure needs, from building more homes to improving the roads and railways.
Hosting the Olympics, he says, would be great leverage for public leaders to get them approved.
"The Olympics made people feel that that generation of civil leaders were up to the task of staging an incredibly complex event," says Newman. "This is a task – a monumental one – for a new generation of leaders in your city."
San Francisco’s Eatsa features iPad order-takers, cubby servers
Imagine an eatery where you can walk in, order food yourself and seat yourself — all without much help from a human hostess or waiter.
This is Eatsa. The restaurant has arrived in San Francisco, and it's coming to Los Angeles.
Eatsa's customers walk in, order up lunch on an iPad, and after a few minutes the meal is served up in a cubby with the person's name on it.
Joining Take Two to discuss:
- Tim Young, one of the co-founders of
Web extra: Check out the sildeshow above to see more of Eatsa
California's fresh water system is in danger
The nation just marked the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and here on the West Coast it's easy to think we could never see such devastation here, but there is something the Golden State shares in common with New Orleans... reliance on a system of levees.
"California's Katrina is Coming," that's the headline of a piece at Wired.com.
wrote it, and he joins Alex Cohen for a conversation about the piece.
To hear the entire conversation click on the audio embedded at the top of the post.
Impatient: Could new legislation make health care better?
Navigating the health care system can be expensive and frustrating, but several bills currently moving through Sacramento aim to make the experience a bit easier for patients.
Southern California Public Radio's health reporter
has been tracking this legislation, which have until next Friday to be passed or disappear. She joins the show to talk about these bills on her regular segment that we call "Impatient."
Rebecca's also written about this over at her blog. But if you want to hear the entire conversation click on the audio link embedded above.