{"id":549726,"date":"2021-06-02T15:06:32","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T19:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=549726"},"modified":"2021-06-02T15:06:35","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T19:06:35","slug":"james-bond-writer-worried-amazon-will-water-down-character-to-appease-the-woke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/james-bond-writer-worried-amazon-will-water-down-character-to-appease-the-woke\/","title":{"rendered":"James Bond Writer Worried Amazon Will Water-Down Character to Appease the Woke"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjames-bond-writer-worried-amazon-will-water-down-character-to-appease-the-woke%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=549726&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-55920525.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p><span>The screenwriter of one of the best-reviewed James Bond films of the last 50 years is worried that Amazon will turn the beloved franchise into an \u201cinoffensive shadow\u201d of its former self if regulators allow the company to purchase MGM.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In an op-ed published in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/05\/31\/opinion\/amazon-mgm-james-bond-bezos.html\">The<\/a><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/05\/31\/opinion\/amazon-mgm-james-bond-bezos.html\"> <span>New York Times<\/span><\/a><span> on Monday, John Logan, a three-time Oscar nominee who co-wrote 2012\u2019s \u201cSkyfall\u201d and 2015\u2019s \u201cSpectre\u201d said he experienced \u201cchills\u201d when he heard about the deal:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"15\">\n<p><em><span>The reason we\u2019re still watching Bond movies after more than 50 years is that the family has done an extraordinary job of protecting the character through the thickets of moviemaking and changing public tastes. Corporate partners come and go, but James Bond endures. He endures precisely because he is being protected by people who love him\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span>What happens if a bruising corporation like Amazon begins to demand a voice in the process? What happens to the comradeship and quality control if there\u2019s an Amazonian overlord with analytics parsing every decision? What happens when focus groups report they don\u2019t like Bond drinking martinis? Or killing quite so many people? And that English accent\u2019s a bit alienating, so could we have more Americans in the story for marketability?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Logan went on to say that when global tech companies like Amazon become involved in the creative process, \u201ceverything gets watered down to the most anodyne and easily consumable version of itself \u2026 There are no more rough edges \u2026 The fire and passion are gradually drained away as original ideas and voices are subsumed by commercial concerns, corporate oversight and polling data.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Logan is right to worry. Amazon has demonstrated it has no qualms suppressing speech and stifling creativity. And it will now control films like \u201cThe Silence of the Lambs\u201d and older entries in the James Bond franchise that are already under fire from<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenationalnews.com\/arts-culture\/comment\/the-problem-with-bond-and-women-feminism-shouldn-t-have-to-be-snuck-in-in-2019-1.870511\"><span>feminists<\/span><\/a><span> and<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/cubmagazine.co.uk\/2016\/06\/trans-misrepresentation-in-the-silence-of-the-lambs\/\"><span>trans activists<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>GLAAD\u2019s Director of Transgender Representation, Nick Adams, recently told<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/dawnstaceyennis\/2021\/02\/10\/clarice-reopens-old-wound-for-transgender-audience-but-carefully\/?sh=7352e0ec36f1\"><span>Forbes<\/span><\/a><span> that CBS invited him to meet with writers for \u201cLambs\u201d spinoff series, \u201cClarice,\u201d to \u201cdiscuss how trans people have been impacted by Hollywood\u2019s history of portraying trans people as psychopathic killers.\u201d Adams said that after the discussion, the show brought in other trans activists to \u201chelp craft a storyline that would address this issue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Similarly, in 2019, a screenwriter for the upcoming \u201cNo Time to Die,\u201d told<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2019\/05\/phoebe-waller-bridge-bond-1202624860\/\"><span>Deadline<\/span><\/a><span> she plans to help Bond \u201cevolve\u201d and start to \u201ctreat women properly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Amazon\u2019s poor record of providing content to the public while under pressure from special interests suggests not only that it <\/span><i><span>won\u2019t<\/span><\/i><span> balk at transforming classic franchises, but there\u2019s every reason to expect it <em>will<\/em> censor older films.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For example, The Association of American Publishers and the American Booksellers Association estimate Amazon accounts for as much as 70 to 80 percent of U.S. book sales. As literary agent Rick Pascocello told<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/they-own-the-system-amazon-rewrites-book-industry-by-turning-into-a-publisher-11547655267\"> <span>The Wall Street Journal<\/span><\/a><span>, \u201cThey aren\u2019t gaming the system, they own the system.\u201d And h<\/span><span>ow has the retail giant used that power? It has<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/the-end-of-conservative-books-amazon-quietly-bans-books-they-deem-offensive-hate-speech\"><span>censored<\/span><\/a><span> books that fall afoul of LGBTQ orthodoxy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In July 2019, Amazon quietly began removing titles that advocate therapeutic or spiritual practices for dealing with unwanted same-sex attraction from its cyber shelves. Books from ex-gay authors were also scrubbed. Then, in June 2020, it blocked publisher Regnery from purchasing ads for Abigail Shrier\u2019s book, \u201cIrreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters.\u201d Two months later, without explanation and after nearly four years without incident, it stopped selling the book \u201cHealth Hazards of Homosexuality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Finally, in a move that made major<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/amazon-bans-books-framing-transgenderism-as-mental-illness\"><span>headlines<\/span><\/a><span>, the company scrubbed Ryan T. Anderson\u2019s bestseller \u201cWhen Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment\u201d from its main retail site and its subsidiary outlet, Abe Books. It even prevented third parties from selling used copies of the book on the site.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Echoing Pascocello, Anderson pointed out in an interview with<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/wng.org\/roundups\/amazon-throws-its-weight-around-1617222620\"><span>World Magazine<\/span><\/a><span> that Amazon\u2019s dominance over the book market has become so complete, it now has the power to artificially distort it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAmazon controls a huge market share in the United States. And they can now pressure publishers into not publishing controversial books,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cIf you are a publisher, you might say, \u2018If we publish this and Amazon yanks it, are we ever going to sell enough books to recoup our costs?\u2019 So this could have a stifling effect on the entire market of book writing, book publishing, and book buying.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And it\u2019s not just books. The company has already used its limited influence over screens big and small to silence conservative filmmakers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>During Black History Month, Amazon removed \u201cCreated Equal,\u201d a documentary on the life of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that aired on PBS, without warning while continuing to make historically-dubious films critical of Thomas available to Prime subscribers. The movie is still not listed on Prime, and Amazon has never offered an explanation despite scathing op-eds from outlets like<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/why-did-amazon-cancel-justice-thomas-11614727562\"><span>The Wall Street Journal<\/span><\/a><span> and the<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/clarence-thomas-is-right-the-supreme-court-should-referee-big-tech\/2021\/04\/08\/99459f12-9885-11eb-a6d0-13d207aadb78_story.html\"><span>Washington Post<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Thomas isn\u2019t the only black voice Amazon has muffled. Hoover Institution fellow Shelby Steele\u2019s resum\u00e9 boasts screenwriting credits even Hollywood heavy hitters would envy, including a National Book Critics Circle Award, a National Humanities Award, a Writers Guild Award, and an Emmy Award for a documentary he co-wrote, produced, and narrated for the PBS news.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Yet when Steele submitted his documentary \u201cWhat Killed Michael Brown\u201d to the self-publishing arm of Amazon\u2019s video-on-demand service, the tech giant<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/amazon-buckles-agrees-to-stream-what-killed-michael-brown\"><span>replied<\/span><\/a><span>: \u201cUnfortunately, we have found that your title doesn\u2019t meet Prime Video\u2019s content quality expectations and is not eligible for publishing on the service at this time. We will not be accepting resubmission of this title, and this decision may not be appealed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Amazon eventually relented following a barrage of bad press. But its behavior with past books and films \u2014 not to mention its decision to<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/social-media-platform-parler-goes-dark-as-amazon-suspends-service\"> <span>de-platform<\/span><\/a><span> conservative friendly social media site, Parler \u2014 doesn\u2019t bode well for Bond\u2019s future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/i>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The screenwriter of one of the best-reviewed James Bond films of the last 50 years is worried that Amazon will turn the beloved franchise into an \u201cinoffensive shadow\u201d of its &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2278946,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-55920525.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"James Bond Writer Worried Amazon Will Water-Down Character to Appease the Woke","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-549726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-55920525.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"James Bond Writer Worried Amazon Will Water-Down Character to Appease the Woke","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2278946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}