Some characters can be gender swapped for an interesting change of character/story. Some, their gender is so tied to how they exist in the world that they cannot be swapped. James Bond is one of them.
Helen Mirren, recently, made a great point about it. Mirren is promoting the film Thursday Murder Club which also stars Pierce Brosnan, a former Bond actor. When asked about it by Saga, since their new film is also a spy movie, Mirren spoke about the question over whether or not the next James Bond could be played by a woman. “I’m such a feminist, but James Bond has to be a guy,” Mirren said. “You can’t have a woman. It just doesn’t work. James Bond has to be James Bond, otherwise it becomes something else.”
In the new film, Mirren plays a spy and says that her spy is a “more realistic” portrayal. “So many women have worked in that world. She’s a manifestation of a reality, that’s for sure,” Mirren told the outlet. “But not so much fun as Bond!”
Her co-star, Brosnan, also chimed in on the future of James Bond, saying he was excited to see where the character would go next. “I’m so excited to see the next man come on the stage and to see a whole new exuberance and life for this character,” he said. “I adore the world of James Bond. It’s been very good to me. It’s the gift that keeps giving. And I’m just a member of the audience now, sitting back, saying: ‘Show us what you’re going to do.'”
James Bond benefits too much from being a man
James Bond as a character benefits from being a white man. Now, you can play with the character’s race and use that in whatever story you’re telling within the franchise. But one aspect about the character is undeniable: He benefits from the patriarchy too much.
We’ve seen female 00 agents. In No Time to Die, Lashana Lynch took over the 007 moniker when James (Daniel Craig) “retired.” But James Bond the character has always been a man and it kind of needs to stay that way. He operates in the world differently than a woman would. So a Jane Bond story would be completely different, as Mirren pointed out.
I don’t think it’d be a bad thing but the way James works is completely based on how he can get away with things. An attractive man can literally get away with anything when an attractive woman would put her on the map of whatever room she walks into. It’s just a different dynamic. And one that I think we could easily explore with a more in-depth look at a female 00 agent alongside James Bond.
So I agree with Mirren. The character is too connected to his ability to exist in this world as a man and I think that’s fine to still explore! I do hope we get more of the female agents though and I wouldn’t be mad about Lynch making a comeback.
(featured image: MGM)
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