James Bond, the New Topic of Diversity Discussion
James Bond and Paloma at a bar in No Time to Die
Imagine that a UK politician made a debate about the new James Bond.
Well it happened, a political leader of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party, Keir Starmer, started a debate in the entertainment world about who should be the next James Bond. When he was asked about his favorite Bond actor, he told ITV News: “I don’t have a favourite Bond, but I do think it’s time for a female Bond.”
There is a little history of a diversity situation in Hollywood. For example, the boycott of the 2016 Oscars, started by Spike Lee and then followed by Jada Pinkett Smith, brought attention to an important issue. Most of those that boycotted the Oscars was major celebrities, producers and legendary actors. The reason of the boycott was that from 2015 to 2016, there was not a single non-white actor or actress that had been nominated for an Academy Award, even though there were stand-out performances from the likes of Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), Benicio Del Toro (Sicario) and Michael B Jordan (Creed).
Another example of diversity expansion is the movie remakes with female casts. Two recent movies that were made with a female cast were Ghostbusters and Ocean’s 8. While the Ghostbusters movie was a financial flop, Ocean’s 8 saw a bit more success. But it was given a 6.3/10 (202K people rated it) by IMDb.
However, financially successful integrations of diverse casting have been shown time and time again in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel has recently shown that more diversity in its films is a positive. A few examples are Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings, Black Panther, Eternals (releasing Nov. 5, 2021). These movies include more diversity and an interesting storyline. A great example of a movie that was diverse was Da 5 Bloods (2020). This was directed by Spike Lee. The majority of the cast was African-American, and it won 18 other awards, but was hugely snubbed by The Academy, receiving just one nomination for Best Original Score despite receiving rave reviews when it was released.
As Hollywood and our society wrestle with questions of diversity, we return now to Starmer’s suggestion that 007 is a role for female consideration. Shortly after Starmer’s comment, Dainel Craig, current James Bond actor, told the entertainment world that Bond shouldn’t be played by a female. Craig statement was echoed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who worked on the script for the recent and final movie of Craig being Bond No Time To Die.
James Bond should stay as only a male. The franchise is made around Bond being male, so it would be a huge change of making the next Bond a female. But we will not see that happen anytime soon, because both Daniel Craig and the movie director said similar things that would bring down the idea of having a female Bond. When Craig said, “There should simply be better parts for women and actors of color. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, for a woman?”
Sure it’s 2021 and people want to make more diverse protagonists in the entertainment industry. For example, the Black Widow, Captain Marvel, and Wonder Woman, and other movies that are based around a main character that is a female. They are also produced or directed by females. Although Hollywood is making strides to be more inclusive and diverse, it shouldn’t tweak James Bond’s best selling formula.
Barbara Broccoli also inherited control of the spy saga with her half-brother, Michael G. Wilson, in the 1990s. She is open for some diversification, a female Bond is where she draws the line. She stated: “He can be of any color, but he is male. I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters. I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”