Bond's number is up: black female actor 'is the new 007' | Hacker News Reader

Bond's number is up: black female actor 'is the new 007'

theguardian.com

15 pointsSettembreNero13 comments

I don't see the point of it. Even if it's good, it's not going to be a Bond film, it'll be a film about some sort of special agent, not a James Bond film. Why not create a new original thing, where the lead character played by a female and build on top of it. Why do they need to mess with the existing working formula... I just don't get it. But at the same time, can't say few latter Bond films where all that good, so maybe it'll shake some things up in a good way, although at this point, I don't really believe they can make a good Bond film.

IIRC, Bond has retired before, and the plot of the book or movie starts with M convincing Bond to come out of retirement to help his replacement fix some crisis. IOW, they've done this before, IIRC.

I've never really understood the common concern that arises when some established character's race/gender/other-intrinsic-trait is changed (even if it's a different person in canon), where the proposal is "now it's not the same, just make it something new and leave the existing brand name unchanged." I totally understand not wanting a beloved character to change that dramatically, but after enough decades it just seems like a rational thing to try as a story writer. Why start a new universe when we have an existing one that, while quite worn, still has loads of great pre-existing characterisation, lore, and recognition?

It's not an issue...so long as the replacement is worthy. But many times it's used as a marketing gimmick to prop up a bad story.

> I've never really understood the common concern that arises when some established character's race/gender/other-intrinsic-trait is changed

for me it's just about the fact that.... well, I want to be like him :). I want to identify with Bond a little, or Bourne, or Ethan Hunt. I want to see him coming up with cool, smart, unexpected solutions to difficult situations, kicking ass, overcoming physical challenges, while being absolutely cool/awesome/good looking. No problem with him being black, or Asian... It's just if he is a woman he is no longer ...

> Bond, James Bond (cue the music)

powerful weapon on her majesty's secret service

more accurate headline: black female actor is the new 007 (code name, not Bond). assuming she's using the number in the movie until he comes out of retirement and either she's killed (cliche) or relents (better) or otherwise.

I appreciate gender-bending. It is a time-honored tradition in the theatrical arts.

I’m curious why they didn’t just retire it.

You're curious why they're not retiring a film franchise that consistently pulls in hundreds of millions of dollars of profit with every installment? :)

It will be worth it to see if they'll still pull that much after this change. Can't wait

Yeah, is a female 007 going to retain the same borderline “me too” hyper-sexuality of the traditional James Bond character? It would be a strangely empowering move, I think: portraying a male 007 as ‘slutty’ has been accepted, would audiences accept a female version of it? What’s the opposite of “womanizer?”

Thats an interesting point. I suppose the female variant of womanizer is a "maneater". It will be cool to see what directon they go with her. But it wouldve been even cooler if she made a name for herself with a name or code that hasnt been used before or isnt as ubiquitous. The way it is presented it seems like a low effort way to raise up minorities for social justice.

Right.

I predict this will be the second-last of the Bond Series. It will flop, and then they'll try just once more to attempt to rescue the dead brand.

Think of it as the "New Coke" of the Bond Brand.

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