What Would The Reaction To A Female Bond (007, that is) Be?

[Ihateregistering1]

Now that it's been officially, canonically denied once and for all by Skyfall (and a few other small holes in the Roger Moore movies) the whole thing with that guy is just bonkers, but he apparently is now a specific person.

Did they though? I was under the impression that the Daniel Craig Bond movies are a reboot of the entire Bond universe, can't it be argued that Craig is the 'original' Bond, and that (theoretically) if we change Bond actors later on, MI6 simply assigns them the name "James Bond" (maybe the Craig Bond dies or goes into hiding)? After all, Skyfall manor is destroyed at the end of the movie and James' parents are dead, and I believe he's an only child, so the bloodline is over.

 

[JustAnotherAardvark]

They actually kind of did this in the spy who loved me. Bond teams up with this female russian agent and they go save the world together or something. They did a pretty good job of making them seem like equals throughout the film...until she turns into a damsel in distress for Bond to save in the 3rd act. But it was doing well until that. It also had jaws in it. Good film. I should re-watch it.

If you talk about casting you'd need someone like Brienne (from ASOIAF), or atleast someone fairly muscular to actually have it possible for her to have any chance of combat against other people otherwise it will just seem improbable.

But this is Bond we're talking about. I think we dropped any pretence of realism sometime around goldfinger.

Maybe, but 50 kg women kicking a guy in SWAT armor and not breaking her leg is just plain ridiculous for me, you can have super gadgets, just still have basic grasp of physics.

We're talking "Bond, James Bond" here, not Smiley's People. Where a Walther PPK beats out an AK and a sadistic quip is worth a team of special forces ... it's well within the genre's idiom.

 

[Something Amyss]

I think it'd be pretty cool. The outrage wouldn't be, though. The internet can't even seem to handle the idea of a black Bond.

I think it might be kind of cool if they didn't attempt to change the personality, as in, you get a suave, business formal dressing, female 007 who sleeps with every handsome man she finds.

And that's exactly what I would want to see.

 

[GrumbleGrump]

It'd be nice to see a James Bondish type of female character. Although I don't 007 could be a good female character, mostly because the character has always been shrouded in what is a very basic type of male fanstasy. He's classy, strong, capable, atractive, etc. I don't know if this kind of character can translate unchanged into another gender with different aspirations. A 'Jane Bond' would have to be a less actiony character I think, with a more psycological edge to her, rather than a physical one, essentially turning the films into more thriller-like rather than action.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

snip

Daniel Craig's portrayal of James Bond is a reboot, but in Skyfall they showed the graves of Andrew Bond and Monique Bond - James Bond's parents. The intention of the filmmakers was to establish that James Bond is the guy's real name, and not a name given to him by MI6 (which I'll admit is pretty dumb).

In the past they tried to kill that fan theory by constantly referencing Tracy Bond, the woman that James Bond married at the end of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. She married George Lazenby's Bond, then was immediately killed. She's directly referenced in two of Roger Moore's movies (one of which has him mourning at her grave), indirectly mentioned in a Timothy Dalton movie, and possibly referred to in one of Pierce Brosnan's movies by a villain that likely would have known if Bond was married at some point.

They've been trying for a while now to convey that James Bond is a single dude. A time-traveling, shape-shifting dude perhaps, but still just one guy. They've handled it... somewhat poorly. Makes sense that a reboot would be more direct.

 

[Bat Vader]

Something I would love to see is them confirm that James Bond is a code name and it isn't all the same guy. Each different actor is a different agent for when the other agent has died or retired. I think that would be awesome to see.

Instead of genderswapping a character why not have a female 006 Agent or something named Jane Bond within a separate section of MI6 and do it as a spin off. That way James Bond isn't genderswapped and people who want a female bond get one. That seems like the best compromise. After a few movies they could even have them team up in a crossover or something.

 

[zerragonoss]

How about we write some badass new characters instead of messing with all of our preexisting ones?

I've got nothing wrong with a badass female secret agent, but I'd rather have a Joanna Dark movie than a "Jane" Bond movie.

Well normally I am all for just make new characters there are a set of characters that are more icons than characters at this point. Even if James Bond is canonically a single person, the reality of the situation he is the icon for badass super suave spy, not a character at this point. Because of this you can get a much stronger message form just fitting a new person into said role than by making character of a similar role. Obviously the best message would have new characters that become this kind of icon, but trying to make an icon is not really something you can depend on.

 

[Bobular]

Why not make a Bond that's American, or a Bond that's a merc instead of a spy or a Bond who doesn't like women or a Bond without gadgets?

Because then it wouldn't be Bond. It'll just be a character with the same name.

Kind of like a Doom who's not the ruler of Latveria.

If you want to make a spy movie with a female lead that is heavy inspired by Bond go for it, I'd probably watch it, but don't just try to ride on the success of an existing character.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Well, I'm sure I'd be okay with it, but the internet is gonna light up like the Hindenburg, claiming that it's some sort of feminist propaganda or something.

CAPTCHA: heat up

Chaptcha, it seems as though you and I are always on the same wavelength.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Obviously the best message would have new characters that become this kind of icon, but trying to make an icon is not really something you can depend on.

And that's what's MASSIVELY wrong with the movie industry these days. "Dependability." Back in the 1960's Hollywood was willing to give the James Bond character a chance, and he became a film icon. These days no one is willing to give any new character a chance, preferring to fall back on re-purposed icons from days past. As movie budgets inflate higher and higher, creativity rapidly dies in favor of marketability and "dependable" franchises. Fuck that.

What re-purposing James Bond into "Jane" Bond says to me is the filmmakers trying to express "sorry ladies, no one here in Hollywood gives a shit about your gender unless you mooch off the name of an established male, and we're only doing it as an appeasement novelty."

Icons only exist because at some point in time, someone took a chance. If you want a female icon, you need to start with a female character. Taking a male character and gender-swapping them doesn't make a female icon, it just makes a blatantly pandering weird spot on the character's wiki biography.

Women deserve their own icon characters, not lazy half-hearted reboot crap.

EDIT:

This post on Page 1 is what I'm talking about. I've got nothing to add, kitsunefather's put it perfectly.

Look at Furiosa. People are clamoring for a standalone movie for her. They didn't have to make it Mad Maxine, they just introduced a compelling character that resonated with enough of the audience to cause a stir.

/highfive

 

[HardkorSB]

Having seen every single Bond movie, some of them more than once, I can tell you that a lot of what makes Bond Bond wouldn't work if it was a woman.
A female led spy franchise would be nice but Making Bond female wouldn't be a good idea, especially after the last one made so much money and got such great reviews.
It could happen if the Bond franchise would lose steam (kind of like at the end of the Brosnan era) but even then, I think the audience would react negatively.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

For me why have a female Bond? Just seems to me every one is obsessed with a black bond or a female bond as if bond is the only way to have a great black/female spy character. Did anyone watch Salt, that movie was great with a female led character. Just give us a great movie with a well written female character and it will put butts on seats. Look at Alien/Aliens for that.It really isnt a mystery or magic, just good writing like every other movie.

 

[Bat Vader]

Something I would love to see is them confirm that James Bond is a code name and it isn't all the same guy. Each different actor is a different agent for when the other agent has died or retired. I think that would be awesome to see.

Instead of genderswapping a character why not have a female 006 Agent or something named Jane Bond within a separate section of MI6 and do it as a spin off. That way James Bond isn't genderswapped and people who want a female bond get one. That seems like the best compromise. After a few movies they could even have them team up in a crossover or something.

Skyfall already put the code-name theory to rest. It's his real name.

Spoiler

I liked the whole different agents theory too.

 

[Aerosteam]

What Would The Reaction To-

Stop right there. Bad.

I don't get it? Its a legit question.

I'm cutting him off and answering his question before he finishes.

Because, let's be honest, everything can cause some sort of negative reaction from people nowadays no matter what you do.

 

[FPLOON]

My first response would be "Will the movie be directed by the same people who worked on Salt and Columbiana?" while my second response would be "Hope they put actual work into it, I guess"...

Other than that, I wouldn't watch it until I know that it's good... or, at least, as good as an Austin Powers movie...

 

[Sampler]

They already did, check out Michelle Yeoh's character in "Tomorrow Never Dies" - Wai Lin is his equal, sometimes better. Ok she's Chinese Intelligence rather than British but otherwise a female bond character.

[edit]

Also:

Michelle Yeoh, who did most of her own stunts, asked her fellow motorbike stuntman to drive faster in the helicopter chase scene as it would make her hair fly out behind her, adding to the effect of speed.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120347/trivia?item=tr0726512