The New 007 is black and a Woman

  

The most iconic and successful spy franchise, the Bond series, has been in the news recently due to a shocking revelation as regards it’s casting. For what has seemed like forever, there’s been a debate as to who could play the role of the 007 agent –James Bond– once Craig retires from the rolw. Many have suggested that in the future, the role should be more diverse and welcoming, even to the acceptance of a black James Bond like Idris Elba. Well, it seems like the future has caught up with us in an unsuspecting manner.

It would interest you to know that the new 007 in the James Bond franchise is a black woman. This caught a lot of people off guard and has got folks talking. It’s created a buzz for both fans and critics. The new 007 is the black British actress Lashana Lynch. She would be replacing Daniel Craig (who has played Bond in the last four series)  in Bond 25, the upcoming 007 film. This is a break from the hostorically white male role that has always been the norm.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LASHANA LYNCH

Lashana Lynch is a British actress of Jamaican ancestry who was born in Hammersmith, London. She made her film debut in the 2011 drama Fast Girls where she played the role of Belle Newman –an Olympic hurdler. She was later cast in 2016 as the lead character, Rosaline Capulet, in the American drama series Still Star-Crossed.

Recently, she played the part of the fighter pilot Maria Rambeau in the superhero film, Captain Marvel, which was released in 2019. “When she auditioned for the part she read with Brie, and literally made me cry during her audition,” The co-director, Ryan Fleck, told Empire. “It takes a lot to make me cry, and I was hiding in the corner trying to wipe my eyes.”

LASHANA LYNCH IS 007 BUT NOT JAMES BOND

Just so we’re clear, James Bond hasn’t been turned into a female (or Jane Bond, like someone joked). Rather, Lashana Lynch (as Nomi) is the new 007 after James Bond retires from spy-hood. Daniel Craig still plays a major role as James Bond in Bond 25.

“Traditionalists can relax: she’s not the new Bond, but a new character who takes over his secret agent number after he leaves MI6,” quoting what a  source told the Mail. “It’s a popcorn-dropping moment. Bond is still Bond but he’s been replaced as 007 by this stunning woman.”

Here’s a quote from IndieWire about the fuzz this new development creates.

“The radical idea of Nomi assuming Bond’s code number in the same movie is rife with excitement and controversy. It’s never happened before (although Bond was temporarily given the code number 7777 in the ‘You Only Live Twice’ novel). But because Bond is not deceased, perhaps there’s a good reason that MI6 has not retired 007… Who knows?”

THE UPCOMING BOND MOVIE

Bond 25, the 25th instalment in the James Bond franchise is set to be released in the United Kingdom on April 3, 2020. The film is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the first ever American to direct the Bond series. James Bond is brought back to active service after retirement, by his friend and former fellow agent –Felix Leiter. Felix enlists his help in finding a missing scientist. This search leads Bond into confronting a dangerous villain in a highly risky mission.

THE INTERNET’S REACTION TO A BLACK FEMALE 007

Here are a few tweets in reaction to Lynch’s new role in the upcoming Bond film:

• Awesomely Luvvie

@Luvvie

Halle Bailey as Ariel. Lashana Lynch as 007. Racist white people are really having the worst life ever. May they continue to stay mad.

• courtney

@infamousmargot

Lashana Lynch is the new James Bond?


YES

• Kwame Nseboah Nyarko

@KwameNseboah

Her real name already has the spy movie pizzazz:
“The name’s Lynch… Lashana Lynch”


WHAT THIS MEANS FOR WOMEN
In modern times, the world is evolving into a more female friendly nature. It is no longer the ruling time of patriarchy or male chauvinism. Stereotypical gender roles are fast become blurred as we have women taking up challenging male-dominated roles.

With the #me too movement and the rise of feminism, there has been a call for women to rise above the weak or follower stereotype placed on them. We have a fast rising number of women leaders in various fields. This social justice call for women has also had an effect on the James Bond franchise which has been labelled sexist by a number of critics. To make the series more appropriate for the new era, there have been some changes made.

One of the changes made is that Bond girls are now referred to as Bond Women. Also, we have Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the writer of Killing Eve being brought in to work on the Bond 25 script. Her job is to make sure the film “treats women properly”. Here’s what she told Deadline on how the Bond franchise would be treating women:

“There’s been a lot of talk about whether or not [the Bond franchise] is relevant now because of who he is and the way he treats women,” she told the outlet. “I think that’s bollocks. I think he’s absolutely relevant now. It has just got to grow. It has just got to evolve, and the important thing is that the film treats the women properly. He doesn’t have to. He needs to be true to this character.”

This shows that the Bond franchise is leaning towards a more female friendly dynamic. Even Daniel Craig, the current James Bond actor, lended his voice in support of this diversity (both in gender and race) for future 007 films. Here’s what he said concerning casting for Bond:

“I think that ­everybody should be ­considered,” Craig said. “Also for women and for African-Americans, there should be great parts anyway, across the board.”

All said and done, we the lovers of James Bond series are happy about the progress of the 007 film so far, and we can’t wait for the release of Bond 25.
See you at the movies next year,

The Post was written by:- Benjamin Obeten.

copied  HERE