There’s nothing empowering about a female 007

In case you missed it, not even James Bond is sacred anymore, with reports confirmed this week that for the first time in the franchise’s history, a woman will be taking up the role. The real question is why, writes Lucy Carne.

Forget the Black-throated Finch and shove over Giant Panda, there is another species under threat.

Who is protecting the white, middle aged male?

Once found in abundance, dominating industries, workplaces, television and cinema screens, the white, middle aged man — and its subspecies known as the cheeky old flirt — now face a serious threat of extinction.

It’s not climate change, poachers or disease wiping out this formerly abundant breed.

It is a far more insidious menace — #metoo.

Of course, I’m being facetious and slightly dramatic, but can you blame me?

We have officially reached peak political correctness and I, for one, am done.

Because the new 007 is going to be a black woman.

No, it’s not a wind up.

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London actor Lashana Lynch, 31, is set to inherit James Bond’s licence to kill, according to reports that surfaced in the British press last week.

In what has been described as “a popcorn-dropping moment”, the film, which has the working title Bond 25 (I prefer The World Has Gone Mad), is said to begin with spymaster M (Ralph Fiennes) saying: “‘Come in 007’, and in walks Lashana who is black, beautiful and a woman.”

English actor Lashana Lynch is set to play the next 007. Picture: Tolga Akmen/AFP

It’s no secret that actor Daniel Craig was keen to retire from the role. He did once say he “would rather slash my wrists” than return, but he will not be relinquishing the James Bond character, only handing over his code name on his departure from MI6.

Yet it’s clearly not enough to have a woman take his job. The filmmakers have inserted a touch of humiliation in some backhanded attempt to right Bond’s misogynistic wrongs.

“Bond, of course, is sexually attracted to the new female 007 and tries his usual seduction tricks, but is baffled when they don’t work on a brilliant, young black woman who basically rolls her eyes at him and has no interest in jumping into his bed. Well, certainly not at the beginning,” an anonymous film source says, according to the report.

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Predictably, the move has been applauded by the wokies, who screech that this is a chance to bring Bond “into the modern world”.

It “breaks the (martini) glass ceiling”, another headline screams.

The only thing it breaks is the hearts of Bond fans (myself included).

Daniel Craig is set to remain as James Bond. Picture: Sony

There is nothing empowering for women about suddenly making 007 a female. It is virtue signalling at its worst.

I’ve been devoted to James Bond since I was 16 and Pierce Brosnan flung a motorcycle over a helicopter in Tomorrow Never Dies. I love it for its wit, escapism, thrills and fun.

Of course, the issue with Bond’s casual mistreatment and near-rapes of women has been a concern long before Time’s Up started trending.

Sean Connery’s bikini choke scene in Diamonds are Forever was appallingly offensive, even for 1971 standards.

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Regardless, Bond does not need to be vaccinated against toxic masculinity to make a #metoo moralistic point.

It is symptomatic of society’s nauseating obsession with cultural messaging and patronising identity politics.

We saw the deadly consequences of this with the delay in Queensland’s mine safety meetings due to a lack of female representation.

The all-female panel on Today, a female Doctor Who and an all-female Ghostbusters, are all (unsuccessful) attempts to cater to the inclusion of half the population.

Lashana Lynch is the latest woman to take on a traditionally male role. Picture: supplied

Reboots of classics like Charlie’s Angels, in which crime-fighting masterminds have always been women, is the right way to go. Simply slapping a woman in a role written by a man for men, is not.

Not only is it tokenistic to simplify Bond to just a gender, it demands that we judge Lynch also by her gender and not her incredible acting talent.

It is also insulting to imply that women somehow need a female 007. As though by suddenly having a girl-powered spy, the self-esteem of women around the world will be buoyed.

Is Bond flawed and misogynistic? He sure is. Is he a Harvey Weinstein-esque sex predator? Certainly not.

And that is the problem with toxic masculinity. It is reductionist and implies men — especially white men — fit only one definition: aggressive, dominating and sexist.

By making 007 a woman, the filmmakers are not positively helping gender equality, they’re fuelling the false narrative that James Bond is toxic and need eradicating.

We have a problem with violence and misogyny against women in our society, but vapid PC statements like a female 007 only serve to silence any valid discussion on the issue.

This war against being pale, male and stale has to stop. Men like James Bond need protection before they are banished forever.

Lucy Carne is editor of RendezView