2aguy
Diamond Member
- Jul 19, 2014
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You have some people thinking it would be a good thing for a woman to be James Bond....rather than making their own new spy who is a woman...the Atomic Blonde movie would actually be a good start for this.....
But a woman can't be James Bond....here's why...
Why James Bond Should Never Be A Woman
Unlike any other character in a long-running franchise, James Bond is a male fantasy figure. As Sean Connery once said, âBond is important: this invincible superman that every man would like to copy, that every woman would like to conquer, this dream we all have of survival.â
If you want a female British spy, then be creative and make your own franchise instead of co-opting one that has a character who personifies masculinity. Follow the lead of Star Trek. They didnât cast a woman as James Kirk in the reinvention of the series. Instead, they showed their real talent as writers and producers and created a whole new storyline in which Kathryn Janeway excelled as the captain of Voyager.
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But if men are so captivated by competency, wouldnât they find a competent female James Bond just as compelling? Wouldnât they still want to be like her, despite her sex? No, for two reasons. First, the value of competency for a man is between men and about men. Men appreciate competency in a woman, but it doesnât excite them the way it does when they see it in a man, and they donât usually want to compete with it.
Second, while a woman can be competent in many things just as a man, she canât be in others, especially strength. An elite woman will never consistently physically overpower an elite man. This is a fiction perpetuated as reality by fiction. James Bond would defeat any woman in hand-to-hand combatâeven one as fierce as Xenia Onatopp.
No matter a womanâs skill level, in the world of a spy where youâre dealing with other highly skilled men on an equal playing field, a woman wouldnât hold her own in a physical fight the way a man would. Injecting this level of improbability even into fiction dampens the enthusiasm for competency. Put bluntly, Daniel Craig would pummel Charlize Theron every day of the week, no matter how skilled she is, and men know it.
Maybe it doesnât matter if men donât want to be like her. Women might. Strong female characters are certainly in vogueâjust look at the popularity of Brienne and Ayra on âGame of Thrones.â But while we might be entertained by these characters, we really donât want to be them (though, like Eowyn of âLord of the Rings,â these characters retain much of their femininity, which makes them more believable and appealing). Women who are killing machines donât inspire us the way James Bond inspires men, which is why the franchise is so successful.
Womanizing Isnât Attractive In a Woman, Either
When it comes down to it, women donât want to be a woman who acts like a man, especially one who is a âwomanizer.â The truth is, most women arenât into lesbian sex, and in a film that is supposed to be rich in masculinity, this just wonât inspire viewers. Thereâs no dance or erotic tension thatâs unique to the male-female dynamic in lesbian sex. Thereâs no real, powerful masculine presence, and itâs this element that makes Bond so appealing.
But a woman can't be James Bond....here's why...
Why James Bond Should Never Be A Woman
Unlike any other character in a long-running franchise, James Bond is a male fantasy figure. As Sean Connery once said, âBond is important: this invincible superman that every man would like to copy, that every woman would like to conquer, this dream we all have of survival.â
If you want a female British spy, then be creative and make your own franchise instead of co-opting one that has a character who personifies masculinity. Follow the lead of Star Trek. They didnât cast a woman as James Kirk in the reinvention of the series. Instead, they showed their real talent as writers and producers and created a whole new storyline in which Kathryn Janeway excelled as the captain of Voyager.
------
But if men are so captivated by competency, wouldnât they find a competent female James Bond just as compelling? Wouldnât they still want to be like her, despite her sex? No, for two reasons. First, the value of competency for a man is between men and about men. Men appreciate competency in a woman, but it doesnât excite them the way it does when they see it in a man, and they donât usually want to compete with it.
Second, while a woman can be competent in many things just as a man, she canât be in others, especially strength. An elite woman will never consistently physically overpower an elite man. This is a fiction perpetuated as reality by fiction. James Bond would defeat any woman in hand-to-hand combatâeven one as fierce as Xenia Onatopp.
No matter a womanâs skill level, in the world of a spy where youâre dealing with other highly skilled men on an equal playing field, a woman wouldnât hold her own in a physical fight the way a man would. Injecting this level of improbability even into fiction dampens the enthusiasm for competency. Put bluntly, Daniel Craig would pummel Charlize Theron every day of the week, no matter how skilled she is, and men know it.
Maybe it doesnât matter if men donât want to be like her. Women might. Strong female characters are certainly in vogueâjust look at the popularity of Brienne and Ayra on âGame of Thrones.â But while we might be entertained by these characters, we really donât want to be them (though, like Eowyn of âLord of the Rings,â these characters retain much of their femininity, which makes them more believable and appealing). Women who are killing machines donât inspire us the way James Bond inspires men, which is why the franchise is so successful.
Womanizing Isnât Attractive In a Woman, Either
When it comes down to it, women donât want to be a woman who acts like a man, especially one who is a âwomanizer.â The truth is, most women arenât into lesbian sex, and in a film that is supposed to be rich in masculinity, this just wonât inspire viewers. Thereâs no dance or erotic tension thatâs unique to the male-female dynamic in lesbian sex. Thereâs no real, powerful masculine presence, and itâs this element that makes Bond so appealing.