The James Bond franchise is back under new stewardship, with Amazon at the helm. The tech giant now controls the rights and is set to deliver another film instalment, though not in the immediate future, which represents something of a setback for Amazon. Extensive debate has surrounded the question of who ought to portray the iconic spy. Some have argued for casting an actor from a non-white background, while others have suggested reimagining Bond as a female character. Now Trina Parks, who portrayed the deadly operative Thumper in the 1971 film Diamonds Are Forever, has offered some guidance to the creative team. Parks is calling for Bond to embrace fidelity in his romantic entanglements. She maintains that the updated Bond ought to mirror contemporary society, and that female characters should possess greater depth rather than simply succumbing to his advances. Does contemporary society truly operate in such a manner? My own experience doesn’t provide current insight, though it seems society has grown less restrained than in previous generations. I recognise my perspective may seem outdated, much like grumbling about contemporary fashion choices, but the underlying argument stands.
James Bond has, across 27 films and 14 novels, displayed remarkably few traditional virtues. He consumes alcohol with the determination of someone attempting to erase the plot of Quantum of Solace from memory, which wouldn’t require much effort. He used to smoke until the franchise quietly abandoned the habit in the 1990s when it became unfashionable. At least he never took up vaping. Bond possesses, as his Soviet rival Anya Amasova once recited from his file, a licence to kill, and has exercised that licence on numerous occasions. He has actually ended human lives, yet we seem concerned that he might not be in a committed relationship with these women before sleeping with them. Parks additionally hopes that Bond’s female companions will be depicted as more robust characters, which has been occurring for some decades. We have seen Nomi in No Time to Die, M portrayed by Judi Dench across multiple entries, and even Parks’ own character, Thumper, was an assassin who attempted to physically overpower Bond while performing acrobatic flips. For those who haven’t seen it: she was unsuccessful. The central argument here is that James Bond need not be morally upright. He is not an ideal hero. He is a flawed figure, as all compelling characters tend to be. He need not be saintly. He simply appeared to be so from Live and Let Die through to A View to a Kill. If we transformed Bond into someone who lives cleanly, abstains from smoking and drinking, he would essentially become a 19th-century Mormon. The irony would be that he could then have multiple wives. Steve Allen is a comedian, broadcaster and author. For more content from Steve, listen to his podcast ‘Steve N Allen Almost Daily’.