Because society is due for yet another marvelous James Bond flick, and since Daniel Craig and even Idris Elba have their sights set on other projects, British actor Dominic West suggested this week a transgender woman (a biological male who “identifies” as female) take on the role. Even though it was only a suggestion, the idea has caused quite the stir.
One assumes West suggests a transgender woman play James Bond because either it is hip and relevant and James Bond is nothing if not cool, trendy, and in the know — or because a transgender woman would be more representative of society. Unfortunately these are both false, which is why even the mere suggestion of such an idea is outlandish, absurd, and truly a bad omen for the role of masculinity in entertainment and even real life.
Transgender people represent half a percentage point or less of the United States population. It isn’t a mainstream trend in real life and thus, has no need to earn representation in film. Of course, James Bond, or men like him, is hardly a representation of men in society, as any cranky feminist might observe. Sure, Bond is not only a fictional character and perhaps even a bit of a subpar role model at that, what with his alcoholism and womanizing ways.
Still, Bond is to masculinity what champagne is to a celebration: An over-the-top representation of something good. Bond embodies the best in alpha males and also some of the worst. He is a renaissance man who wants, ultimately, to protect the things he loves: his woman and his country. With equal parts brain and brawn, Bond epitomizes what men can be, even though he also falters in his weaknesses. What, if not that, represents the journey toward manhood more?
To allow a person who has eschewed manhood so much she chooses to live as a woman to embody the role of this archetypal character is an affront to masculinity, both the good and bad. Society has enough of that, in real life, with the onslaught of transgender norms in schools, now bombarding the court system with their tales of marginalized woe. It certainly doesn’t need that in James Bond.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
