“It’s really progressive and is a step in the right direction.”
Daniel Craig’s James Bond will reportedly be getting woke thanks to the oversight of “intimacy coaches”on set.
“Bond 25” producers hired the consultants to ensure that the stars – including new Bond girl Ana De Armas – feel empowered, according to a report last week in The Sun. A “film insider” explained that the move was part of an effort to get #MeToo compliant.
“Producer Barbara Broccoli and her team are going all out to bring Bond up to speed. It’s all changed in the #MeToo era and they’re going to extra lengths to make sure all the stars are getting the support they need on set, including during some of the more risqué sex scenes,” the insider said.
“An intimacy coordinator is now on set during those scenes and is working with Daniel Craig and new Bond girl Ana De Armas to run through the script and make sure they feel comfortable. It’s really progressive and is a step in the right direction – not just for Bond but the industry as a whole.”
In addition to feminist-friendly sex scenes, “Bond 25” will feature “real” women, screenwriter Phoebe Waller Bridge said earlier this month. She added that the Bond girls have been “fantastic” during the Craig era, which spans four previous movies.
“So it’s just keeping it up,” she said.
James Bond so white
Liberal activists have demanded changes to the Bond franchise that go beyond intimacy coaches – including replacing Craig with a woman or a black man.
However, Eva Green, who starred with Craig in his first Bond movie, 2006’s “Casino Royale,” in March slapped down calls for a female 007.
“I’m for women, but I really think James Bond should remain a man. It doesn’t make sense for him to be a woman,” she said. “Women can play different types of characters, be in action movies, and be superheroes, but James Bond should always be a man and not be Jane Bond. There is history with the character that should continue. He should be played by a man.”
Soon thereafter, Ralph Fiennes, who has played Bond’s boss, went further. He said that he traditionally hyper-masculine special agent should remain not just male but white.
“I would like to see a great black actor inhabit a Bond-like persona. But not necessarily be in the same franchise,” he said.
Craig injured his ankle last week while filming in Jamaica. But “Bond 25” remains slated for release in April 2020.
Intimacy coaches for everyone
Intimacy coaches are becoming the norm in Hollywood, which provided both the “toxic masculinity” and the activism behind #MeToo. Greater policing of gender relations has spread to less glitzy workplaces as well. But it is not clear the trend is having the intended effect.
A May 17 survey by LeanIn.org found that women feel less safe at work than they did a year ago. Meanwhile, male managers have become less comfortable interacting with junior-level women, it said. The results would seem to bolster those who have warned that #MeToo risks vilifying men and disempowering women.
However, LeanIn.org founder, Facebook COO Sherly Sandberg, said the real takeaway is that men should be held even more accountable.
Via Pluralist
