‘Women Should Get Our Own Stories’: Rachel Weisz Objects To Female James Bond

Image by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

By Jenny Singer April 12, 2018

Sing with me: How do you solve a problem like entrenched-societal-misogyny?! How do you catch egalitarianism and pin it down?

Husband and wife Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz are the latest to try to deal with ye olde flibbertigibbet known as gender inequality, through the lens of the “James Bond” franchise. As Craig, 50, prepares to once again don the tuxedo and bowtie, it does not escape some critics’ notice that, as sociologist Linda Lindsay has noted, “In four decades of James Bond films…women are depicted enjoying rape.” Tra la!

No kidding, Gemma Arterton

Danny Boyle, who is co-writing a script for the upcoming movie and is expected to be announced as director, was asked if the film will reflect the #MeToo era. He said, “You write in real time. You acknowledge the legacy of the world [of Bond](as it were. “of Bond”) “I’ve been trying to do that gently for the past four movies and I’ll continue to do that.”

Indeed, sexagenarian Boyle and aging spy-impersonator Craig are passionate luminaries who will light our way to a better tomorrow for women, and if they are not give at least $200 million to do so we should take to the streets. And many, from actress Priyanka Chopra to the executive producer of the “Bond” movies Barbara Broccoli, have expressed interest in seeing a female Bond on the big screen.

But Craig’s wife, actress Rachel Weisz, doesn’t think so. “Why not create your own story rather than jumping on to the shoulders and being compared to all those other male predecessors?” she asked The Telegraph. “Women are really fascinating and interesting and should get their own stories.”

A novel idea, indeed. And a controversial one. Yes, women deserve stories written by them and for them. But just imagine: Rachel Weisz as a 48 year-old, Jewish, female Bond.

Nothing wrong with being “compared to all those other male predecessors” if you’re the best one.

Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at Singer@forward.com or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO