Her number will be 007, her role is Bond
Lashana Lynch to portray the fi rst Black female 007 in the
James Bond movie “No Time to Die.” MGM
Caribbean Life, December 4-10, 2020 11
As with the breaking of every
glass ceiling controversy prevails
with the announcement
that Lashana Lynch will portray
the first Black female 007 in the
James Bond movie “No Time to
Die.”
Rumblings of turmoil surfaced
last year when a British magazine
interviewed the trailblazing
actress.
Instead of cheers for the doubly
diverse unprecedented direction
the franchise advanced, bigots
unleashed rage and vitriol aimed
at discrediting the progression of
the series.
That a Black woman could rise
to the level of a British secret
agent proved a toxic concept the
internet accommodated.
In a story published by Harper’s
Bazaar UK for their year-end
series on women British writer
Yrsa Daley Ward introduced the
daughter of a Jamaican mother
and Nigerian father casted to portray
Nomi.
According to the script Nomi
assumes the role of the charmed
character when Mr. James Bond
(Daniel Craig) seeks exile in
Jamaica.
Perhaps Ian Fleming, the original
conceptualizer of the Bond
series might have imagined the
storyline considering he penned
his first ideas while living on the
island.
Fleming delivered “Dr. No,”
the first of a winning series of spy
thrillers.
But with the 25th of a series,
a new millennia and the hashtag
MeToo proposing gender equal
possibilities two realities of gender
and race are already testing
the favorability quotient of fans.
“For a week, she deleted her
social-media apps, meditated and
saw no one but family, while comforting
herself with the knowledge
that the aggressive comments
were ultimately not personal,”
Daley-Ward wrote of Lynch.
In response Lynch returned
understanding of intolerance she
seems accustomed.
“It doesn’t dishearten me. It
makes me feel quite sad for some
people because their opinions,
they’re not even from a mean
place—they’re actually from a
sad place,” Lynch said.
“It’s not about me,” she added.
“People are reacting to an idea,
which has nothing to do with
my life.”
“I am one Black woman—if
it were another Black woman
cast in the role, it would have
been the same conversation,
she would have got the same
attacks, the same abuse.”
“I just have to remind myself
that the conversation is happening
and that I’m a part of
something that will be very, very
revolutionary.”
Lynch explained her interpretation
of the role to being
“a character that is too slick,
a cast-iron figure? That’s completely
against what I stand for,”
Lynch said.
“I didn’t want to waste an
opportunity when it came to
what Nomi might represent. I
searched for at least one moment
in the script where Black audience
members would nod their
heads, tutting at the reality but
glad to see their real life represented.
In every project I am
part of, no matter the budget or
genre, the Black experience that
I’m presenting needs to be 100
percent authentic.”
In an often sexist and racist
society the perception of a Black
woman positioned for prominence
seems unimaginable.
The thought of a Black
woman anchored to a franchise
defined by male machismo, charisma
and testosterone — particularly
if it provided consistent
box-office bonanza might seem
inconceivable to a segment rigidly
committed to tradition.
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