Dr Monica Germanà, Reader in Gothic and Contemporary Studies and Course Leader for Creative Writing: Writing the City MA at the University of Westminster, recently appeared on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 to discuss Amazon’s takeover of James Bond. Her insights on how they can modernise the franchise were later used in a BBC News article on the takeover.
On 21 February, Dr Germanà joined BBC Radio 4’s morning news programme Today to share her expertise on how Amazon’s takeover might change the franchise’s relationship with women.
Dr Germanà, author of Bond Girls: Body, Fashion and Gender, said: “I would love to see more interesting and nuanced female characters. There is a growing female fandom, so we want more interesting female characters teasing Bond's masculine ego.”
Dr Germanà also speculated upon changes to Bond villains, and her comments were later quoted in a BBC News article. She said: "They represent the anxieties we have about the world. So it'd be interesting to see what Amazon does with that. Will the next villain be AI? Will it be something to do with climate change? Will it be far-right politics they tap into?"
Later that day, Dr Germanà spoke to Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 about Bond Girls and the calls to cast a woman as the next 007. She said: “I think it is okay for Bond to stay a man. You can have spin offs dedicated to some of the more successful minor characters. Moneypenny would be great, for instance.”
Dr Germanà added: “If you come back to James Bond being a little conservative, maybe sexist even, I think it's okay as long as you have female characters who are able to tease him and expose that sexism, and then you have a wonderful model of popular culture that inspires debate about our world and how we can all learn from that.”
Listen to Dr Monica Germanà on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5, and read the full article on BBC News.
Find out more about English and Creative Writing courses at the University of Westminster.
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