Why ‘toxic’ James Bond should be played by a woman

TO fans, James Bond is a suave superspy, charming and lethal in equal measure.

But the next actor to play the secret agent should be black, bisexual or ‘even a woman’, according to an educational psychologist at a Scottish university.

He says Bond is a symbol of ‘toxic masculinity’ whose ‘dogmatically straight’ sexual orientation is outdated.

Dr Thusha Rajendran said: ‘Now that once-accepted traditional male behaviour is being challenged by the likes of the #metoo movement, it definitely looks like Bond’s time is up.

‘An Afro-Caribbean bisexual Bond would have a poetic symmetry and allow for a new journey of self-discovery of what it is to be a man in the 21st century.’ Dr Rajendran, of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, said a bisexual Bond would be able to wheedle secrets out of both sexes.

Writing in the online academic journal The Conversation, he said: ‘Toxic masculinity has become a serious problem.

‘The narrow, restrictive and damaging ways that men are encouraged to define themselves has led to a crisis that is being played out in all walks of life, not just in post-Weinstein Hollywood. Young men in particular need alternative ways of seeing themselves besides in the context of sexual prowess and power.’

Trainspotting director Danny Boyle is said to be taking charge of Daniel Craig’s likely last outing as 007 in the 25th film in the franchise since Sean Connery’s first appearance as Bond in Dr No in 1 62.