The idea of Gillian Anderson as 007 has caused controversy. But spy fiction is such a rich and inventive genre, isn’t it time to give women a more central role?
It is a playful and memorable image: a charismatic actor, Gillian Anderson, splashed above the iconic logo of 007. But I was surprised by how many voices – male and female – were raised against the idea behind it when the picture was shared on social media last month. Why should there be such resistance to the prospect of a female Bond? It seems unlikely that this would be the case in any other genre. Spy fiction has proved remarkably hardy over the years, from the subtle dramas of Joseph Conrad and Graham Greene to the brash adventures of Ian Fleming or Len Deighton, and on screen with surefooted realisations from Alfred Hitchcock to Sydney Pollack. The genre may have blossomed in the fertile ground of the second world war and the cold war, but as the success of the latest John le Carré adaptations proves, there are no signs of it dying out any time soon. In fact, new writers are revitalising its themes all the time, from Ian McEwan and Helen Dunmore to William Boyd and Charles Cumming. Surely such an inventive and adaptive tradition can accommodate a woman in the lead?
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