The James Bond franchise has garnered a considerable fan following over the years. But along with the success and fame it has received, there have been moments of controversies and differences of opinion among the public, largely because of how unrelatable the character of the celebrated fictional spy is.
Despite all, the franchise has generated multiple fan ventures and even novels, presenting the famous Bond mythos in a different light. In a recently released adult 007 adventure novel, author Charlie Higson came under fire for making the spy ‘woke’. He even defended his fictional venture by claiming that even Sony used Daniel Craig for the same purpose.
Charlie Higson Under Fire For Making James Bond ‘Woke’
Charlie Higson‘s latest book On His Majesty’s Secret Service, pits the celebrated fictional British spy against a right-wing villain, taking the whole narrative to a more modern political one. While Bond tries to save King Charles III from a terrorist plot, he also explores themes of populism and turns into a more ‘woke’ political character.
Multiple critics and fans of the franchise expressed their opinions about the novel and slammed it for corrupting the celebrated franchise by introducing and blending ‘woke’ themes into the storyline. Many even slammed it for introducing an American-kind of wokeness into the largely British tale, making it rather a culturally shattering yet almost satirically nonsensical tale.
However, the author himself defended his stance, claiming he only made the character into a more contemporary one as he stated (as per Express.co.UK),
“I’ve just made him a contemporary young man. In the same way that Eon [the production company] completely updated Bond for each new decade in the films so that he wouldn’t feel dated.”
While many were appalled by his comments, his recent remarks seem to echo the same sentiment of what he stated back in 2021 about Daniel Craig being a ‘woke’ James Bond.
Charlie Higson Claims Daniel Craig As James Bond Was ‘Woke’
While the whole world has been calling Higson out for making Bond into a weird Americanised ‘woke’ character, the author himself once had claimed that the Daniel Craig starrer Sony’s franchise featured a ‘woke’ version of the celebrated spy.
He remarked about the franchise’s departure from traditional portrayal into a more tender, vulnerable, and empathetic portrayal of James Bond, as he stated (as per The Guardian),
“[Craig has] given us woke 007, who’s tender, cries and gets into the shower in his tuxedo to comfort a woman.”
While the producer of the franchise claimed Craig helped them redefine the character, Higson stated,
“Coming out of the sea in skimpy shorts made him a sex object, not Eva Green.”
While Charlie Higson’s version continues to raise eyebrows, he stated that if somebody doesn’t like his version of the story, they should better ignore it and move on (via Express.co.UK).
The James Bond franchise can be streamed on Amazon Prime.
Source: Express.co.UK and The Guardian
