Meet the new Miss Moneypenny

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Meet the new Miss Moneypenny

Expect to see Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw and Ralph Fiennes in future James Bond films.

The three actors join 007 Daniel Craig in the new thriller Skyfall, directed by Sam Mendes, which opens to the public on October 26 following the world premiere in the presence of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at the Royal Albert Hall on October 23.
Rising star: Naomie Harris will pla the role of Miss Moneypenny in the new James Bond film

Rising star: Naomie Harris will pla the role of Miss Moneypenny in the new James Bond film

Charles is patron of the Intelligence Services and, appropriately enough, the premiere will support charities that help former and serving members of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.

It's already known Whishaw is the new Q and this page revealed a while back that Naomie is the new Miss Moneypenny.

The Skyfall trailer hints as to what Fiennes's involvement might be, but I'm not going to give it away - though I've known for more than a year, and there are rumours galore on the internet.

All three actors have options in their deals to return in other Bond films (the 24th movie in the series will start shooting within the next 18 months).

Meanwhile, they are all keeping busy. Whishaw is great in the movie version of Cloud Atlas, and will star with fellow Bond legend Judi Dench in John Logan's play Peter And Alice for the Michael Grandage Company at the Noel Coward Theatre from March 9.

Fiennes makes a suitably dark, though also strangely touching, Magwitch in Mike Newell's new big screen Great Expectations, which had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

He's in post-production on his film The Invisible Woman, which he directed and stars in, playing Charles Dickens opposite Felicity Jones's Nelly Ternan.

And Naomie recently finished work on Mandela: A Long Walk Home. She plays Winnie Mandela, while Nelson is portrayed by Idris Elba in the film, which was shot in South Africa.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2206409/BAZ-BAMIGBOYE-These-horribly-sharp-dressers-star-sinister-BBC-series.html#ixzz27R2vjyAi

Baz Bamigboy at it again, and usual he's probably right.

So Moneypenny is now a gun-toting black woman?

They just can't help themselves.

CJB wrote:

So Moneypenny is now a gun-toting black woman?

They just can't help themselves.

This is what I envision every time I read this same damn post, or some variation of it:



Doing the same thing over and over again for 20+ films is creatively lazy and boring. Who cares if she's a "gun-toting black woman" if it's done right? Not like it matters anyway -- from what the latest spoilers indicate, her Moneypenny will not be "gun-toting."

Jack Wade wrote:

Doing the same thing over and over again for 20+ films is creatively lazy and boring.

Agreed. Which is why I think James Bond should be made a one-legged, lesbian, Korean insurance saleswoman. I'm sick and tired of watching an able-bodied, straight, British spy. 20+ movies of that shit is enough.

---

So is this legit, or speculation?

I have no problem with Fiennes and Whishaw as M and Q, if it's Fiennes for M. I'd rather someone more traditional, who doesn't look more like Bond than the actor playing Bond, but I can't complain too much about Fiennes.

And I was on board with Harris as Moneypenny before it was revealed she was playing yet another RamboWoman. I can just see old Lois Maxwell with an uzi, pumping some SPECTRE goons full of lead.

This would be an awful intro for Moneypenny. As another XXX/Jinx wannabe? So she's just gonna sit behind a desk in the next one, or is the Bond crew gonna go on adventures like the Super Friends?

Just so I don't sound like a total jerk, I don't get the "she's black" complaint. I think she'd be fine as a desk-bound Moneypenny. She's attractive, but not exotic, which is what Moneypenny should be, and why she's such a letdown to me visually as a lead Bond girl. She just looks so "regular" to me. Of course, Berenice Marlohe does even less for me. And that Greek woman is horrid. So that's two films in a row with Bodn girls that completely bore me.

I don't mind Moneypenny being black. As long as she's a cute secretary, and Naomi Harris fits that description, I'm fine. Heck, the only description Fleming ever really gave her is "brunette".

I do think the gun totting thing is silly, but it's not the worst thing to happen with the character, like her orgasm session at Q branch.

I just don't know how she goes from main Bond girl to bit player from now on. Jesus, she's just a supoorting player, and she's always been by far my least favorite element of the films. She shows up for one, maybe two scenes. We get some little banter. And in a traditional Bond movie, Bond then gets his mission and we don't see these people until the next Bond movie.

And I don't like the idea of seeing Bond and Moneypenny actually do it. It should be kept as a "maybe", as something that maybe happened, ONCE, in the past.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

This would be an awful intro for Moneypenny. As another XXX/Jinx wannabe? So she's just gonna sit behind a desk in the next one, or is the Bond crew gonna go on adventures like the Super Friends?

Jinx was a cartoon character in a Daredevil outfit spouting cringe-worthy lines like 'yo mama'...I've yet to see any evidence that Eve's role will be just as lousy. For now, she's tentatively the girl who shaved Bond.

Mrs Aural Sects wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

This would be an awful intro for Moneypenny. As another XXX/Jinx wannabe? So she's just gonna sit behind a desk in the next one, or is the Bond crew gonna go on adventures like the Super Friends?

Jinx was a cartoon character in a Daredevil outfit spouting cringe-worthy lines like 'yo mama'...I've yet to see any evidence that Eve's role will be just as lousy. For now, she's tentatively the girl who shaved Bond.

I just mean as a Bond equal, though I know she's said to not be his equal.

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So she's just gonna sit behind a desk in the next one, or is the Bond crew gonna go on adventures like the Super Friends?

I'm guessing it's the former. I hope. :pale:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

And I don't like the idea of seeing Bond and Moneypenny actually do it. It should be kept as a "maybe", as something that maybe happened, ONCE, in the past.

Maybe something interrupts them in Macau, or she just teases him?

CJB wrote:

So Moneypenny is now a gun-toting black woman?

Let's assume for a moment that this story is true - what if it is handled in such a way that Eve moving from the field to a desk is a part of the story, and if Eve never actually leaves the desk during her tenure as Moneypenny? For example, the government decides that MI6 needs to undergo a thorough audit following the events of SKYFALL, and Mallory is appointed as the new M. As part of this, he will naturally want someone who he knows he can work with, and who is part of the service already. He chooses Eve for her experience and conduct in the field, ups her security clearance and appoints her as his secretary. How is that at all a bad thing?

Furthermore, you're assuming that EON deliberately cast Harris in the role because she is black, implying that they had some desire to be absolutely politically-correct. Where is the proof of this? How do you know that EON didn't go through dozens of actors and settled on Harris because they liked her performance and her chemistry with Daniel Craig the best?

I know - EON deliberately cast a woman as M for GOLDENEYE, but they did that for a reason. GOLDENEYE was the first Bond film after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The major underlying theme of the film is whether or not there is a place in the world for Bond when the Iron Curtain has been drawn back, and to that end, they deliberately cast Judi Dench as M to further remove Bond from his comfort zone. I think it's an interesting theme to explore, and that it's actually handled very well by both the script and the direction. But just because they deliberately cast a woman as M because she is a woman one time, that does not mean they deliberately cast a black woman in a role that may or may not become Moneypenny simply because that woman was black.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

Let's assume for a moment that this story is true - what if it is handled in such a way that Eve moving from the field to a desk is a part of the story, and if Eve never actually leaves the desk during her tenure as Moneypenny? For example, the government decides that MI6 needs to undergo a thorough audit following the events of SKYFALL, and Mallory is appointed as the new M. As part of this, he will naturally want someone who he knows he can work with, and who is part of the service already. He chooses Eve for her experience and conduct in the field, ups her security clearance and appoints her as his secretary. How is that at all a bad thing?

As a staunch feminist, I'm offended by the notion that a strong, capable, independent woman would be demoted to secretarial duties.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

She's attractive, but not exotic, which is what Moneypenny should be, and why she's such a letdown to me visually as a lead Bond girl. She just looks so "regular" to me. Of course, Berenice Marlohe does even less for me. And that Greek woman is horrid. So that's two films in a row with Bodn girls that completely bore me.

Agreed on all points. Berenice seems like a seriously messed up & overly made-up Janine Turner to me, and that's just about the best of the lot.

Any chance Eve gets promoted to a different kind of M, like boss M? that would explain her being int heo ffie.c

trevanian wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

She's attractive, but not exotic, which is what Moneypenny should be, and why she's such a letdown to me visually as a lead Bond girl. She just looks so "regular" to me. Of course, Berenice Marlohe does even less for me. And that Greek woman is horrid. So that's two films in a row with Bodn girls that completely bore me.

Agreed on all points. Berenice seems like a seriously messed up & overly made-up Janine Turner to me, and that's just about the best of the lot.

Can't see it myself. Berenice is a hell of a lot more bangable than Janine bleeding Turner (had to Google her). She's got a decent rack for one.

CJB wrote:

As a staunch feminist, I'm offended by the notion that a strong, capable, independent woman would be demoted to secretarial duties.

How is it a demotion? Moneypenny is M's secretary, and privvy to MI6's innermost secrets. If anything it's a promotion. Of course, the role would have to be different to what it has been in the past - Moneypenny can't just sit there and flirt with Bond and listen in on M's private conversations. She would probably have to have some of Tanner's duties mixed into the role.

Besides, I can easily think of a plausible situation that could naturally arise out of the story. Harris describes Eve as "thinking she is Bond's equal, when she is really his junior", which is a very odd and specific description. I'm willing to bet that, at some point, Eve will find herself in a situation where she realises that she cannot handle the demands of the job, and so requests a move to an office position. It has nothing to do with her being a woman; she is simply a person who knows and accepts her own personal limitations. Wouldn't you agree that the capacity for such honest self-assessment is itself a kind of strength?

I, too, believe in feminism. But what I don't believe in is employing people or making decisions to satisfy some social-acceptable, politically-correct agenda. I believe that people should be employed to do jobs that they are best suited to do. Take me, for example. I'm an English teacher. Schools don't employ me to teach food technology because I'm male and the food technology faculty is staffed only by women. Schools employ me to be an English teacher, because that's what I do best. In the same way, Eve should not be a field agent in the film simply because she is a woman. She should be in the field because she is trained to be in the field, and has knowledge and experience that make her the best person to put in the field. And if she should move to a desk job, it won't be because she is a woman - it will be because that is the role she as a person fits best. If the dedicated feminists want progress, then they have to accept that a "strong, capable, independent woman" can choose to be a secretary, because that is what they want to do, that it is their choice to do that, and that their gender has nothing to do with it.

From kicking butt to filing papers and making coffee. Reckon a bloke would be put in that position?

It's shocking how rapidly our society is moving backwards.

I think PM makes a point about finding one's own niche. If handled well I wouldn't mind, but if it goes the way CJB describes it right down to making coffee, well that's just silly.

CJB wrote:

From kicking butt to filing papers and making coffee.

Who says that would be her job description? Like I said, her role could take elements of the Chief of Staff's position.

For example, Eve's backstory could have her recriuted out of university to be a field agent. Once she moved to a desk job, M could have her use the skills she gained in university to help the service. For example, she could be positioned as a secretary, but her actual job is to serve as a kind of emotional barometer for Double-Oh Agents, one part human resources manager and one part psychiatrist. They have a high-stress job, but when they are in M's company, they are very formal. They relax in the outer office, which would give Eve the chance to see what they're really thinking and feeling, and then report back to M on who is in the best position for field work. So where everyone assumes she is "filing papers and making coffee", she's really looking out for the health and wellbeing of agents; they just don't know it. And the coffee thing could be explained by her becoming a barista to pay her way through university, and M being a coffee enthusiast, but compeltely incompetent at operating the coffee machine. It would also give her a ready-made excuse to report back to M on the health and wellbeing of agents without arousing suspicion.

It's only a problem if you assume the only two options for the character are at the extreme opposite ends of the spectrum. There is plenty of stuff in between that could be applied to make the character interesting without being sexist.

CJB wrote:

Reckon a bloke would be put in that position?

His name was Villiers. We never did find out what happened to him.

Villiers was always a desk jockey as far as we know. He wasn't busted down to secretary because the boss thought he had a cute caboose.

So why are you assuming that Eve would be moved to a secretary's position simply because Ralph Fiennes wanted to ogle her behind?

Because men are pigs.

Maybe, but that contradicts the argument that Babs is ardently and overtly-PC, and so will push that onto the films by any means necessary.

So, if you assume that the screenwriters will be a cesspool of male chauvanism and that Babs will be a militant feminist, then a fairly logical conclusion is that each will cancel the other out and Eve as Moneypenny will be a balanced role.

I see you still haven't addressed the issue of Eve adopting the role of Moneypenny as a function of the story. Don't you think that this is in any way possible without it being sexist? Like, say, the idea of Eve being a kind of older-sister figure to the Double-Ohs, watching out for signs that an agent is cracking and could become a liability in the field.

So she has to be a nurturing mother figure just because she's a woman?

Despicable.






(OK that's enough thread hijacking for one day).

No, because in this version, she was a psych major at university when she ws recruited to the service. After completing her studies and her mandatory field training, she was assigned to the Istanbul field office, where her role was to identify people who could become local assets and offer other agents in the field office insight on how best to approach them. During the events of SKYFALL, she works with Bond, and following the incident on the bridge where Bond is shot, she is reassigned to the London offices to keep her under the eye of Mallory, who has been sent to review the service in the wake of the Istanbul incident.

At the end of the film, M is removed from her position, and Mallory instated in her place. Knowing that a change of regime will be unpopular and appreciating that Double-Oh Agents have a dangerous, high-stress job, Mallory assigned Eve to a role officially recognised as "secretary", but where she unofficially uses her training from university and experience in the field (prior to meeting Bond) to help Double-Ohs, particularly with their mental health. She would also have a renewed security clearance that means she is able to sit in on highly-classified meetings, where she once again assumes the role of "secretary" and takes the minutes of the meeting, but where she is really assessing the person(s) M is meeting and reporting back to him on what she thinks - if this version of Moneypenny was sitting in on the initial debriefing with Georgi Koskov in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, she would be the one most-likely to recognise that something was very wrong with Koskov's defection.

None of this appointment would have anything to do with the fact that she is a woman, and everything to do with her qualifications and experience. Yes, in this role she would be expected to fulfil the duties of a secretary - but only to cover up her real role.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

No, because in this version, she was a psych major at university when she ws recruited to the service. After completing her studies and her mandatory field training, she was assigned to the Istanbul field office, where her role was to identify people who could become local assets and offer other agents in the field office insight on how best to approach them. During the events of SKYFALL, she works with Bond, and following the incident on the bridge where Bond is shot, she is reassigned to the London offices to keep her under the eye of Mallory, who has been sent to review the service in the wake of the Istanbul incident.

At the end of the film, M is removed from her position, and Mallory instated in her place. Knowing that a change of regime will be unpopular and appreciating that Double-Oh Agents have a dangerous, high-stress job, Mallory assigned Eve to a role officially recognised as "secretary", but where she unofficially uses her training from university and experience in the field (prior to meeting Bond) to help Double-Ohs, particularly with their mental health. She would also have a renewed security clearance that means she is able to sit in on highly-classified meetings, where she once again assumes the role of "secretary" and takes the minutes of the meeting, but where she is really assessing the person(s) M is meeting and reporting back to him on what she thinks - if this version of Moneypenny was sitting in on the initial debriefing with Georgi Koskov in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, she would be the one most-likely to recognise that something was very wrong with Koskov's defection.

None of this appointment would have anything to do with the fact that she is a woman, and everything to do with her qualifications and experience. Yes, in this role she would be expected to fulfil the duties of a secretary - but only to cover up her real role.

I thought

Spoiler: