No Time To Die director Cary Fukunaga has called out Sean Connery's James Bond for being "basically" a rapist.
"Is it Thunderball or Goldfinger where, like, basically Sean Connery's character rapes a woman," he said to the Hollywood Reporter. "She's like 'No, no, no,' and he's like, 'Yes, yes, yes.' That wouldn't fly today."
In the 1965 film, Connery's Bond meets nurse, Patricia Fearing — who is played by Molly Peters. She repeatedly rejects his advances, and pushes him away when he forcibly kisses her.
Later on, she pleads with Bond to not tell her manager about something that could result in a dismissal. He replies: "Well, I suppose my silence could have a price."
She moves away, and says, "You don't mean… oh, no!" Bond replies, "Oh yes," pushes her into a steam room, and removes her clothing.
Speaking about No Time To Die, and his attempt to elevate women, Fukunaga continues:
"You can’t change Bond overnight into a different person. But you can definitely change the world around him and the way he has to function in that world.
"It’s a story about a white man as a spy in this world, but you have to be willing to lean in and do the work to make the female characters more than just contrivances."
Twitter users have called out Connery's Bond for his treatment of women. Referencing Goldfinger, one user wrote, "Goldfinger be so perfect then BOOM implied rape scene used as a way to convince Pussy Galore to betray Goldie. Bond doesn’t even seduce her, he straight up forces himself on her. Ugh, the rest is so good, wish the scene didn’t exist [sic]."
Another corroborated, "Some of the things Bond does in Goldfinger are basically rape."
The film's producer, Barbara Broccoli, told The Hollywood Reporter that 007 has a "long history".
"I think people are coming around – with some kicking and screaming – to accepting that stuff is no longer acceptable. Thank goodness. Bond is a character who was written in 1952 and the first film [Dr. No] came out in 1962."
Lashana Lynch, who plays 00 agen, Nomi in the upcoming film, added that she thinks Fukunaga succeeded in creating a more progressive Bond.
"Cary had big discussions with Barbara and Daniel about how to give the female characters equity, how to keep them in charge of themselves, how to give them solo moments where the audience learns who they are," she told the publication.
"It was really important to empower the female characters as stand-alones. And I think that he kept that in mind throughout the whole shoot. I didn’t feel like Nomi, as a young Black woman, was constantly standing behind the white guy, which, for me, is job done. And that was a very conscious decision for Cary."
No Time To Die will hit movie theatres on September 30.