Conservative British MP Nick Fletcher declared that replacing male characters with female counterparts is depriving young men of role models and thus pushing them to commit crimes.Addressing Parliament, Fletcher says, "Everywhere, not at least within the cultural sphere, there seems to be a call from a tiny and very vocal minority that every male character, or good role model, must have a female replacement. One only needs to look at the discussion surrounding the next James Bond." The statement was met by a mild "Here, Here," from a currently unknown speaker.
"And it's not just James Bond. In recent years, we have seen Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, Luke Skywalker, The Equalizer all replaced by women," continued Fletcher. "And men are left with the Krays and Tommy Shelby. Is there any wonder why we are seeing so many young men committing crime?" Fletcher's counter-examples are references to criminals depicted in the popular series Secrets of the Krays and Peaker Blinders.
Fletcher's stance was largely slammed on social media as many viewed the MP's explanation of rising crime rates as reductive and unfounded. Fellow politician MP Ruth Cadbury responded to Fletcher by tweeting, "After a decade in power it's clear that this Government have ran out of ideas to tackle crime if they're looking to blame Doctor Who."
Fletcher's comments regarding the replacement of male characters refer to several significant franchises recasting and rebooting their male protagonists with a female. Perhaps the most controversial recasting was Jodi Whittaker taking over the role of The Doctor in Doctor Who. Many viewers of the show complained that replacing the lead character was disrespectful to the show's long-running history, which spans over 50 years. Before Whittaker, The Doctor was only played by male actors.
More recently, the discourse surrounding the next James Bond suggests that fans of the franchise are pushing for a female version of the super spy. Speaking to the idea, Daniel Craig, who appeared as Bond for the last time in No Time to Die said, "The answer to that is very simple. There should simply be better parts for women and actors of colour. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?"
Source: Twitter