A British politician has stoked gender equality issues in the entertainment industry

British Conservative MP Nick Fletcher stated that replacing male characters with female counterparts deprives young men of role models and, therefore, pushes them to commit crimes.

Addressing Parliament, Fletcher says: “Everywhere, not least within the cultural sphere, there seems to be a call from a small and very vocal minority that every male character, or good role model, must have a female replacement. One need only look at the discussion around the next James Bond”. The statement was greeted by a soft “Here, here” from a currently unknown speaker.”And it’s not just James Bond. In recent years, we’ve seen Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, Luke Skywalker, The Equalizer, all replaced by women,” Fletcher continued.” And the men are left with the Krays and Tommy Shelby. Is it any wonder why we are seeing so many young men committing crimes? “Fletcher’s counter-examples are references to the criminals depicted in the popular series Secrets of the Krays and Peaker Blinders.

Fletcher’s stance was widely criticised on social media, with many seeing the MP’s explanation for rising crime rates as reductive and unfounded. Fellow MP Ruth Cadbury MP responded to Fletcher by tweeting: “After a decade in power, it is clear that this government has run out of ideas to tackle crime if they seek to blame it on Doctor Who.”

Fletcher’s comments about replacing male characters refer to several significant franchises restructuring and rebooting their male protagonists with a woman. 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 title character was disrespectful to the show’s long history, which spans more than 50 years. Before Whittaker, The Doctor was only played by male actors.

More recently, the talk surrounding the next James Bond suggests that fans of the franchise are pushing for a female version of the super spy. Speaking about the idea, Daniel Craig, who last appeared as Bond in No Time to Die, said: “The answer is very simple. There should simply be better roles for women and actors of colour – why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a role as good as James Bond, but for a woman?”

Conservative MP Nick Fletcher says Doctor Who being played by a woman has pushed young men into crime. pic.twitter.com/08rFuCtmgS

— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) November 25, 2021

Source: lamazmorradelfriki