So Moneypenny starts the movie as a kick-ass field agent who is a crack shot with a sniper rifle and a brilliant driver in pursuit of her targets.
Yet at the end of the movie she's a glorified receptionist. Insulting to Naomie Harris. How did the producers allow that?!
Demotion? She took a different job, one that suited her abilities and where nobody was shooting at her, but I'd say it's more of a promotion than a demotion. She's right-hand woman to the big boss, the capo di tutti capo, and is in a position to know everything about anyone at MI6 and is in to ruin the career of anyone who pisses her off. Seriously, if you've ever worked at any kind of large company or agency, the one universal rule is "Do NOT piss off the CEO's top secretary!".
And I'm empathizing with her right now, I'm in the process of changing from a high-risk "essential" job to a desk job that's more behind the scenes. It's something you do when you're getting older and want a better quality of life, you take a job where you have less excitement and less risk, and where you can use your brain and experience more than your courage. And it's something Bond could never do, he's always been someone who'd rather die on the job than become a desk jockey, which is both impressive and sad.
100% - OP strikes me a knee-jerk virtue-signaling with no regard for the mythology
Moneypenny's always been "in the loop," and only a "secretary" in the most superficial sense. M acknowledges as much in "From Russia With Love" ("Moneypenny, as you are no doubt listening ..."), where he not only expects her to be in on all his secrets but ready to act on them.
Not only is Moneypenny at the right hand of power, and well-positioned to gain enough trust to be appointed to seriously high-level positions, and get on her way to becoming M in due course... stepping away from the field agent position was the *sane* thing to do.
Bond would never leave the excitement of being an agent with a license to kill, and that's not normal, it could even be called pathological. A healthy and reasonable person may except danger or even the need to kill if it's absolutely necessary, but enjoying death and danger isn't normal or healthy, and a mentally balanced person will return to a peaceful life if they can. That's one thing I liked about the recent Bond films. Bond has always had that dark side, even if it's been deliberately downplayed (like during the Moore years), but Craig put that darkness right out in front.
Happily, the OP has left the building. Must be a stamina thing.
shareI was particularly offended because she is black
shareThe film Skyfall was in itself insulting.
Sir Roger would be turning in his grave if he'd ever had to watch this garbage.
Well, you’re wrong there. Sir Roger did watch it and this is what he wrote about it in his introduction to the 2015 edition of “Bond on Bond”:
From beginning to end, Kristina and I were glued to the screen and thought it one of the best, if not the best, Bond film - terrific script, superb direction and camerawork. We were delighted to see some old familiar friends back, such as Moneypenny and Q plus a bit more humour, too.share