This is an article I found on the changes in Bond, which explored violence, the appeal of Bond and most importantly for my focus in theory into practice, Bond girls, and it has provided some useful pointers for me about the changes of the representation of the women in the films.
The Bond Phenomenon
Author: Tony Watkins
There is an updated version of this article here.
James Bond has been in the spying business for a long time and really ought to be up for a long service award and a Civil Service pension. But he's ageing rather well and seems to be going at least as strongly as ever. Since 1953, when Ian Fleming's first 007 novel, Casino Royale, hit the shelves, Commander Bond has been suavely dealing with the enemies of freedom around the globe, both in print and on screen. The Bond novel has had two new leases of life since Ian Fleming's death - in the writings of Kingsley Amis (Colonel Sun, 1968), Christopher Wood (screenplays and novelisations of The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977, and Moonraker, 1979) John Gardner (sixteen titles including novelisations of Licence to Kill, 1989, and GoldenEye, 1995) and Raymond Benson (eight titles including novelisations of Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997, and The World is not Enough, 1999, plus a volume of short stories).
Of course it is the screen incarnations of James Bond that have captured countless imaginations and generated much merchandising1 over the last four decades. Messrs Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton and Brosnan have brought the world's most famous secret agent to life in twenty action-packed films. Twenty 'official' films from EON Productions, that is. There have been two other feature films: the spoof Bond film, Casino Royale, and the remake of Thunderball, Never Say Never Again, which saw Sean Connery return to the role. The first actor to play Bond was not Connery, however. American Barry Nelson was the first to take on the 007 mantle for a one-hour live production of Casino Royale for CBS in 1954. Then two years later Bob Holness (ofBlockbusters fame) played Bond in a radio dramatisation of Moonraker.
The appeal of Bond
What gives Fleming's character this enduring popularity? James Bond is a hero, a womaniser, a connoisseur of fine things, a gambler, a thrill-seeker, a rule-breaker, a killer, an English gentleman and a cinematic icon of coolness. Bond's life is one long adventure with the thrill of the chase, the exotic and extreme situations, the supercars and the liaisons with beautiful girls. He isn't a standard-issue secret agent - a good spy needs to be so unremarkable that he or she is almost invisible. In contrast, 007's style is often to brazenly stroll into a social situation to get the measure of his enemy - he announces his presence and waits for a response. It's a typical approach from the agent who likes to do things in his own distinctive way.
007 is not just a hero, he's almost a superhero. Not because he has superpowers but because he is consummately good at everything he does and is virtually invincible. In place of superpowers, Bond has a fabulous array of gadgetry to call on: watches equipped with transmitters, lasers, detonators, etc.; glass-shattering rings; exploding pens; autogyros; and minisubs. Many of the earlier gadgets were based on real spy technology - the attaché case containing a hidden folding sniper's rifle in From Russia With Love (1963), for example. Some, like the Bell Jet Pack2 inThunderball (1965), seemed outlandish but were real machines; others, like the miniature underwater breathing device in the same film, were pure make-believe; some were forerunners of real machines, like the Wet Bike in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). 007's cars are generally brimming with gadgets and have set pulses racing since his first Aston Martin in Goldfinger(1964). It seems that very little Bond possesses or uses is ordinary, but even ordinary things become very special in his highly skilled hands
Bond Girls
Another element of the Bond films that is highly stylised is the women, Bond Girls. From the moment Ursula Andress stepped out of the sea as Honey Ryder in Dr. No (1962), every Bond movie has featured beautiful women to set male pulses racing. In all except The Living Daylights(1987), James has a sexual relationship with at least one of the women, and often two - one an ally, and one who proves to be an enemy.
James Bond exudes coolness and sophistication, which, together with his charm and rugged good looks, make him irresistible to most women (notable exceptions being Rosa Klebb in From Russia With Love (1963) and Miranda Frost3 in Die Another Day (2002)). Bond is even able to seduce the lesbian Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964) so that she becomes heterosexual. The women in Bond's life are havens of security in his turbulent and hazardous existence. While he is in their arms, the dangers and difficulties of 007's life are pushed to one side. Even more important to him is that the inevitable loneliness of a spy's life is temporarily forgotten.
The way that James Bond relates to the women has changed over the years in line with changing attitudes towards women in society generally. He has always been protective towards women and has more than a little old-fashioned chivalry in his attitude. But in the earlier years he also tended to be somewhat chauvinistic. More significantly, the nature of the women themselves has changed, becoming more independent and self-sufficient. This has reached its logical conclusion with Jinx in Die Another Day who is presented to us as Bond's equal in many respects. Although the two of them become lovers, she does not allow 007 to be protective of her, despite the fact that he still has to rescue her.
It is Bond's protectiveness towards women that once brought him true love. In the 1969 film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, he rescues the beautiful but bored Comtesse Teresa di Vicenzo (Tracy, played by Diana Rigg) from her attempt to drown herself on a Portuguese beach. She turns out to be the daughter of crime boss Marc Ange Draco who offers 007 his assistance and ₤1 million if he will marry Tracy. Bond refuses but falls in love with her and marries her anyway. His happiness is short-lived, however. As Commander and Mrs Bond set off for their honeymoon, Bond's archenemy Blofeld and his henchwoman Irma Bunt spray the car with bullets. Tracy is killed and Bond is heartbroken. It seems he never really got over this - in the opening sequence of For Your Eyes Only (1981), he is shown visiting her grave to leave flowers. Never again would Bond commit himself to a woman, but sexual relationships continue to be a very significant part of his life.
The Bible is clear from the outset that sex is part of what it is to be human. In Genesis 2, the first man, Adam only finds a suitable partner when God makes the woman. 'At last!' Adam exclaims, 'this is flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone.' He instantly recognises that they were made for each other. There is something in us which longs for intimacy with the opposite sex - it's how we were made. Bond feels that longing intensely because of his unsettled and dangerous life. But the Bible is equally clear about what God's standard is: absolute faithfulness within marriage and no sexual relations whatsoever outside of it. Bond the womaniser seems to care about nothing other than his own gratification when there is a beautiful woman in sight. There is little or no thought for the consequences of these casual sexual liaisons. Regardless of the potential physical consequences of sexually transmitted diseases or risk of pregnancy, Bond seems oblivious of the emotional impact on his lovers or himself. He knows the distress of losing a lover all too well - he has grieved over other dead women besides Tracy (e.g. Paris Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies(1997)) - but apparently cares nothing for how the women he seduces will feel afterwards. But after such a long succession of lovers, he is probably becoming numbed to these emotional aspects and is gradually feeling less and less.
Although attitudes to women have changed in the movies, the Bond girl is still presented in a way that is designed to appeal sexually to male viewers. The title sequence often, if not always, features naked dancers. They may be largely veiled by the visual effects but this can serve to heighten the eroticism. The overall message of Bond movies seems to be to embrace sexual freedom and don't worry about the consequences.
Bond the role model
One of the contributors to the recent BAFTA tribute to 007 said that women come out of a Bond movie dreaming of James, but the men come out walking tall. While few people would claim to make James Bond a role model, many fans secretly fantasise about being like him - I confess that I drive differently when I leave the cinema after seeing him in action. In some ways he's a great model: he's a hero prepared to risk his life for the sake of others, he works for the triumph of good over evil, he is wholeheartedly committed to what he does, he enjoys life, he makes a point of being the best at what he does, he's a gentleman with rather better manners than many, and he is always calm in a crisis. The films are intended as escapist entertainment but we cannot help picking up cues for life from what we watch. Those of us who love Bond films need to make sure we pick up the good ones and don't start fantasising about the more questionable aspects of his on-screen existence.
Footnotes
1. The Corgi Aston Martin DB5 (from Goldfinger (1964)) with bulletproof shield, rotating number plates, hydraulic rams on the bumpers, wheel hub scythes, and, of course, ejector seat was perhaps the first 'must-have' film-tie-in toy. For those of you who care I have an original model. Sadly it's in dire condition from being played with too roughly for too long which makes it worth about 50p rather than £250 or more. [back]
2. The Bell Jet Pack was developed for the US military. It could take a man up to 200 m in the air and keep him airborne for four minutes. [back]
3. Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike) does sleep with Bond but it seems clear that this is merely a means to an end and doesn't spring out of any attraction to him. [back]
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Author: Tony Watkins
© Copyright: Tony Watkins 2003
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