Sex, style, humor & the Bond girls
June 27, 2004 | 12:00am
My name is Pussy Galore," Honor Blackman announces to Sean Connery in a memorable scene from Goldfinger that encapsulated the campy, mocking humor that characterized the Bond films.
In Bond Girls are Forever, Maryam D’Abo, herself a Bond girl, along with John Cork, attempts to unite the sisters of bondhood. With photos of each stunning actress from Jane Seymour to Famke Janssen, from Akiko Wakabayashi to Michelle Yeoh, the authors discuss the landmark film personas of each actress as they transgress the gender roles and film bias of each generation.
Yet many feminist groups have protested the series and its objectification of women since Bond girls have been known to traipse around in skimpy bikinis or lingerie, damn the consequences or relevance to the plot.
D’Abo attempts to address this by explaining that the Bond woman is "independent, defiant, and probably dangerous." After declaring that subservience has no part in the Bond girl’s genotype, the book goes on to narrate how countless women fall for Bond’s magnetism and sexual prowess, and in the end, always get into bed with the dangerous charmer.
One after the other, the Bond girls fight and make love and excite and dazzle, yet in the end, they are expendable, replaceable to the point of extinction after each film. Only M, played by Judi Dench, the tough female boss of Bond, and Ms. Moneypenny, M’s secretary, have retained their roles throughout the years.
Is it odd that the only characters that have remained, compared to the Bond girls, are almost devoid of any sexuality? Cork, the co-author, justified that the tension between M and Bond, played by Pierce Brosnan at the time, was based solely on a philosophical standpoint, one that didn’t involve inferences to gender.
Neatly sidestepping any plot twist that would lead to Bond answering to a sexually-attractive female was a major signifier of the continuous sexist agenda of the Bond films. There was no chance of Bond being emasculated by a tough and sexy female boss, closing down any chance of some real complex conflict – one that has been missing from the series since its conception.
Though the films are decidedly sexist, there exists a campy atmosphere that sort of mocks the whole chauvinist bit. The names are just one example, with Pussy Galore being a definite crowd shocker. As Honor raised her gun and said her name, people in theaters all over gasped audibly at the audacity of the word, Pussy, recognizing its ignominious slang definition.
Honor Blackman, disavowing any naiveté regarding her character’s name, found power in its confidence and its rejection of objectification, as though the gun was her phallus, and her name, ammunition.
Ridiculous names have been a tradition, nay an institution, of Bond films, serving as a droll reminder of its less-than-believable premise. In one of the more humorous sections of Bond Girls, it narrates:
"Other Bond women have embraced double entendre names with…verve. In interviews, Lois Chiles, who played Holly Goodhead, usually takes on an air of mock innocence. When asked about her character’s name, she has often responded with, "It could mean that I’m smart, right?" When pressed, Chiles admits, "I have to be honest. I have to say that I actually like that I have one of the more obscene names."
Though Bond Girls are Forever fails to address the feminist issues of female characters in Ian Fleming’s films, the book serves as a testament to the beauty, style, and sense of humor of the Bond women.
In Bond Girls are Forever, Maryam D’Abo, herself a Bond girl, along with John Cork, attempts to unite the sisters of bondhood. With photos of each stunning actress from Jane Seymour to Famke Janssen, from Akiko Wakabayashi to Michelle Yeoh, the authors discuss the landmark film personas of each actress as they transgress the gender roles and film bias of each generation.
Yet many feminist groups have protested the series and its objectification of women since Bond girls have been known to traipse around in skimpy bikinis or lingerie, damn the consequences or relevance to the plot.
D’Abo attempts to address this by explaining that the Bond woman is "independent, defiant, and probably dangerous." After declaring that subservience has no part in the Bond girl’s genotype, the book goes on to narrate how countless women fall for Bond’s magnetism and sexual prowess, and in the end, always get into bed with the dangerous charmer.
One after the other, the Bond girls fight and make love and excite and dazzle, yet in the end, they are expendable, replaceable to the point of extinction after each film. Only M, played by Judi Dench, the tough female boss of Bond, and Ms. Moneypenny, M’s secretary, have retained their roles throughout the years.
Is it odd that the only characters that have remained, compared to the Bond girls, are almost devoid of any sexuality? Cork, the co-author, justified that the tension between M and Bond, played by Pierce Brosnan at the time, was based solely on a philosophical standpoint, one that didn’t involve inferences to gender.
Neatly sidestepping any plot twist that would lead to Bond answering to a sexually-attractive female was a major signifier of the continuous sexist agenda of the Bond films. There was no chance of Bond being emasculated by a tough and sexy female boss, closing down any chance of some real complex conflict – one that has been missing from the series since its conception.
Though the films are decidedly sexist, there exists a campy atmosphere that sort of mocks the whole chauvinist bit. The names are just one example, with Pussy Galore being a definite crowd shocker. As Honor raised her gun and said her name, people in theaters all over gasped audibly at the audacity of the word, Pussy, recognizing its ignominious slang definition.
Honor Blackman, disavowing any naiveté regarding her character’s name, found power in its confidence and its rejection of objectification, as though the gun was her phallus, and her name, ammunition.
Ridiculous names have been a tradition, nay an institution, of Bond films, serving as a droll reminder of its less-than-believable premise. In one of the more humorous sections of Bond Girls, it narrates:
"Other Bond women have embraced double entendre names with…verve. In interviews, Lois Chiles, who played Holly Goodhead, usually takes on an air of mock innocence. When asked about her character’s name, she has often responded with, "It could mean that I’m smart, right?" When pressed, Chiles admits, "I have to be honest. I have to say that I actually like that I have one of the more obscene names."
Though Bond Girls are Forever fails to address the feminist issues of female characters in Ian Fleming’s films, the book serves as a testament to the beauty, style, and sense of humor of the Bond women.
BrandSpace Articles
<
>