This is a fragment of a post I came across tonight that I wrote four years ago after seeing Skyfall. A new Bond movie has come out since then, but since it did nothing to change my feelings on the subject, I thought I'd post my fragment.
For my birthday yesterday Rachel took me to Skyfall. It was a long movie, which I like (I mean if you're going to spend $8 you want to get your money's worth), but I had a hard time letting go of my moral moorings.
I guess I just feel like most Disney movies are more socially progressive and compelling than this movie (and that's saying something). Lest you think I am just an action movie hater, I loved the last Batman, I thought the Avengers was great (if a little adolescent), and I left Spiderman and X-men (the first ones) in tears.
Bond and the Transformers are different.
For those of you who have seen the movie, can you think of a single female character who isn't either a mother figure or a love interest? Oh, actually, there is the Prime Minister. She rounds out possible female roles as the clueless and overbearing nag.
The Bond movies are great, plot driven adventures, but when that comes at the expense of portraying real human interactions and complexities, that's a huge bummer. There are plenty of opportunities for character development and thoughtful tension on the twisty-plotted Bond roller coaster but at each intersection, content is traded for hyperbolic thrill.
The most interesting character by far in the movie is Silva, the androgynous ex-agent terrorist. Yet here again the movie appeals to our knee-jerk response to his homosexual flirting with Bond rather than exploring how resentment not peace always flows from violence. To quote Dune (a novel also criticized for it's mostly male cast) "violence builds more violence and the pedulum swings until the violent ones are shattered."
Maybe Bond's character flaws don't matter. Maybe this is just entertainment, and anyway, if I want portrayals of complex real people, Bond certainly has issues. Maybe.
But Bond has become a cultural icon and a lot of men consciously or subconsciously admire him. Is Bond a contributing cause or just a consequence of prevailing attitudes about the value of human life, our concept of sexual roles, and our paradigms of masculinity? Does it matter who we choose for our heroes?
In Sunday school today we learned that we must "lay down our weapons." I don't see how Bond movies move us in that direction but maybe I'm missing something. Maybe.
In any case, I hope these guys prefer their martinis stirred.
For the record, Daniel Craig thinks James Bond is a deeply troubling character as well, even if "Less sexist than before." What do you think? Does it mean anything when we choose to consume entertainment that condones morally objectionable behavior or is it just a harmless consequence of our fascination with train wrecks?
