Notes and Quotes

“But let’s not forget that he’s actually a misogynist. A lot of women are drawn to him chiefly because he embodies a certain kind of danger and never sticks around for too long. He’s very f***ing lonely. There’s a great sadness. He’s f***ing these beautiful women but then they leave and it’s…sad. And as a man gets older it’s not a good look. It might be a nice fantasy - that’s debatable - but the reality, after a couple of months…” - Daniel Craig on Bond’s character

“The world has changed. I am certainly not that [sexist and misogynistic] person. But he is, and so what does that mean? It means you cast great actresses and make the parts as good as you can for the women in the movies.” - Daniel Craig

“The problem with this analysis is that she previously gave him her address and looks crestfallen when he doesn't show up. And he's Bond! The entire franchise is predicated on the idea that women find him sexually irresistible. Because what woman wouldn't want to sleep with an emotionally distant trained killer? It's really neither here nor there if I think that Daniel Craig has all the sexual allure of a bouncer from a Bolton nightclub doing a bad Ross Kemp impression and Bond's relationship with women might best be described as ‘pathological’. He's Bond! And this is a straightforward rescue fantasy. True, the shower scene does have overtones of Psycho but, even within the context of the film, we're invited to see him as an emotionally stunted commitment-phobe.” - Carole Cadwalladr, Guardian writer on Skyfall

“Ideologically, none of us should like the Bond films, they are sexist, heterosexist, xenophobic, everything that is not politically correct. Either the audience don't notice these ideological issues or the films provide a different kind of pleasure.” - Professor James Chapman

"the sadism of a schoolboy bully, the mechanical two-dimensional sex-longings of a frustrated adolescent, and the crude snob-cravings of a suburban adult" - Journalist Paul Johnson, a review from Dr No, in the New Statesman, from 1958. The review was titled “Sex, Snobbery and Sadism”.

"Ian Fleming hates women and I don't buy into anything to do with that. The Bond films are generally sexist. I don't like anything that descends from a sewer of misogyny." - Bidisha, writer of Venetian Masters

“You’re a sexist, misogynist, dinosaur.” - M, on James Bond, played by Dame Judi Dench, in her first Bond film, Goldeneye.

“Thing is, the Bond of these early books really isn't the unfeeling shagger of the movies. In Casino Royale he falls hard for Vesper; he finds in her something which has eluded him in previous relationships, to the extent that he's on the verge of proposing to her before her treachery is finally revealed. And it's the revelation of that treachery and the letter that Vesper writes to him that drives Bond to tears and causes him to utter that last line. As a consequence, we're left with the impression that Bond will henceforth be unfeeling, uncaring: a hater of women, even.

What's surprising is that this couldn't be further from the truth. In the next book in the series, Live and Let Die (1954), Bond again falls for a woman – not as hard as he did for Vesper, sure, but it's also clear that Solitaire doesn't merely represent a fling for him. He reflects at length on her allure, telling her, "You kiss more wonderfully than any girl I have ever known." And if you think that's simply a line on his part, I should point out that it's much, much worse than that: Bond actually means it. In fact, the picture that develops over the course of the next few books is of a man who, far from being a serial sex fiend, is actually more of a serial monogamist. Book to book, when it comes to women, Bond is a big ol' softy.

Now, I don't want to be too much of an apologist here; Bond's attitude towards women is frequently chauvinistic. But it's worth remembering that these novels – at least the ones I'm considering – were written in the early- to mid-1950s, when chauvinism wasn't exactly out of the ordinary.

Based on the novels I've read so far, you could, I think, accuse James Bond – and possibly Ian Fleming – of being many things: a snob, certainly; a masochist, definitely; a homophobe, potentially; a racist, casually – although again those last two are more a product of their time than an active agenda. But a misogynist? I'm not so sure. If anything, I'd suggest that James Bond is, in fact, an illustrious example of that most unfortunate and ultimately doomed of beasts: the incurable romantic. And it'd be churlish to criticize a man for that.” - Nick Jones, owner of Existential Ennui, Spy book collector, on the early James Bond novels

“The key woman in Solace is Camille Montes, a trained fighter and secret service agent seeking revenge on the villainous General Medrano. Bond treats her as a protege, not as a booty call. Together, as agents and equals, they bring down the bad guys.

“Connery's bond would slap women around, and the films presented them as playthings for the main character. That's a long way from 1995's GoldenEye, where Bond's main squeeze, Natalya Simonova, was a computer programmer with sass and survival skills, and one of the villains was a woman soldier. Sure, she killed men while she had sex with them, but she was, at the very least, more than a withering flower.” Danielle Riendeau, on the changes in Bond’s portrayal over the course of the franchise.

In one of their first encounters, Bond, thinking he's being heroic, "saves" Camille from Medrano, only to find out she'd worked years to get close enough to the general to assassinate him. He thinks he's doing her a favor, but she's understandably angry with him for blowing her big chance. Later in the film, Camille saves another woman from being raped by Medrano, and faces off against him in combat, eventually killing him and bringing her own journey for justice to an end.

It's rare for a Bond film to allow a woman to be strong in the same ways Bond is — and Quantum of Solace deserves praise for treating its woman agent with this respect.” -  Danielle Riendeau, writer for Polygon, commenting on the improvement of Bond’s casting in Quantum of Solace.

“Eve begins the film as a field agent. At first, I was excited to see a woman of color presented as a tough, competent lady in the field. Then she basically screws up on a mission, causing Bond to be severely injured and drop off the face of the earth for awhile. Later, she shows up to basically be a booty call for Bond. I could deal with all of that, if it weren't for the fact that she resigns as a field agent by the end to become a glorified secretary. Eve literally becomes Moneypenny (a long-running Bond character) by the end of the film — Bond's secretary that always lusts after him. The Craig Bond films had previously done without this particularly sexist element, but here was a woman of color basically admitting she had no place in the field, and taking a desk job instead. This was enormously disappointing.

Bond's most egregious act of assholery takes place when, after rescuing a woman from the clutches of Silva — where it is strongly implied that Silva had sexually assaulted her — Bond walks in on her in the shower for some surprise sex. Instead of reading as playful or fun, the scene feels gross and intrusive. Bond would've known what this woman had been through, and walking in on her as she is naked and vulnerable is unforgivable.

Later, that same woman is fridged — killed in order to give the male hero further motivation to go after his enemy.” - Danielle once more, on Eve’s role in Skyfall, and how she became “Moneypenny” and the sex act in the shower that Bond had in the film.

“To the credit of Daniel Craig, his films have gone some way to addressing the blatant misogyny with the inclusion of strong female characters and have attempted to avoid the usual pitfalls, but it’s a battle he could never win.

Both M and Vesper may have suffered premature deaths, but importantly, not just because they were female – and therefore expendable – but because they got their hands just as dirty as 007. Quite simply, they were more than just “Bond girls” e.g. pretty young women in need of rescue.

However, based on the conclusion of Spectre and Craig’s recent comments about slashing his own wristsas opposed to playing Bond again, it seems highly unlikely that we’ll see him back as 007. Regardless of whether or not you like him, Craig has at least attempted to address the issue of misogyny (unlike his predecessors). In an amusing twist, it turns out Daniel Craig was the hero James Bond needed, but not the one the franchise deserved…” - Simon Roger Key, writer at D&C Film.

“Off topic, but I can't view James Bond as misogynistic. He's a cutthroat spy with a license to kill, a duty to the Queen, and he absolutely will do anything, use anyone, and steal, use, wreck, f**k, and kill anyone to further his goals.

So he uses his suave demeanor to pick up a few ladies along the way? Uses some to, again, further his goals by undermining them (if they work for the enemy). He would use any man or animal if it were necessary. What does sexing up a few ladies have to do with sexism?

It's like saying he's a murdering sociopath under a cool facade. I swear these monkeys will find offense at the drop of a hat if it got them off on the attention they never got as a child, or to pass the time in their horribly unfulfilled life. “ - Anonymous

“After Bond comes face to face with the film’s villain, Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), Sévérine is bound and Bond is challenged to shoot a glass of scotch off her head. Bond misses, but Silva shoots and kills her. Bond then glibly comments that her demise is merely a "waste of good scotch." This was unpalatable, and I could sense it in the shifting of some of my neighbors in the theater.

The film had just introduced what had appeared to be a fresh femme fatale, and promptly thrown it all away to use her as a plot device so that Bardem's villain could be introduced. As a casual viewer, this was upsetting. As a feminist, it felt personal. While was still largely able to enjoy the remainder of Skyfall, since then, I've been more wary of the Bond franchise. It might sound naive, but I had never considered that the new Bond films (which mask their misogyny far more stealthily than the older flicks in the franchise) were still treating women like such expendable figures—and now I've become incredibly conscious of it.” - Jade Budowski of Trifecta, on the more subtle nature of misogyny in Skyfall.