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Were you ever stigmatised because you're a Bond fan?
DarthDimi
Behind you!Moderator
I know I was. Frequently in fact.
When I was 16 and all worked up for TND, the then upcoming Bond film, my head teacher mocked me in front of the entire class because he felt that James Bond was meant for idiots and little kiddies.
Many years later, in college, when I sat down with a number of film buffs, we ended up in harsh debate over James Bond. Apparently, Bond isn't 'legitimate' business for a real film connoisseur. Only European and Asian films no-one's ever heard of are.
Even my own father sees my Bond fandom as loathsome and shameful. In his mind it demonstrates to others that I'm not really all that bright. Tough words coming from someone who thinks the world of soccer and cycling...
And yes, on top of that, there's the girlfriend. She doesn't stigmatise me over my affection for the Bond series but she "can't understand what find so darn special about it."
How about you guys? Ever been mocked because you like Bond?
When I was 16 and all worked up for TND, the then upcoming Bond film, my head teacher mocked me in front of the entire class because he felt that James Bond was meant for idiots and little kiddies.
Many years later, in college, when I sat down with a number of film buffs, we ended up in harsh debate over James Bond. Apparently, Bond isn't 'legitimate' business for a real film connoisseur. Only European and Asian films no-one's ever heard of are.
Even my own father sees my Bond fandom as loathsome and shameful. In his mind it demonstrates to others that I'm not really all that bright. Tough words coming from someone who thinks the world of soccer and cycling...
And yes, on top of that, there's the girlfriend. She doesn't stigmatise me over my affection for the Bond series but she "can't understand what find so darn special about it."
How about you guys? Ever been mocked because you like Bond?
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Comments
I was at a dinner in the Italian Embassy in my country and in my table there was a famous movie critic. I didn't meet him before but I started to talk with him about our favorite movies and I obviously mentioned Bond. So the Japanese Ambassador started to laugh when I mention Bond!
I prefer alot of the bond films to tinkor taylor soldier spy, you can say I have bad taste in films if you want, but I found it boring. It was a decent enough film but I didn't see what all the fuss was about.
in fact, i think i got more encouragement being a Bond fan than ridicule.. i remember my 9th grade Social Science teacher was also a Bond fan - I can't remember what brought it up, but he mentioned that he had all the Connery films on VHS (and these were the old VHS tapes, with the original jackets).. so from time to time, I would borrow Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, and Diamonds Are Forever....
in my adult years, the only amount of ribbing i got for being a Bond fan, was from my ex.... she would rib me good about being a fanboy, and didn't care for any of the Bond films - until I made her watch CR which she fell in love with - so now she owns CR and QOS.. and she'll occasionally watch a Connery Bond movie - but she loathes Pierce Brosnan..
but, yep - thats all I got lol.
Yeah, that's pretty much what i said to my friend, i was just bored throughout the whole film, it was terrible for a film with many, many five-star/four-star reviews. But i actually prefer every bond film to that film, even DAD
I mean for an average person and for someone who looks down on commercial movies, the Bond series is so much more accessible than the above mentioned series.
Bond is classy.
Bond knowledge useless? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh that's good. Listen @Samuel, forget that sting from your family. There is obviously tons of people who agree that Bond IS worth the world here at MI6. You are where you belong.
I don't view them as action films at all. I see them as just 'spy' films that started a lot of spy films trends.
Anger vented.
When I feel like discussing all things Bond, I can only do that with one or two people I know. So you can imagine how fun it is to be a member of this forum. :-bd
sometimes it pays to be a dedicated Bond fan like ourselves....
i remember i aced a whole category in Jeopardy, because it was all about James Bond..
and one time, randomly, i got a phone call from some friends who were in the middle of a Trivial Pursuit game, and a Bond question came up... they quickly called me - i nearly ROFL'd when i heard one of them in the background yell "You're calling DJ! That's not fair!!"
:))
I've had different experiences with being "stigmatised" as a Bond fan. Stigmatised is a pretty strong word and the one time I could use it appropriately would be when I was younger in the early 80s. All of the guys at my school loved Roger Moore and thought he was so amazingly cool. I was considered a loser because I liked Sean Connery as Bond way more than Moore. All the guys thought that Connery was a loser (!) largely because he had "stupid hair" and wore "stupid clothes".
Then when I was in high school a lot of my artsy friends were very dismissive of Bond films. Of course, these are the same people today who would love a TV show or movie until they realized it became popular, and would then say they hated it just to show that their tastes are superior to everyone else's!
I tried showing some of the older Bond films to girlfriends many years ago usually with poor results. One actually really liked Dr. No until Honey "opened her mouth". A grown woman believing in dragons was just too much for her. Usually they were put off by female characters who were weak or submissive; Bond forcing himself on a woman (who of course would then relent), or just generally saying it was a young boy's fantasy/wish fulfilment that didn't relate to them at all. Sadly, as I have gotten older and can see their point.
Since CR came out I've noticed a huge difference with friends and co-workers. People who never liked Bond films before raved about CR (it was the best reviewed major release of the year on Rotten Tomatoes) and one person said "They finally made a Bond film for adults!". It was a little surreal; it was like when I was in high school and Star Trek: The Next Generation became popular. When I was a kid you were made fun of for liking Star Trek; how strange for it to become popular! Interesting that the Brosnan films did so well at the box office yet I found a lot more people talking about Bond after CR.
I kept it under wraps for awhile, I've only recently (well the past two years) become extremely interested in film, and Bond with it. They're have been a few cases where people are weird-ed out how much I know about Bond, but then again you think about how weird it is so many people know so much about the YouTube community, or the gaming community. Most people nowadays that I even attempt discussing Bond with are mature enough to respect what I like.
But like I said, 500+ posts in under 3 months for a reason. I love the internet.
Edit - my knowledge of spy movies, however, has led me to be very effective. I can make great jokes on how to effectively sport a recon mission, as well as ace an air-soft/paintball battlefield. I love the spy genre, and my dad even worked intelligence (and still kinda does) for the US Army for 20 or so years. It has a big influence on me, and I love it. Like I said, my knowledge of some films, including Bond, Bourne, Hunt, and war movies has made me very cool in the eyes of some testosterone filled high school jocks I've come across in a game of air-soft. Using more brains and tactics and not "charge"
All the necessary requirements needed to become a double oh. ;)
I, for one, like both Star Trek and professional wrestling. So Bond would be at least third on the mockery list.
One person who mocks me is a fan of mountain biking so you may have a point @Tubes. ;)
Nice to see you, by the way.
I think Stigmatized is too harsh a word to use here, nobody could categorize any such person to the extreme for the mere offense of watching a Bond film or enjoying the franchise in their eyes. I'd put 'berate or ridicule' as maybe more appropriate. It initially sounded like we are going to be thrown into a sea of fire and brimstone at the end of days for our enjoyment of Bond to a degree and I thought that was a bit extreme
In actual fact back in the day there was a lot of Bond enthusiasm at the time from school and college thereafter. I clearly remember many many years back there was a heated discussion in class one day about what was your favorite Bond film (maybe the teacher was absent or something but It's one thing I clearly recall). This was at a time when Moore was playing the role and everybody had a say, but I remember thinking years later some were not being entirely truthful or had never even seen a Bond picture, they were merely reeling off any titles they had heard i.e. "favorite Bond?, er, Thunderball. (never watched it) etc. But for the most part most were truthful and honest and showed a geuine interest in the series. I remember at the time of release of Octopussy some years later there was a degree of mirth and interest (can't imagine why) and we talked about the previous entries and it was interesting to listen about other 007 adventures you hadn't yet seen at the time from others that had
Never had an issue with it really, might have been one or two snide remarks somewhere in the past about being a Fan of James Bond from one or two mouths but nothing too extreme or that warrants a mention. That's other peoples opinion and they can have it, maybe I wouldn't be too applauding of some of the things they were in to or liked. Bottom line is that for the most part my enjoyment of 007 has been generally well received and in tandem with others who showed a general interest
Club James Bond is a small group of individuals on this lonely planet if you really think about it, but the franchise will always be appreciated by others and neutrals for the most part. It may not be to everyones tastes and that's fair enough but at least we are well recognized and critically acclaimed more often than not and that can't be a bad thing