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Re your asking about Bond in Japan ... in the 60's it was such a phenomenon that Sean was mobbed unrelentingly, including being followed in the toilet room! Horrible for him and hastened his feelings about leaving the role, I do think so. Our MI6 news site here has a great little article on those times (but I don't have time to dig it out.) Maybe @NicNac or @DarthDimi could help with that? It's a interesting read, the time he filmed YOLT.
Nowadays, as far as I can tell (and I am far from Tokyo, which is where all the current modern culture really is happening), Bond is still very, very popular indeed. Bond films are highly anticipated.
But Bondmania was in the 60's here, when Japan was inundated with all things American and British. :)
I'm off to work, and I'll post my thoughts on Bond girls (since I'm female, I want to get that in!) in a bit. Thanks, everybody. :)
I don't mind "Bond Women" or even "Bond Ladies" as Monica Belucci has suggested; I'm fine with all three.
I have sometimes been asked what I think of Bond girls, sometimes by someone who is surprised I like James Bond movies at all. You know, like: " Why would a woman enjoy a James Bond film ... and if you do, aren't you ... er... upset by how women are portrayed in Bond films? " says this person (who obviously does not know me well), usually taking a step back when they say it. Well ...
B-) First of all, I like Bond films for the same reason as most people would (male or female): They are a rollicking great adventure! I like the visceral thrill of a great action film and the suspense of a great spy film. Besides, Bond films are consistently the most stylish and beautiful films. They're great fun. Bond films take me to many exotic or gorgeous locations that I could never visit in real life, with a character I love. Bond films are always a bit of champagne quality in the lumped together category of "action film" or "spy film". Far above the rest of the crowd. Nobody does it better, indeed. I like other action films, too, but Bond is superlative. And I've read all the stories, so there is that lifelong connection, too.
I dislike labels, but I consider myself a feminist; but on my terms, let's say. I say that simply because everybody has their definition of that. Basically, I believe in equal rights for everybody, folks (irregardless of race, creed, gender, sexual preference, religious faith, appearance, what brand of coffee they like, Marc Bolan fan or no, etc.). ;)
And Bond girls are fine with me because they are part of Bond's world and never go too far, in my opinion.
Bond films are a fantasy. Even when portrayed at their grittiest, most realistic level this is still a fun, fantastical adventure. About a spy who loves women, has a weakness for women, and who is a man that women are powerfully attracted to. 8-> And I have yet to see anything in a Bond film that made me truly deeply upset in regard to how a woman is portrayed.
When I look back on all the Bond films, there have been some Bond girls who definitely irked or annoyed me (Angels of Death; Rosie Carver; May Day; Caroline the "examiner" in the car with Bond early on in GE; Lupe), slightly irritated me (Dink; Plenty; Paris),. or who drove me rather crazy - I couldn't stand them (Goodnight; Stacey; Jinx).
I do look at the era of when the film was made. Some things seem dated or jarring, sure. Besides all the men wearing hats in the first two films and everybody and their brother smoking (in and out of bed, too). The gypsy girls fighting to see who gets to sleep with Bond - I don't like anybody fighting like that, so that feels wrong to me (but it is in the novel in far more graphic detail). But that's a momentary feeling and does not put a dent in the film for me. FRWL is one of my favorite Bond films. Bond slapping Dink on the bottom in Goldfinger? Yeah, that's just plain chauvinistic and looks stupid, demeaning. I wouldn't stand for it in real life, mind you. But I roll with it because of the year the film came out, because it is only that once, and it's a Bond film. Again I don't flare up and get highly indignant. I move on. Some things in Bond films are dated. But I find nothing in the Bond films to be truly offensive to me, from the perspective of how women are portrayed.
Have I ever gotten really upset? Speaking only for myself, as I am in all of this essay (which I will try to shorten!), the most upsetting and uncomfortable time I have ever had in a Bond film is when Sanchez whips Lupe in LTK. It made me feel literally sick, and angry deep inside, and I had a knot in my stomach for some time after that scene. It fit the story, but I hated seeing that.
Are some of the Bond girls just eye candy, mainly bimbos, not there except for visual and/or sexual pleasure for Bond? Yes. Because that's part of Bond's world - from the novels, too. So I roll with that. Lovely women, who are more than happy to give Bond a tumble, are in every Bond film (whether it is written that their encounter escalates to that point or not). Equal sexual rights abound.
I guess there are only two Bond girls who come across as purely bimbos for me, and those are Mary Goodnight and Stacey Sutton. Incredibly annoying. I do wish their parts had been better written. As I've said before, switch Fiona Fullerton with Tanya Roberts roles and you have instantly improved that film by at least 75%. Halle was not a bimbo by any means but just a very annoying personality. She is lovely but her portrayal was completely wrong, smug, and annoying every moment so I fault her, the director, and the script. Britt was cute and not as annoying, though really the script is awful to her character. Goodnight is written as a bimbo, having hardly any self respect, and incompetent almost beyond belief. You can believe she would have taken "the bloody shot" and shot her own foot at the same time, too. 8-|
I love Bond films. I like to feel I am part of the adventure (though I cannot project myself into the film as Bond himself, like a man would be able to). The Bond girls I enjoy the most also, unsurprisingly, had good scripts to work with and at the very least, a strong presence by the actress in her own right. I enjoy most of them, so let me narrow down to some favorites ...
My very favorite Bond girls:
Natalya
Vesper
Honey
Tracy
Melina
Kara
Pam
Wai Lin
So if anyone would like to ask me about specific Bond girls and my take on them, you are welcome to. You can PM me, or ask me here. But I think I have just one more day as my turn. Wrapping this 4Ever package up now. ;) We can carry on our conversation, though, anytime. I really want to hear from other female Bond fans too ... so I think I will put just this topic on another thread also. Thinking that over and will decide where to do that tomorrow.
Cheers!
your list of favorite Bond girls is a good one - each one confident, self supporting women..
how do you feel about Camille from QOS?.. she's one of my favorites from the modern era - and i think that is because she is very driven, and doesn't seem to be below Bond's league in terms of skill - she can hold her own (much like Wai Lin in that regard).. and except for the kiss at the end of QOS, i like that they chose to keep Bond and her's relationship at a purely business level - there was no sense of talking down to her from Bond, or her playing into the "male ignorance angle" (meaning: "well because you're a man, you're clueless about "this" kind of moment - stuff like that irks me lol).. there seemed to be a mutual respect between the two of them, without any stupid, unnatural, and forced innuendo like in TND with Bond and Wai Lin - 99.9% of it coming from Bond of course lol.
TND is one of my favorite Bond film, though. Yes, it had some humor that was more obvious, in the lines. But I think Brosnan and Yeoh played very nicely off each other; that didn't feel forced at all. :)
It is telling that "feminism" and "feminist" are sort of dirty words for many, it's as if people misunderstand what they mean. The Gloria Steinem quote that a woman has two choices - to be a feminist or a masochist - is spot on. I think any reasonable person - a male one obviously as well - is a feminist. I have a hard time respecting people who aren't - in other words people who don't support equality for women. Whether people specifically call themselves feminists is, of course, neither here nor there. (I don't know if even Gloria's stepson ever has - it's just kinda obvious he is, and is raising his daughter as one. ;) )
Even action movies can be feminist, though it's obviously very rare, Mad Max Fury Road being a refreshing example. I don't think that could be said of any Bond film, but I don't think they're that bad, either, for most part, and especially for the last couple of decades. The cringe inducing little things here and there were mostly before the nineties, and it's gotten better since.
Stacey is indeed irritating and sort of embarrassing. And the Goodnight character, nnnnngh. What were they thinking? Was she supposed to be funny or something? Surely most men would find those terrible and irritating, too - or not? I've yet to see anyone say they like them, but maybe someone does.
=D>
...was your Istanbul office bombed in '63 because you stole your employee's red Swingline stapler?
I do love Charade, @chrisisall. I enjoy all of Audrey's films because she is special in each and every one. No exaggeration. Audrey has been a role model all of my life. I was lucky enough to see a major exhibition on Audrey Hepburn, arranged by her family, in 2005 in Japan when I first taught here. I spent hours looking at everything (her awards, her clothes, her letters, her drawings, photos, everything ... it was stunning). :)
i never cared much for either to be honest... both are very attractive - but also dumb as a stump.. and yes, from one man's perspective, both are very irritating - sometimes even cringe inducing.... i think Goodnight was played more for laughs, intentionally - whereas Tanya gets the laughs alright, but unintentionally.. it's not a reflection on Eckland or Roberts themselves - but they couldn't have written two more air-headed of women/girls.
as Blofeld said in DAF, "What a pity, such lovely cheeks too... if only they were brains."
I agree, @haserot about how both were played (1 intentionally for chuckles and 1 untintentionally funny)
C'est la vie. Bond Girls live on! ;)
Thanks for the comment, @haserot. Goodnight surely was played for laughs, just failed to be funny.
It was actually a grey stapler. Those Turkish staplers just won't go through more than three sheets of paper.
As for the bomb. You make one trip to the salt mines and all heck breaks lose.
I'm about halfway through the questions. Will try to get them out in the next couple of questions.
Shorn scrotum ! Shocking .