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Not sure how you arrived there, but ok
“Both Wilson and Broccoli, who is a director of the U.K. chapter of women’s advocacy org Time’s Up, have left their mark on Bond, particularly in humanizing the once-womanizing spy and ensuring more fulfilling, meatier roles for the female stars of the franchise. These are qualities that will continue in the next films, says Broccoli.
“It’s an evolution,” she says. “Bond is evolving just as men are evolving. I don’t know who’s evolving at a faster pace.””
Key term being “once-womanizing.”
Fair enough, thanks for calling that out.
I think it's important to keep in mind those are Variety's words, not the producers'. Also I think when PWB was helping write NTTD, she went on record saying that you can sort of have both, with regards to keeping Bond's womanizing characteristics intact for the character, while also telling stories and developing other characters that have more respect for women than, say, Thunderball.
Variety either jumped to a conclusion or at least the producers didn’t correct them if the suggestion was brought up - but would it really come as a surprise to anyone at this point? There was no womanizing in NTTD, which is okay enough as a one-off, but there’s an expectation / integral part of Bond’s character in general to at least be somewhat promiscuous. Like, a very big part of the identity.
No one should be crying if Bond consensually sleeps with multiple women. Obviously certain things Bond says and does concerning women in the older movies don’t happen anymore, and that’s a reasonable and good thing for a modern interpretation to drop off. But I’ll never understand why some audiences always assume that the bad behaviors of a character in fiction are an endorsement of it. Have people lost the maturity to just take art for what it is? Anyway, I hope Bond retains being a ladies’ man as it is like a top 5 quality of his character in importance, otherwise we’ll just be straying too much from the character.
I'm not massively bothered either way to be honest. You can pretty much get the effect just with two women in a film (see Daylights).
Really, it should make for more drama if Bond retains this characteristic in a world/story where women have more agency and are portrayed as stronger, more independent characters.
Regardless, I do agree that this is one inextricable characteristic of Bond and should be kept.
I suspect it'll just mean they'll attempt to write Bond girls who are more interesting. And cut things like the barn scene from GF, or the part where Bond randomly kisses the nurse in TB (both of these sorts of things were unlikely to occur in a Bond film past 1980, probably even before, for what it's worth).
To be fair, as much as I criticise NTTD, I do like that the main plot focused on a backstory involving Madeline. I thought it worked and felt organic. Nomi was a bit hit or miss (from a script perspective anyway, nothing to do with the actress, and in essence Bond constantly gets the better of her before they reconcile). Most people seem to have enjoyed Paloma's scenes. I'm sure they can do better though in the sense that there are some genuinely interesting possibilities for a Bond girl or even a female villain going forward that a good actress can sink her teeth into. Doesn't have to be Bond's equal or someone with a tragic backstory (personally I'd like to see them try and adapt a Pussy Galore type from the GF novel but without the weird 'Bond turns her subplot, ie. a leader of female cat burgling organisation).
I know some people waffle on about the 'lack of sex' in NTTD, but it's nothing new. Bond in the Fleming novels often only slept with one or indeed no women at all, and definitely had a tendency to fall in love. I'm fine with Bond as a character sleeping around, having romantic moments with women, and I'm sure this will continue to be the case. That said I'm sure there's something interesting that can be explored in a future film about Bond's relationship with women (I dunno, you could have a similar set up to Fleming's TSWLM where the Bond girl is rescued by Bond in a chance encounter and years later happens to get embroiled with the same villains and seeks Bond's help. Much like in the novel, she could be infatuated with him at first, but by the end realises he's essentially a rather flawed, albeit brave man who is just as connected to danger as the villains are, and by the end they depart amiably).
Lol, that made my day.
Indeed, the films have been modernising for decades, it's nothing new (apart from the odd glitch of Guy Hamilton's 70s movies, which had moments of sexism stronger than anything in the 007 films of the previous decade- makes you wonder what he was like).
Yes I liked that part of NTTD, it was interesting that Madeline was a de facto main character. Sadly she's still not very interesting in the actual scenes; Nomi had potential but they didn't know what to do with her- I tend to think Mendes did mostly better work in his films with the female characters. Eve particularly felt interesting and very watchable, and Bond didn't even shag her.
Really it's hard not to think of Ilsa in the Mission Impossible films: a properly engaging and interesting female lead who isn't just a male character hastily rewritten for a woman and given some karate and tough lines to say, but an actual woman. The Bond films really need to make a character like that (and I think Nomi actually had the potential to be that, but as I say: she was redundant in the plot).
Indeed, and it's not something I even noticed was missing in NTTD. He gets his leg over in the first few minutes and goes on the pull in Jamaica, so there was enough there for me.
Shame he cannot act.
I think he’s a bit brutish for my tastes (might have thought the same thing about Craig though). Liked The Gentlemen though.
I think it's a problem when women just seem to fall at his feet, because that's somewhat unrealistic.
But if, during a film, he meets a woman who interests him intellectually as well as physically, then maybe meets another whom he has to pump for information, that's alright isn't it?!
These female characters don't need to be badass ala Jinx or .. whatever her name is in NTTD (Nomi?), they just need to be real women; well-written characters who don't have to undermine Bond and masculinity as a whole in order to exist..
Fleming did write such characters, after all, as Bill Nighy was surprised to find when narrating Moonraker. 1minute in (though you may as well listen to the entire video)
Absolutely!
I feel like Bond had a few quasi-relationships in the books. Didn’t Case dump Bond for an American?
Another female primary villain wouldn’t hurt either.
I think it's kind of bizarre we haven't had a single one in the last twenty years. Just for the sake of variety if nothing else.
I think once the wheels start turning and we hear that a script is in the works and directors are being lined up for interviews and true casting is under way, there will be excitement again.
But when nothing is happening, it’s very hard to get excited. As fans on the sidelines, we’ve no idea what direction they’re going, which candidates are truly on a list… it’s all a big blank.
Saying that, if they’re going to invest in one actor for a decade, I’d much rather they take their time, work on how to appropriately present the character, hire a strong director to help the casting and hit the ground running when they get their man.
There are some great films in this series we can revisit, discussions to be had, books to read, James Bond Day, and then all the buzz as they get closer and closer to production … In a few short years, there will be a Royal Premiere and giddiness will return…
Write your own James Bond story that, if it turned into a film, would excite you.
I'm not holding my breath really for the next official Bond film (it will come, just not for a long time I don't think, and I will certainly get excited and go see it when it does), so I'm toying with a bunch of Bond creative projects.
Even if you have no interest in writing, I bet you have a hobby or two that you could incorporate Bond into.
Armed! And very Dangerous =D>
Yeah you're right mate. I wish I had @peter level writing chops to write my own Bond stories 😅
It's just a waiting game at the minute, I'll get more excited when we get some more concrete news