Today's Thoughts

There have been Bond films without gadgets. There have even been Bond films without really awful villains. But there has never been a Bond film without a Bond grrl (or two). And, as mentioned before, they are all unique – with names like Honey Ryder, Pussy Galore, Tiffany Case, Holly Goodhead, Octopussy, Jinx, Xenia Onatopp, and Vesper Lynd. Perhaps Bond needs to know so much "specific information" (mentioned in the last post) to not just be seen as a fairly good looking man in a nicely cut suit. The Bond grrls, just by the way they look, are unique without even saying a word.

In describing Vesper Lynd in “Casino Royale,” Ian Fleming (the writer behind James Bond) stated this about the first Bond grrl:“Her hair was very black and she wore it cut square and low on the nape of the neck … she did not constantly pat it back into place, but let it alone. Her eyes … gazed candidly … at Bond with a touch of ironical disinterest … Her skin was lightly suntanned and bore no trace of make-up … Her bare arms and hands had a quality of repose and the general impression of restraint in her appearance and movements was carried even to her finger-nails which were unpainted and cut short.”

In the way she looks, Vesper stands for strength, autonomy, and self-confidence. A Bond grrl can fight, make love, seduce, and scheme right alongside Bond. Again -- she is unique. She carries herself with assurance and is not just “sexy” (a term that can be applied to a sports car), she is sensual – and even in the very first Bond films decades ago, she made sexuality fun.

Because despite what men somehow think, Bond grrls are anything but subservient. In a way, Bond is really “subservient” to them – they choose whether to go to bed with him, and they have to get him out of a ton of jams. He is seldom in the situation where the girl is a “drag” on him -- even from the beginning. She might get in trouble, but she’s always at his level and he helps her, if necessary, like he would a partner – and more often than not, she is helping him. Sex is always a key ingredient – but on HER terms. These women are gorgeous and confident – the kind of woman that men want to meet and women want to be. A Bond grrl is generally unruffled – she can comfortably play chemin de fer for high stakes and quip with Bond while she does it. Think of Sylvia Trench (in the first 007 movie, Dr No). It is she that really leads to the trademark "Bond, James Bond" by introducing herself in this way. Then later in the film, she breaks into Bond’s house, changes into his clothes, and is sexually assured enough to put on his shirt with her high heels -- and proposition him while practicing her golf putting confronted with his gun. This was 1962 – this was not the way “women behaved.” But she did. And having women like Trench interested in Bond elevates Bond himself. (Otherwise, he’s just a government employee, ho hum.)

Then, in the same movie, Honey Ryder whips out her knife at Bond, and is strong enough and smart enough to be his match – in fact, she is not afraid to resort to violence, admitting to murdering someone without any remorse. Far from being a "damsel in distress," she doesn’t need Bond to rescue her – except as a consequence of HIS actions (she was doing just fine before he showed up). Where Trench is suave, sophisticated, and quick-witted, Honey is educating herself by reading through the encyclopedia – she represents the “wild side” of a woman -- vibrant sexual tension, unashamed attraction, and defiance. All – like Trench – with the ability to take good care of herself, thank you very much. Once she and Bond are in Dr. No's "lair," she can calmly sit down to a fine meal with the two men -- though not as "cultured" as Sylvia, she is just as at ease in a social situation (until, of course, she is dragged away by henchmen!) Just like Jinx 40 years later (whose bathing suit and hip knife pays homage to her), Honey Ryder is fully drawn, and fully able to take care of herself, thank you very much. She is her own person.

In a way, the Bond girls are more “their own person” than Bond ever is. Even from the very first movie (including Ms. Taro, the Asian helper of Dr. No), the women that populate the Bond films are strong-willed, resourceful, and independent. They have represented, for over 40 years, women who wanted and expected more from life – and would take no less. The women in this 1962 film were precursors, in a day and age much different than our own, to what Betty Friedan would write one year later in the ground-breaking book “The Feminine Mystique” (1963): “We can no longer ignore that voice within women that says: ‘I want something more than my husband and my children and my home.’”

As an aside about “husband and home,” it is instructive to look at Tracy, the woman Bond weds, in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” Though not brought out in the movie, Bond’s reasons for marrying her in the book are quite specific, and should allay any potential Bond grrl’s fears that being a Bond grrl means never settling down with her James: “She’s adventurous, brave, resourceful. She’s exciting always. She seems to love me. She’d let me go on with my life. She’s a lone girl, not cluttered up with friends, relations, belongings. Above all, she needs me. It’ll be someone for me to look after. I’m fed up with all these untidy, casual affairs that leave me with a bad conscience.”

Take note from that quick description -- in my opinion, it is immensely important. She "seems" to love Bond -- meaning, she's not fawning all over him, catering to his every whim. She stays a little mysterious -- she keeps him on his toes. Similarly, she isn't going to curtail his life -- she trusts Bond and their bond. And, "above all, she needs me." When was the last time your chosen James really felt needed -- wanted? Or is he just a taxi service for the kids, or an "extra set of hands" for you? All men, at their base, really are Bond, and regardless of how unlikely it might seem for your chosen James to get into some of the exciting and adventurous situations found in the Bond films, that does not mean that he doesn't dream of being that way. And it's my opinion that in our homes, it's our job to cater to that part of our James -- and to bring it out.

Bond girls create memories that last. Part of the attraction of the Bond girls remains their sexual confidence. Other “leading women” are asexual in what I would call a “manly” way (Terminator, Tomb Raider) or in a “girly” way (Charlie’s Angels) – the Bond women are something very much their own in this department. They can be powerful and provocative, without being just props to male fantasies. They have their sexuality on their own terms. And it’s very important to note that Bond’s “seductions” are never rape. These women are so strong, so independent, that Bond takes them on their own terms – and they take him on his. For example look at Pussy Galore – she is one of the most commanding, authoritative women in popular culture of the time. Women like this have to be met with a force equal to their internal power. When she wrestles with Bond, and then ultimately he “wins” and the screen fades to black, she is really wrestling with her conflicting loyalties, etc.