James Bond came on to the literary scene in the 1950s’ He is handsome and handy. The main character in a series of books written by Ian Fleming, he became a favorite of many including JFK. Bond is a very British persona. He knows and understands fine things. Bond is a ‘flirtatious, culturally knowing parody of the spy-thriller genre.’ (Bennett 14)
Originally these novels reached only a limited audience, (Bennett 14) however due to the serialization by the Daily Express and later by the Express’s cartoon strip of Bond; they became more common in Britain. Sill they remained relatively unknown outside of Great Britain, until the American film versions were produced in the early 60’s. (Bennett 18)
You might ask why Bond was so popular. He was protecting the Free World! British style. The US had been trumping Britain for several years post WWII. Bond could be seen to the Brits as a ‘shot in the arm!’ ‘Bond brought a resolution in which all the values associated with ascendancy over those associated with the villain and thereby, communist Russia, such as totalitarianism and bureaucratic rigidity.’ (Bennett 16) The villains that Bond fought were most often from the East. Bond provided a way for Britishness to continue to be defined in opposition to the ‘dark’ people of the world.’ (Baron 136)
What is quite interesting about the series of Bond books and movies is that they were able to adjust politically and culturally to the climate of the time. While originally fighting in the Cold War, Bond eventually was negotiating situations and besting the villains in the era of Détente.
Helping with the image of Bond was his relationship with women. ‘The Bond girl…..became a new construction, constituted key sites for the elaboration of a new set of gender identities.’ ….Thus the ‘Bond girl embodied a modernization of sexuality, representatives of norms of masculinity and femininity that were ‘swinging free’ from the constraints of the past.’ (Bennett 24)
‘Bond himself became a point de capiton within the ideological construction of gender relations and identities.’ (Bennett 24) Further, ‘since that period had experienced a considerable cultural redefinition, a flux and fluidity, of gender identities, the figure of Bond furnished a point of anchorage in relation to which the sliding of meaning that had been introduced into the ideological ordering of gender relations.’ Much of this was done by allowing Bond to be aligned with products marketed with campaigns aimed at the ‘Bond girl’ in society.
Well, where does Bond fit in the world of today? What are the pressing problems, who are the villains? Does Britain need more Bond? One would have to ask if the problems of today require the reader/viewer to look at the text of Bond in a certain light that make old versions seem out of date. Would the old Bond be up to today’s challenges? Or, would a new Bond be required?
‘The audience is conceived of as active and knowledgeable producers of meaning not products of a structured text.’ (Barker 327) Put another way, ‘the active audience ‘tradition’ suggests that audiences are not cultural dopes but are active producers of meaning from within their own cultural context.’
Within the last 15 years there have been many world changing events that have taken place. Some like the rise of the Fundamentalist Islamism are a threat to the West and have played into the text of the current Bond. (The threat is out of the East) However, more subtle threats are clearly looming. The collapse of economic markets around the world and the reduced value of home and income are two current themes. How would James Bond handle these threats when they are home grown? Perhaps a James Bond would be welcome, but he would have to increase his skill set!
Baron, C., Doctor No: Bonding Britishness to racial sovereignty. In: C Lindor,ed 2009. The James Bond Phenomenon. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Ch. 8
Barker,C. ed., 2008. Cultural Studies, Theory and Practice. London: Sage Publications
Bennett, T., Woollacott,J., The moments of Bond. In : C Lindor, ed 2009. The James Bond Phenomenon. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Ch. 1
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