The Adventures of James Bond

It is pretty clear by now that we have come to accept that the James Bond of literature is quite different than the James Bond of the silver screen. James Bond is set in the spy world of espionage and secret agents. It should not be expected for a novel character to be translated into a different medium that relies on visual and audio experiences. Whereas a book is open for the reader’s imagination, a movie-going audience relies on the creative license of filmmakers of bringing characters and plot to life on the big screen. There has come a point where this British spy has become a parody of its own parody on the secret agent man. The adventure genre makes use of unlikely experiences in alternatively historic times and places. “Adventure [stresses] the unusual overcoming obstacles with narrow escapes and vanquishing villains (Taves, pg. 4) In adventure, ideals are achievable within the real world; in fantasy, humankind must ultimately call upon more powerful forces” (Taves, pg. 10). That void to occupy the call for powerful forces may easily be identified with Bond’s fancy technology. It is his tool to overcome evil. So what made James Bond who he is instead of what he has become?

As we learned in class, the James Bond novels and films have grafted elements of history into its storylines. These elements of plot usually surround the idea of British pride. “Empire adventures [revealing complex and contradictory themes] encompass many clashing beliefs – particularly the depiction of imperialism as a liberating experience, a contradiction… apparent in those films produced while empires were collapsing in the decades after World War II” (Taves, pg. 38). With the growing use of color film, more oriental prospects emerged in movies. A reason being, that the “colorful” aspects of oriental life would show up more appealing in color to attract audiences. “The presence of imperialism gives a more conservative tinge to adventure’s basic theme of the struggle between insurgencies and the status quo” (Taves, pg. 172).

“The adventurer hero is usually attractive, endowed with personal magnetism, ardent romance, a natural leader with worthy goals and a sense of duty to a country or cause. While enjoying existence to the fullest, the adventurous life is also serious. The hero is politically motivated and patriotic, selflessly dedicated to justice. The hero is pure of purpose, brave in war, honorable, fair, and chivalrous” (Taves, pg. 111). At some point, the audience will catch on to the formulaic recycling of what they have already seen over and over again. In some respect, they will either embrace or disgrace that notion. Adventurers and heroes may need to see a retooling or even a rebirth on the tired but true to make something seem new. Heroes should be able to possess their own uniqueness to distinguish from other characters.

“The code of adventure is comprised of the ideals and concepts underlying the adventurers’ motivations… producing meaning, providing coherence, cohesiveness, and depth. The result of the code is to place less emphasis on the action itself than on the behavior and motives surrounding it” (Taves, pg. 136). So the code has been recognized and broken. In many careers, the individual needs to know what the norm is to identify what they would be breaking under their own terms. Bond filmmakers appear to be self-aware of this concept and either go with it or find a fix to the issue. The conventional adventurer takes pride in the powers of authority. With the retooling and emergence of anti-heroes, the norm is reformed but the end justifies the means. Bond prevents himself to appear old and stale to overcome the competition.

Bibliography

1) Taves, Brian. “The Romance of Adventure: The Genre of Historical Adventure Movies”. University Press of Mississippi: 1993.

2) Tasker, Yvonne. “Action and Adventure Cinema”. Routledge: 2004.

3) Lichtenfeld, Eric. “Action Speaks Louder: Violence, Spectacle, and the American Action Movie”. Praeger: 2004.

Secret Agent Technology

I hoped to listen to more discussions about new tech that was real during the 1950s, 1960s, etc to sort of put a realistic retrospect on the James Bond tech. For example the jet pack from Thunderball. A similar jet pack was at Disneyland around the same time period and at the Rose Parade a couple years ago. Same guy from the Rose Parade also dressed as Boba Fett for a Star Wars Convention. I'm pretty sure I saw a television program about real old spy gadgets maybe from Modern Marvels.

Thunderball's jet pack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROFWOIrWGKk




I also wanted to point out how recent films when they get renewed, they seem to add new tech in the updated versions.

Mission: Impossible
iSpy
Secret Agent Man/Danger Man
Wild Wild West
Get Smart
Charlie's Angels
The Avengers
Johnny English
XXX
The Tuxedo
Agent Cody Banks
The Goonies
Iron Man
Batman

Fletch is not gadget-heavy, but is "secret agent" enough with disguises.

EDIT: Also found www.spymuseum.org and http://dsc.discovery.com/technology/tech-10/spy-gadgets-top-10.html

Books About Bond

I found these books online that seem to be of interest.

battle for bond
james bond legacy
james bond in 21st century
man who saved britain
james bond and philosophy
politics of james bond
james bond man and his world
ian fleming & james bond: cultural politics of 007
james bond phenomenon: critical reader
the bond code
ian fleming's james bond: annotation and chronologies

License to Look: James Bond and the Orient

My research involved stepping back in time to the influences of the cinema and television medium. At first, I composted a list of films I felt could help with the discussion of orientalism. I showed the list to the other people to get further opinions of what seems to be missing and over done.
One problem recognized was the majority of the titles were contemporary films. Sure, James Bond would have all types of influence on the medium today, but the original films and text were created in the 1950s and 60s. So in order to better understand that balance, I searched for more film titles related to orientalism but were released before or during the rise of James Bond.
I recognized a certain theme in the films I already chose and decided to write them out and break it down what these films had in common. I eventually came up with a series of categories. One of which is a selection of James Bond films that relate to orientalism (which I probably should have included Octopussy). Next there was a list of Eastern films remade by Western filmmakers with majority white performers. We also looked into Western marketing for the Eastern film titles. Next was a focus on the main protagonist was white in a foreign land. Moving on I wanted to talk about how makeup or no makeup on white actors was used in productions that would offend communities today. Martial arts are also another stereotype among the Asians. I wanted something that would encompass the Middle East in this category. But I suppose being aggressive would have the same effect, such as the Indiana Jones films. Last I just wanted to throw out film titles that can be seen in any of the above categories.
I also talked briefly about what else was happening in the world. William Randolph Hearst had his monopoly on the newspaper business and contributed to Yellow Peril/ Terror journalism. Of course there was the Japanese in World War II still fresh in people’s minds. And British colonies were loosing their grip.
Discussion questions I wanted to ask were:
1) What was everyone’s thought of orientalism before taking the course?
2) Why do viewers see Jonathan Pryce’s and Christopher Lee’s yellow face as being versatile actors and not offense like Katherine Hepburn or Mickey Rooney?
3) What is the future of the medium? Will everyone have a mix of other races that it would be necessary to dress in racial makeup?
4) How should orientalism be treated? What is un/acceptable?
5) Is orientalism the same as stereotype or to a certain extent?