From Bond Girls to Bond Women

The females of the James Bond world has evolved from stereotypical roles to characters holding their own power over the opposite sex. Or is that vice versa? The outside reality chimed its way into the mind of author and creator Ian Fleming’s literary work and has also influenced the work of the film franchise the world has come to know. Or is that vice versa? Who was the influence and who was the inspiration? Perhaps it works both ways. It must work both ways because you have to give a little to get a little. No one enity could ever possibly takeover the other. What has become of the evolution of females in both the real world and the cinematic world? The female depictions in book and film can’t possibly be taken seriously with its over-the-top humor. But there are the few, the odd, and the determined to see flaws in everything they have no experience in. The names of the girls even parody themselves with Honey Ryder, Pussy Galore, Kissy Suzuki, Octopussy, Plenty O’Toole, Chew Mee, and Christmas Jones.
The appeal to men is obvious for sexual desire and exotic beauty, but what appeals to women who actually want to play these roles? There are many who critize the representations the Bond girls stand for. Jordana Brewster of Fast & Furious fame expressed interest to become the next Bond girl. It is now politically correct to call this particular role “Bond Women” instead of “Bond Girls”. But the actresses feel sexier and younger to be called a “girl” as ”women” sound too mature. Consider the fantasy and escapism from everyday lives into a world of make-believe. It’s not real. People need to realize the boundary between reality and fantasy and should acknowledge this with all ages. Because even adults act like children. It’s time to look back at society to see what has lead up to the moments of criticism with women in film.
Mistreatment of women can be traced back centuries. Females were put to “womens’ work” with washing dishes, having babies, raising children, cleaning clothes, and preparing meals under strict patriarchy with ownership of any kind belonging to men. It was believed that women did not have the brain capacity to learn to read, write, and think due to possibility of cracking heads. Thus, women were refused to proper education. Europe in the 16th century denied women the pleasure of performing on stage. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 accused women of witchcraft and put to death. Thomas Edison introduced the Kinetoscope in 1893 as a peep show novelty. There were quite a few women behind and in front of the camera in the early 1900s. But the man grew to overpower them. The Motion Picture Production Code censored films from 1930 until 1968 favoring the Motion Picture Association of America film rating system. It has been critized that violence is more acceptable in American than sex whereas sexual depictions in European countries is quite frequent. Filmmakers, including women, were involved in aiding the change in what would be seen in the entertainment industry with popular culture and equal opportunities.
There has been many popular ideas, products, and images that imerged resulting in sometimes radical change from the norm. The Girl Scouts of the United States of America was established in 1912 as a result of the progressive movement. The Miss America competition started in 1921. It prefers to be called a “scholarship” rather than a beauty competition. One of the first sexual icons came in the form of an animated flapper named Betty Boop. Her appearance in the 1930s carved and reflected Jazz Age image with the love-affair for swing music. The body and actions were suggestive for this eye-candy. Bessie Coleman became the first African-American woman to earn an international aviation license and first African-American woman to earn a pilot’s license in 1921. Amelia Earhart was making news of her aviation achievements such as the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean in 1928. Katherine Cheung became the first Asian American licensed female pilot in 1932. Bettie Page was a popular model in the 1950s. The Barbie doll was distributed as the first American doll with a “womanly” figure in 1959. Before that, Playboy magazine circulated its first issue in 1953 with Marilyn Monroe on the cover.
Marilyn Monroe was often typecasted as the “dumb blonde” even though she was a natural brunette. She and other film actresses pursued to break away from such stereotypes expanding female depictations. But sometimes Hollywood is just not the right working environment to contend with. Judy Garland’s famous role in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz. Eva Marie Saint, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn was associated for fashion, Rita Hayworth in 1946’s Gilda, Joan Crawford’s flapper image and “rags-to-riches” attraction, and Annette Funicello an idol in the 1950s and 1960s. Grace Jones played strong minor characters in 1984’s Conan the Destroyer and a year later in A View to a Kill. There was also Julie Andrews in her most famous role as a nanny in 1964’s Mary Poppins. In that film, the Mrs. Banks was busy with her women’s votes campaign to care for her children. Another female would act as a nanny. In the end, the book’s author P.L. Travers was disappointed to see the mother symbolically give up her suffrage act by tying her sash to the children’s kite to spend more time with them.
The womens movement involved three major known phases. The first movement demanded the basic American right to vote. This suffrage was finally passed after 72 years in 1920. Issues would be raised about women protection and contraceptives. America entered World War II in 1941 while it already started two years before. The Rosie the Riveter icon encouraged women to work in the factories to help with the war effort constructing military supplies and weapons. In 1943, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was established because American men were sent off to war. After the war ended, nobody would hire these working women because the men were back home despite the skills they learned. The time came for the second movement to prevent employment discrimination, equal pay as men, child care centers, and athletic achievements in the 1960s and 1970s. Bra-burning did not really occur as women just refused to wear them believed to be symbols of man’s control over women. The Miss America competition was seen as sexist and commercial over the female body. Today’s movement brings awareness to equal representation of the gender. The riot grrrl movement is underground punk music usually about feminism. Other issues include reproductive rights, military service, religious leadership, pornography, and harassment. Women can be just as strong as men.
Comic books had its fair share of portraying women as both helpless and independent. From 1919’s damsel in distress of Popeye the Sailor’s Olive Oil to 1980’s green muscled She-Hulk, the art form has provided alternative concepts. Popeye was popular in the animated shorts of the 1930s. 1938’s Lois lane is quite the counterpart to 1959’s Supergirl. Fantastic Four featured Susan Storm in 1961. The all-girl music band Josie & the Pussycats appeared in 1963. They premiered on an animated television series in 1970 as a counterpart to 1968’s Archie Show based on the 1941 comics. Josie featured the first animated all-girl rock group and the first black cartoon character. Batgirl appeared in the early 1960s and then on the campy Batman television series in 1967. Her television spin-off was not picked up for production. On that same series, a villainess named Catwoman went from Caucasian to African-American with Eartha Kitt. One of the first feminist comic book characters was 1941’s Wonder Woman.
The second womans’ movement certainly seemed to have had an affect on the media’s perception of the female gender. The Wonder Woman television series premiered in 1975. Long before that, I Love Lucy featured a stay-at-home wife allows causing mischief since 1951. Lucille Ball’s personal life had her a head of Desilu Productions. Elly May Clampett was a sweet yet tough daughter in 1962’s The Beverly Hillbilles. In 1964, Gillian’s Island was stuck with Ginger the movie star and Mary Ann farmgirl. That same year Bewitched and a year later I, Dream of Jeannie had an odd couple where the man supports the supernatural spouse. Get Smart was created in 1965 on the heels of James Bond’s movie success and brought with it the competent Agent 99. 1966 brought aboard Lieutenant Uhura to Star Trek as one of television’s first black female officer. The Brady Bunch featured a blended family in a 1969 household with a few battle of the sexes. The Mary Tyler Moore Show had the main character become an independent woman in the work force to start the 1970. Bionic Woman grew as a 1976 counterpart to 1974’s The Six Million Dollar Man. Also that same year, Police Woman came to be the first success with a female and portraying an officer as well. Charlie’s Angels opened up for business. Daisy Duke had shorts named after her and wore a red bikini in 1979’s The Dukes of Hazzard. Television wasn’t the only medium to see women in a different light.
The movie industry was on the band wagon for women in film. Times have changed for the better as the cinematic experience moved on from women searching for rich men, doing “women work”, and looking pretty to seeking independence, compete with men, and breaking patriarchy. 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby showed the wife in complete obedience to her husband. Before that, 1964 was ruled by men of war in Stanely Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. Only one woman briefly appeared but as a secretary sex object. Jane Fonda as Barberella experienced sexual liberation in 1964 comics and 1968 film while Raquel Welch ran around in an animal bikini in 1966’s One Million Years B.C. A remake is in talks for Barberella with James Bond writers. Jane Fonda considers herself a feminist along with her involvement with The Vagina Monologue. The 1960s was also plagued by beach party films of young teenagers having fun. Bonnie & Clyde robbed the screen in 1967 as a bank robbing couple apart from crime dramas like 1959’s Some Like It Hot, 1941’s The Maltese Falcon, 1972’s The Godfather and other film noir, detective, and mob films of the time. 1977’s Fun with Dick & Jane also portrayed a criminal couple. 1974 brought Policewomen into man’s land of criminal action. 1975 brought the evolution of Stepford Wives from book to screen depicting the heroine rejecting the idealized wife. Kubrick’ A Clockwork Orange witnessed terrorifying rape scenes in 1971. Star Wars crowned Princess Leia as a leading royalty in 1977. Walt Disney’s 1975 sequel Return from Witch Mountain brought the sister sibling as the star to her brother’s mind-control. 1979’s Alien starred Sigourney Weaver who did not become a damsel in distress, but “the final girl”.
“The Final Girl” refers to the female protagonist who survives the picture to the end. This concept is usually seen in the horror film genre. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 Psycho featured a female victim. Although she was her own monster, 1976’s Carrie experienced teen aganst and used her supernatural powers. Leatherface introduced The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to the 1974 audience. Michael Myers stabbed his way through Halloween in 1978. Jason Vorhees came out of the water in Friday the 13th, 1980. These films had the final girl use stabbing weapons as symbolical phallus symbols to penetrate their pursuer. Because they were the purest, they were able to survive multiple attacks. The women learned to fight back at man’s control.
Blaxploitation came about in the early 1970s due to the white man’s loss of control. Nixon was involved in the Watergate scandal beginning in 1972 and the public was still in awe over President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. Black females began taking action lead roles. It all began with 1973’s Cleopatra Jones staring Tamara Dobson as a government agent. Pam Grier stared in 1973’s Coffy, 1974’s Foxy Brown, and 1975’s Sheba Baby. The first two were similar in a plot that dealt with revenge for a sibling from drugs. Teresa Graves was the first black female to get a television series beginning with 1974’s TV movie Get Christie Love! playing an undercover officer. The Blaxploitation era didn’t dwindle without a fight, literally. Characters became martial arts experts towards the genre’s exit. Gloria Hendry is a lot tougher in 1974’s Black Belt Jones compared to her Bond girl role the year before Live and Let Die. Coincidentally, that Roger Moore film was playing to the Blaxploitation crowd at an appropiate time considering the book’s 1954 release. The same year, T.N.T. Jackson exploded with Jean Bell. The actress was the first black Miss Universe competitor. More mixes of Blaxploitation and martial arts emerged in 1976’s Ebony, Ivory, & Jade, the other being The Muthers, and also Velvet Smooth. No doubt, the martial arts influence came from Bruce Lee’s popularity in film and television. Not all orientalism reflected karate chops and kicks.
Oriental representation in cinema hasn’t been the most positive. It still has a long way to go before equal portrayals can be achieved. Asian female stereotypes consist of quiet, obidenent, and pleasure-giving caretaker. Damsel in distress are often rescued by white Western males. There was also the dragon lady image who used sexuality to get what they want overcoming men and described as “vamps”. Femme fatales lead men to their doom using their sexual bodies as bait. If someone of high importantce is involved, the male usually invades the private quarters full of women. Anna May Wong was the first Asian American actress beginning in 1919. Merle Oberon was the first “Asian” to be nominated for Best Actress and Academy Award for 1935’s The Dark Angel. Miyoshi Umeki is the only Asian American to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1957’s Sayonara. Actress Meg Tilly was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for 1985’s Agnes of God. Her sister Jennifer Tilly has nominated in the same category for 1994’s Bullets Over Broadway. Interesting to note both have some Asian blood from their father yet dropped their “Chan” birth name. Katherine Hepburn famously yellowfaced a female in 1944’s Dragon Seed. Yellowface was a common practice in cinema. 1960’s The World of Suzie Wong featured one of the first real Asian female to take the lead role. Nancy Kwan became a sex symbol for herself. The same year also featured one of the first interracial kisses in Walk Like a Dragon. Also during this time, Bridge to the Sun featured an interracial couple in World War II. 1961 introduced the world to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Flower Drum Song featuring an all-Asian cast.
The small screen has also contributed to the transition. Amy Hill is featured in countless television and minor film roles. While news anchorwomen Barbara Walters began in the 1970s, Connie Chung began her journalist career in the 1980s. Olympic althele Michelle Kwan skated her way to fame. Margaret Cho has her hand in many career opportunities including the 1995 short-lived television series All American Girl. Lucy Liu debuted on 1997’s Ally McBeal, continuing with 1999’s Payback, joined 2000’s Charlie’s Angels, a sall but piviotal role in 2002’s Chicago, kicked butt in 2002’s Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, again in 2003’s Kill Bill, and once more in 2006’s Lucky Number Slevin. She also did voicework for 2008’s Kung Fu Panda and Tinkerbell. 1998’s Mulan has been accused of mixed Asian cultures and negative views of feminism. Sandra Oh has appeared in 2001’s The Princess Diaries, 2002’s Big Fat Liar, 2004’s Sideways, and 2005’s Grey’s Anatomy. Brenda Song has been with 2005’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and 2006’s Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior. 2004’s version of Battlestar Galactica features Grace Park as Lt. Sharon Valerii. Michelle Yeoh rose to fame in the early 1990s with her martial arts skills and co-starred in 1997 Tomorrow Never Dies, 2005’s Memoirs of a Geisha, and 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Babylon A.D. Ming-Na starred in 1993’s The Joy Luck Club, 1994’s Street Fighter, voiced 1998’s Mulan, played detective in 2004’s The Batman, and played Dr. Jing-Mei “Deb” Chen in ER. Lauren Tom was also in The Joy Luck Club and has voiced 1997’s King of the Hill and 1999’s Futurama. Tia Carrere played Cassandra for 1992’s Wayne’s World, 1994’s True Lies, 1997’s Kull the Conqueror, 1999’s Relic Hunter, and 2002’s Lilo & Stitch. Kelly Hu is a beauty pageent winner taking on roles in 1989’s Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, 1995’s No Way Back, 1998’s Martial Law, 2002’s The Scorpion King, and 2003’s X2: X-Men United. And introducing Stephanie Jacobsen in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles beginning 2009. It has only been recently in the past two decades that Asian American female roles have opened up in the market. In some causes, the times have been so slow in progress that it created a “reverse progression”. Certain levels of stereotypes have risen while others have lowered. And it’s interesting to see other miniorities put down other miniorities. The studio system has a responsibility that is not being taken care of.
History has thought the general public a few lessons about the business of show business. Many people realize the pattern and has expressed those viewpoints backed by solid evidence. Then there are those who are clueless and have little exposure or will power to realize these issues. And then finally there are the people who realize the errors but have little authority to do anything about it, fight for what they believe in, or even purposely disregard the fight and continue life as long as it goes their way. However, if there is a market to profit from those issues, then those executives will see dollar signs in their eyes and will cash in on the potential. There are few good people that actually work for what they believe is the right thing to do without expecting any sort of personal gain. It is an unfortunate truth that we live in. There are all types of stereotypes to be broken that involve both gender and ethnicity. It is not one or the other.
So where does this all fit in to the James Bond metamorphsis from girls to women? How do the original James Bond literature from 1953 to 1966 and its continuations revolve around the visual and audio depictions seen on the big screen from 1962 to today? Women were growing and making clear messages that they want as much rights as any man in the home, in the work force, and society overall. Respect and taboos changed over time to equally represent both genders. Not only genders, but different races had to work for it too. The movement was originally designed by the white homemakers and even that has evolved to include other ethnicities.
Women in film are less depicted as damsels in distress, looking for a rich man, sexual objects, and slaves. They have proven to be as competent and competitive as the man controlling society. But as long as those men can make a buck out of the situation. If audience craves for such material and if the executive can make the gamble, almost everyone can get paid off.
The fantasy of movie magic has mostly been a male fantasy. Trends come and go and is reflected so in the medium. The male illusion was seeing beauty women in controllable environments. That gets faded in some ways and outside pressures look towards a new fantasy of tough women to struggle with. That fades away and a new trend for interracial relationships develop. As long as there is profit to back it up, money will make the world go round. The entertainment industry realized something that has stayed for a very long time: sex and violence sells.
Bond treats women as recreation just as many males of the screen do. Female roles shifted from totally useless to being essential to the plot. For example, in 2006’s Casino Royale, James Bond flirts and seduces the enemy’s wife. The audience expects him to go all the way. But once he gets the information he needs, we walks out with no time to spare. He has essentially just made fun of himself and played with the audience expectation. With 1953’s novel, it is stated that Vesper was a double agent. Sure, easier said than done. How is it proven she is working for the enemy. What is the “idea” behind a double agent? Was there any training involved or physical assessments conducted to see her fit as just an informative spy or a potential killer? It’s not what you know, it’s how you can prove it that matters. There has been countless films, television, and novels that depicts the main character’s first love that defines them for the rest of their lives.
The audience goes to the see movies for escapism. There is the need to walk away from our normal everyday lives and into a realm of make believe. It depends on the people as well to open their eyes and either see those images for fantasy or a reflection on reality. Even with these questionable materials put on screen, they are a reflection of the time thought was normal. Scenes are so over the top that they can’t really be taken seriously. And should be studied, not abandoned or censored. It will also once again be a parody of a parody. The gates to no man’s land is breaking down. The long road still stretches beyond the horizon.

Sources:

Abraowitz, Rachel. Is That A Gun In Your Pocket?: Women's Experience of Power in Hollywood. New York: Random House, 2000.

Bond Girls Are Forever. Dir. John Watkin. Perf. Maryam d'Ado. DVD. MGM, 2002.

Pratt, Ray. Projecting Paranoia: Conspiratorial Visions in American Film. Kansas: University P of Kansas, 2001.

Slanted Screen. Dir. Jeff Adachi. Perf. Rowena Cape. DVD. Asian American Media Mafia Productions, 2006.

Slaying the Dragon. Dir. Deborah Gee. Perf. Herb Wong. DVD. Pacific Productions, 1988.

Sova, Dawn B. Women in Hollywood: From Vamp to Studio Head. New York: First Fromm International Edition, 1998.

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Honorable Mentions:


The Terminator (1984) and T2: Judgement Day (1991)
Baywatch (1989)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (1993)
Star Trek: Voyager (1995)
Xena: Warrior Princess (1995)
Tank Girl (1995)
Clueless (1995)
Tomb Raider (1996)
Striptease (1996)
Barbwire (1996)
V.I.P. (1998)
Cleopatra 2525 (2000)
Alias (2001)
Striperella (2003)
Serenity (2005)
Juno (2007)
Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles (2008)


The Final Girl:
Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Hellraiser (1987)
Scream (1996)
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)