In Bed with James Bond

The terrific Australian cinephile’s webzine, Senses of Cinema, hits one out of the 007 scholarship ballpark with its new issue. In Bed with Bond, by the site’s coeditor Scott Murray, is a lavishly annotated catalogue of the Bond women, both literary and cinematic. It’s also a meticulously-constructed argument against the standard criticisms of the series in regards to sexual politics. Taking on critics from Umberto Eco to John Cork, Mr. Murray demonstrates that James Bond isn’t really the unfailing cocksman popular imagination supposes him to be, much less the arrogant woman hater/seducer reviled by his critics. Instead, using a point-by-point “scoring” system (pun intended), Murray gives us a picture of Bond as a sort-of sexual pinball, bouncing from woman to woman as a result of his fairly passive reaction to his leading ladies’ fairly aggressive seduction techniques. That’s when he has any luck at all!

It’s a fairly lengthy article, so bring a sack lunch to keep you fortified why you dig in to all the copious detail. It’s fun, it’s informative, it’s In Bed with Bond, and it’s RIGHT HERE. Enjoy!