#MeToo went viral last year as the result of workplace sexual harassment and assault, a lot of it media related such as now-disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
With the 25th James Bond film (slowly) in development, there has been speculation about how Bond will be affected by the Me Too movement. We won’t know for some time.
However, certain scenes from previous Bond films were cited in THIS ARTICLE from The Scotsman.
“Almost as soon as Harvey Weinstein’s dressing-gown fell open, and the first gruesome revelations of sexual coercion and assault in Hollywood spilled out, a debate was sparked about the future of Bond,” wrote Aidan Smith of The Scotsman.
With that in mind, here are some Bond movie scenes that get cited in #MeToo conversation.
“Dink, say goodbye to Felix.”
“Man Talk” (Goldfinger, 1964)
After the main titles of Goldfinger, the CIA’s Felix Leiter (Cec Linder) makes contact with Bond (Sean Connery).
Bond is with Dink (Margaret Nolan, who also participated in the main titles as the “Golden Girl” of the title song).
Bond sends Dink on her way saying he has to engage in some “man talk” with Felix. As she walks away, Bond slaps her on her buttocks, accompanied by an Oscar-winning sound effect.
Not something you could do in the 21st century.
“You don’t mean…”
“I’d Lose My Job” (Thunderball, 1965)
Bond (Connery again) is almost killed after Count Lippe sets a device intended to stretch the spine on full speed and the agent is helpless to do anything about it.
Patricia Fearing (Molly Peters), a nurse who had strapped Bond into the machine in the first place, returns early and saves the agent’s life.
As he’s recovering, Bond says somebody will regret this day. He’s referring to Count Lippe but there’s no way for Patricia to know that.
She urges Bond to stay silent or else she could lose her job.
Bond immediately seizes upon the situation. “I suppose my silence could have a price…”
“You don’t mean…”
“Oh, yes…”
According to the stage directions of the script:
The steam rises higher and higher making is even more difficult to see anything at all.
This is probably just as well.
As the saying goes, it is what it is. After having sex with Patricia, Bond gets even with Count Lippe. However, the villain doesn’t meet his demise until it is administered by another SPECTRE operative who figures into our next example.
Interplay between Bond and Fiona in Thunderball.
“Would You Please Give Me Something to Put On?” (Thunderball)
SPECTRE executioner Fiona (Luciana Paluzzi) uses her sex appeal as part of her work for the criminal organization.
For example, posing as the “social secretary” for a NATO pilot, she arranges for him to be killed so a SPECTRE double can take his place. This enables SPECTRE to steal two atomic bombs.
Later, Fiona has encountered Bond but finally decides he needs to be eliminated.
She’s naked in a bathtub when Bond enters. “Would you please give me something to put on?” Fiona says. Bond hands her a pair of sandals and sits in a chair.
Not much later, they have sex. After they get dressed, SPECTRE thugs enter the hotel room. Eventually, Bond escapes. Fiona catches up, but she’s killed when one of the thugs tries to shoot Bond.
This is stretching things a bit in terms of #MeToo. Fiona knew exactly what she was doing and sex was part of her M.O. Also, Luciana Paluzzi had played a very similar character in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Fiona absolutely was a strong, independent character. She just came up short going against Bond.
“I like you better without your Beretta.”
Bond and Severine in Skyfall (2012)
This example is one of the most controversial, certainly among recent 007 films.
Severine (Bérénice Marlohe) had been forced into the sex trade at a young age. Bond (Daniel Craig) deduces this from a small tatoo of hers.
She tells Bond her bodyguards will try to kill him as soon as she departs. But in case she survives, she tells Bond the name of the yacht she’ll be on, where to find it and that it will be casting off in an hour.
Severine waits in her cabin, with a bottle of champagne on ice. The yacht casts off. But when she decides to take a shower, Bond is there as naked as she is.
However, for Severine, things go downhill from there. Silva (Javier Bardem) has her roughed up. Later, there’s a William Tell bit where Bond and Silva try to shoot a glass of Scotch off her head. Silva doesn’t bother to really try and just shoots her to death.
Bond fights his way out this and helicopters descend to capture Silva.
Why this is controversial: I’ve seen some fans on 007 message boards compare Bond’s encounter with Severine in the shower to rape. But the shot of Severine with the bottle of champagne on ice suggests she was wanting Bond to get to the yacht.
On the other hand, Bond shows no remorse whatsoever that Severine was killed. After he gets the upper hand, Bond gloats to Silva. But he doesn’t acknowledge Severine’s ultimate sacrifice.
By comparison, both Thunderball (with the death of MI6 agent Paula) and You Only Live Twice (with the death of Japanese agent Aki) depict Bond acknowledging the deaths of the women, which is emphasized by John Barry’s music.
Filed under: James Bond Films | Tagged: #MeToo, Berenice Marlohe, Cec Linder, Daniel Craig, Goldfinger, Harvey Weinstein, Luciana Paluzzi, Margaret Nolan, Molly Peters, Sean Connery, Skyfall, The Scotsman, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice | 1 Comment »
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