Bond Reinvented

           As you sit down in the movie theater to view the newest James Bond film, the classic theme song starts and the projector begins to roll. Anyone who has seen a Bond film before automatically conjures pictures in their head of what to expect on the screen – vibrantly beautiful women; shiny guns, watches, and cars; colossal fight scenes; and of course the poised and well dressed main character. Skyfall is the twenty-third film in the James Bond franchise, and it still features all of these images. Images in film have the power to evoke strong emotions, give great subtext, and emphasize important elements in any situation. As a motion picture, Skyfall positively reintroduced classic James Bond-esque stereotypes through a more virtuous and innovative lens. Expected images of sexism, materialism, and age discrimination were transformed into feminism, valuable materialism and humanity, age diversity, and a more personal story for James Bond. 

            The story of Skyfall fights sexism through three prevalent characters – M., Eve, and Bond himself. Firstly, M. – played by Dame Judi Dench – is both powerful and nurturing. One visual that illustrates her powerful role is when she is standing over her desk, giving Bond and Eve orders from afar. The camera angles and the lines that the Roman Column-like windows create, make her look especially powerful in this scene. Right beside M. is her chair, symbolizing her administrative and commanding role. With the low camera angle, the background makes it look like she is on top of the world – literally and figuratively. Her attire has its history rooted in feminism – her shoulder pads (a style that became popular during the feminist movement after WWII) make her shoulders look broader and more masculine, and her hair is short as well (a style that is stereotypically more expected of men, especially in a Bond film). This look has been accepted in our society as extremely professional and un-sexualized.

The character of M. is also an enormous influence on the movement of the story line in many ways. Watching the scene where Silva (the movie’s villain) explains to M. how she ruined his life, one can’t help but learn that she accidentally contributed to the making of this terrible villain (not to say that he doesn’t do all of his terrible actions out of his own free will). While being the root cause of the antagonist’s motivations, M. is also the leader of the protagonists of the story. She has incredible power over the positive and negative movement of the plot – something that is extremely uncommon for a female character in the older Bond movies. In addition to her executive role in the story, she is also a maternal figure. As the movie progresses, it becomes clear that she is the only maternal figure in Bond’s life.
One image that displays this particularly well is of M. and Bond standing by the Aston Martin as they look onward at the road leading to Skyfall (Bond’s childhood home). This image has three layers – the car, the people, and the landscape. The shot makes the viewer feel like they are watching safely from the car, as they look at M. and Bond and observe their relationship. As partners in this journey, look ahead at the road to Skyfall – which symbolizes childhood trauma, as well as shelter at this moment in the story. The feelings that this image evokes become more and more sensitive as the eye travels across the image. This image powerfully represents the journey of the plot – with M. there to protect Bond in any way possible.

            The next character to fight sexism in the movie is Eve, who is written as somewhat of an adaptation of the sexy secretary, Moneypenny, from the original movies.

Though she has the nasty habit of accidentally shooting Bond – something Moneypenny was famous for – in this movie she is not an inferior secretary who is treated with misogyny, but an intelligent and badass MI6 field agent. All of the clothing that she wears is professional and sexy, but never extremely revealing. The actress who was cast as Eve, Naomie Harris, is taller than Daniel Craig who plays Bond. In one scene, she is shown as taller than Bond, when she gives him a shave with a razor. She literally has his life in her hands once again, except that this time it is flirtatious, rather than work-related. She is wearing the color red – a color said to express passion and sexuality – and Bond is wearing next to nothing – something that is normally the attire of the Bond girls. When Bond tries to make advances, she refuses him but continues to make the situation agreeable.

They continue to flirt throughout the movie, but do not have any meaningless one-night-stands. This is huge trend changer for the entire Bond series. She has equal power to any male character in the movie, making her the most progressive “Bond Girl” yet.

In addition to fighting sexism through powerful female characters, Skyfall gives some subtle acceptance to homosexuality. Bond suggests being ambiguously bisexual, when Silva (the antagonist who is played by Javier Bardem) attempts to throw Bond off course by making him sexually uncomfortable. Silva, who has Bond tied to a chair, pulls up a chair directly in front of him, and while telling a metaphorical and daunting story about cannibalistic rats, he begins to unbutton Bond’s shirt and then touch his thighs. This is not so much as a flirtation as it is an act of Silva’s aggressive and calculating behavior. As this happens, their conversation becomes filled with sexual innuendos, and Silva says, “Well, there’s a first time for everything.” Bond turns the tables by replying, “What makes you think this is my first time?” – throwing the surprise right back at Silva. Here, Silva attempts to dominate Bond by putting him into a situation that he assumes will be foreign and uncomfortable to him, and perhaps also intends to threaten his “manliness,” but Bond instantly disproves the relevance of this threat. Since Bond is such an admired and accepted character, his confidence in stating the

possibility of being bisexual is impactful to audiences. By giving acceptance to all kinds of sexuality, and by having two incredibly feminist main characters, Skyfall positively impacts the image of “007” storytelling.

Though the materialism in Skyfall is excessive and practically “McDonaldized,” it does still provide the viewers with meaningful nostalgia, sensitivity, and appreciation for technological innovation. Admittedly, this movie still has indulgent amounts of materialism – some would even say that the movie is one big advertising scheme – with the Aston Martin and other fancy cars, the Omega watch, many brands of alcohol, and all of the high-tech gadgets. After all, the excessive advertisements do help finance the movie. One image Skyfall featured that evokes feelings of nostalgia for older audiences is the original Aston Martin DB5 car as seen in “Goldfinger” nearly fifty years ago. The car was sleek, powerful, and modern looking when it was first debuted – and now it is seen as iconic, classic, “badass,” fashionable, and even a little cute. When we first see it in the movie, the original theme song plays – conjuring up especially nostalgic feelings.

It also greatly upsets fans – in addition to Bond – when the car is destroyed at the end of the movie. In this way, the nostalgic images have the power to make audiences feel a wide range of emotions.

The only time that Bond seems genuinely furious or vengeful in the story is when someone important to him is killed and when his car is blown up. With the exception of being so emotionally attached to the Aston Martin, Bond is not particularly concerned with material possessions – only with the well being of the people he values. From the start of the movie, he loses everything he owns – his job, his reputation, his life (almost) – and his story becomes more and more personal as it unfolds. By emphasizing his sensitivity when his childhood trauma is addressed, and when Severine and M. die, the film draws attention away from its materialistic nature – at least more than any Bond film has previously. 

Another way that Skyfall turns materialism into a positive is by featuring today’s most innovative inventions – like the gun that is programmed to work only with Bond’s “paw print,” the incredibly strong radio signal transmitter, London’s security cameras and facial recognition systems, and Q.’s fancy computer technology (which will be discussed more in the next paragraph).

Each of these items is extremely valuable to the plot, as well as being impressive inventions that could move society forward – beyond the cinema. By showcasing this technology in the movie, could potentially help the product’s success in the future. Also, the placement of these high-tech products in a popular movie like this raises appreciation for technological advances in general. By providing affection for the original Bond images, a more personal story, and an innovative look at technology, Skyfall diminishes the excessive materialism that is normally associated with Bond films.

            Another concept that Skyfall’s story introduced to the franchise is more age diversity than usual. Despite the typically exclusive age range of characters in action movies, especially Bond movies, Skyfall gives light to the youth and the elders in different ways. One great image that sets this up is where Bond and Q. meet for the first time. They are sitting in a room filled with paintings in London’s National Gallery. This image is carefully composed with lots of subtext –Bond and Q. (the quartermaster played by Ben Wishaw) are juxtaposed, each sitting in front of a different painting. Bond is sitting in front of a more formal painting of a royal-looking man and woman, while Q. is sitting in front of a much different painting titled, “An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump” (1768) by Joseph Wright of Derby. This classical painting depicts a travelling scientist demonstrating the formation of a vacuum in a glass bowl containing a cockatoo. The people surrounding the scientist have mixed expressions, each reacting to the new science in a different way. Having Q. sit in front of this image tastefully expresses his sense of scientific ingenuity and the mixed reactions that others have to his novel and experimental ways. When Bond doubts Q.’s credibility, he states, “Age is no guarantee of efficiency.”In response, Bond adds, “And youth is no guarantee of innovation.” With these statements made, each character takes it as a challenge to be more efficient and innovative, and they do just that. Bond does things with an extreme amount of efficiency, even walking across an escavator tractor onto a moving train to get where he needs to go. Q. decrypts Silva’s software codes and creates a false tracking signal for Silva to throw him off course; and when asked if he can get past a certain technological blockage system, he replies that he invented it. Also, thanks to M. and Mallory (who takes M.’s job after she dies) being relatively older than the other characters, the age pool is widened. Skyfall impacts acceptance for all age groups by exhibiting each of their different strengths.

           

            Skyfall tells its story through countless powerful images, successfully reshaping classic Bond-esque stereotypes. It reached a gigantic audience, becoming the first Bond film to make a billion dollars at the box office. Hopefully audiences notice and appreciate the changes of tradition in the movie, or if not, perhaps this paper could add to their perspective on it. Every image tells a million stories that are just waiting to be understood. When viewing a motion picture – or any image, be it – look closely.  

References:

Broccoli, B. B. (producer), & Mendes, S. M. (director). (November 9^th, 2012). Skyfall (motion picture). The United States of America: Sony / Columbia. 

TV Tropes Foundation. Film: Skyfall. Retrieved from:       http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Skyfall

TV Tropes Foundation. Secret Intelligence Service. Retrieved from: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SecretIntelligenceService?from=Main.MI6

TV Tropes Foundation. Sexy Secretary. Retrieved from:   http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SexySecretary 

IMDb (November 9^th, 2012). Skyfall. Retrieved from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1074638/

Aston Martin (2014). 007 and Aston Martin. Retrieved from: http://www.astonmartin.com/007

Ikono (November 6^th, 2012). When James Bond Met Q at the National Gallery. Retrieved from: http://www.ikono.org/2012/11/when-james-bond-met-q-at-the-national-gallery/