By: Nina Voigt
Representations in mass media — in this case in literature and films — can be seen as an instrument for “defining and representing masculinity” (Grant 7). Hence it is important to analyze these depictions in order to gain better knowledge in how cultural images are shaped and embodied within society. James Bond functions in various ways as a masculine ideal. Despite being white, middle- class and heterosexual, he is an uncompromising spy and eternal womanizer. As a spy with a ‘double-0-status’; James Bond aka 007 has ‘the license to kill’. He is depicted as a cruel, dominant and often violent person who kills uncompromisingly and without regret. The antagonist of 007 is a crucial part of the James Bond series. With each book or film there is a new threat James Bond has to fight, a new plot for world domination he has to prevent.
In his study on monsters, J. Cohen explored how cultural anxieties shape monsters at a given time – a theory that can correspondingly be applied to the villain. 007's opponents often personify the anxieties of the era they were written or produced in: During the time of the Cold War, one of the most prominent threats James Bond has to face results from fears of a ‘warm’ war and an invasion from ’the East’. Almost all the villains are foreigners, “rarely Anglo-Americans. Their country of origin is often unclear, but there is a vague sense that they are . . . Eastern European” (Hockley 115). In the films after the Cold War, the villains reflect various cultural fears and paranoia ranging from increasing threats from Asia as well as ominous global terrorists groups. Every new Bond Film claims that this film will be “appropriate to both the times and to Flemings original” (Packer and Sharma 101). However, in this presentation I will be arguing that they continuously construct both notions of race and masculinity in hierarchical positions to James Bond‘s britishness and hegemonic masculinity. I will take a closer look at the depiction of the James Bond villain in its relation to the theoretical constructs of Edward Said‘s ‘Orientalism‘ and R.W. Connell's concept of ‘hegemonic masculinity‘. Intertwining both theories, I will be arguing that through portraying the characters as non-western or not following norms of stereotypical masculinity, James Bond villains are made „Other“ — monsterized and dehumanized. In fighting and defeating the villains, James Bond not only saves the world, but also fights against cultural anxieties, making sure the western world prevails.
References:
Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. Monster Theory: Reading Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis, 1996.
Hockley, L. "Shaken not stirred: James Bond as Puer", Perpetual adolescence: Jungian analyses of American media, literature and pop culture. Edited by: Porterfield, S., Polette, K., and Baumlin, T.F. Albany, State University of New York Press, 2009, pp.105-121.
Packer, Jeremy and Sarah Sharma: Secret Agents: Popular Icons Beyond James Bond. New York, Peter Lang, 2009. Print.
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