James Bond used to be a womanizer and Bond Girls were commodities to glamorize the movies, but in No Time To Die, the age-old Ian Fleming concept of Bond Girls is finally being shown the exit door.
While the suave James Bond in stylish tuxedos brought uncontrollable adrenaline rush, scantily clad enchantresses simultaneously raised testosterone levels in loyal fans. The mantra hit the jackpot in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. But for the British Superspy to remain valid in the 21st century, the commoditization had to give way. And so it did. In Daniel Craig’s No Time To Die, Bond Girls are a thing of the past and so is the womanizer image of James Bond.
Heads Up! Real Women Replace Bond Girls in No Time To Die
- The age-old concept of Bond Girls in James Bond movies
- How the concept that attracted audiences in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s is now invalid in the 21st century
- Daniel Craig era and the evolution of James Bond
- Why Daniel Craig thinks Bond Girls make sense in modern times
- The Real Women replacing Bond Girls in No Time To Die
Daniel Craig’s James Bond is more human than creator Ian Fleming could ever imagine. Craig’s Bond comes across as a closet feminist in a world developed and run by misogynists. He has a heart that’s not made of stone. He doesn’t have sex but makes love. His relationships may not last, but his feelings do. What started as a new trend with Casino Royale will now complete the full circle with No Time To Die. The world’s longest-running and highest-earning, when adjusted for inflation, has finally sorted out its gender politics.
From Bond Girls to Real Women
First came Sean Connery’s James Bond and then came Roger Moore’s. The Bonds of the 20th century looked at women as objects of desire. Their purpose in movies was to bring sexual relief to 007 in the line of duty. For decades women stayed as fringe characters in James Bond movies, being playtime commodities for the protagonist and having no concrete contribution to the plotlines. But the trend started to change as Eon Productions, the owners of the movie franchise, sought to evolve the stories and Bond as per the demands of the changing times.
It arguably started in the era when Pierce Brosnan played Bond. In GoldenEye, Famke Janssen’s femme fatale was still a bond girl but with a much deeper personality and more significant place in the storyline. It was also the first movie to have a woman, Judi Dench, play M. By the end of the Brosnan era, Die Another Day saw Halle Berry surface in the Bond Girl avatar. But she was also kicking antagonist asses by the end of the movie, holding her own beside 007. But it was indeed the entry of Daniel Craig with Casino Royale in 2006 that marked exit for the Bond Girl pattern.
Daniel Craig era led to gender sensitization of James Bond
In fact, GoldenEye was the first James Bond movie that wasn’t based on a novel from Ian Fleming. It can be argued that Bond’s traditional misogynist imagery is courtesy of the creator’s vision. Fleming based Bond on himself – his experiences, his interests, his tastes and his perception of women. That makes sense when we see James Bond movies with storylines not out of Fleming’s mind, portraying women as major stakeholders of the script and not mere objects of sexual desire.
Daniel Craig’s Bond cut the chord right away. He did not go around womanizing in the middle of high-powered action sequences. Instead, he fell in love with Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd. So strong was that emotion that the next film Quantum of Solace revolved around Bond’s vendetta for the love lost. Then came Dr Madeleine Swann played by Lea Seydoux who again made Craig’s James Bond fall in love. In the Craig era, James Bond is not a womanizer but a hopeless romantic. He is 007 who knows how to treat women with respect.
Bond Girls are a thing of the past, invalid in the modern times
The scriptwriter, also a woman, Phoebe Waller-Bridge had already stated that the movie will treat women properly. Daniel Craig also recently expressed his disdain for the term in a “modern context”. Craig said that the term doesn’t make for a sensible conversation.
So, No Time To Die will feature Ana de Armas as a CIA agent who packs one hell of a punch. Armas only decided to be part of the Bond film after being sure that the character was not a “reductive” Bond Girl but a real woman. Likewise, the other woman in the film, Lashana Lynch flies a plane and gives Daniel Craig a ride in it, as the new James Bond trailer revealed. She is already touted as a female Bond set for a spinoff franchise. No Time To Die will finally pronounce the old concept of Bond Girls as done and dusted for good.
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