Give us feminist commentary on Bond? (Preferably Craig!007 since I know them best but generally iz also fine ofc!)
Feminist Bond thoughts!!! This is my short version but Iâm always happy to chat more generally. First off, since I can never resist a chance to plug books: the Ian Fleming novels are fascinating social commentary and compulsively readable pulp fiction, with far less tokenizing treatment of women than the film franchise.Â
Now, because intersectional feminism: most Bond films range from kinda to very complicit in what bell hooks called âimperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.â But, you know what? I already know we live in imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. Itâs nice to believe that it can be dismantled like a nuclear bomb under Fort Knox or that itâs just as much of a fantasy as a killer bowler hat. And this is why the Craig!007 films are my favorite Bond films.
âŠBefore anyone comes howling for my blood: yes, Connery was the best Bond, I do not and cannot dispute this.Â
I mean, holy hell.Â
But the Craig!007 films are my favorite Bond films because they are gleefully deconstructing the imperialist/sexist/racist tropes of the Bond franchise. Even Bondâs effortless moving through the world is highlighted (affectionately) as a fantasy, by Q who takes the Tube and has two cats depending on him and never misses a chance to rib 007. Also, Q (with his cardigans, tea mugs, and technical genius) is such a great example of non-toxic masculinity.
Still, the films keep the central, crucial fantasy that sometimes, if you get people within the system who are willing to break the rules just enough, the good guys win and law does mean justice. IRL, my politics tend to be anti-establishment, but the little bobble-head bulldog surviving on Mâs desk, symbol of the indestructible Spirit of the People? I CRY.
Was Quantum of Solace a particularly good Bond film? Nah. Is having James Bond protect the water rights of indigenous peoples from European billionaires AWESOME? Absolutely.
(What you are is a dork, James Bond. I love that Craig, like Connery, is a Bond who just wings it a lot of the time, with highly variable degrees of plausibility.)
I have a whole post on Spectre, but the bit from that Iâll highlight here is:
Earlier, parallel torture scenes (in âGoldfinger,â âCasino Royaleâ) have explicitly threatened Bondâs sex/masculinity as the center of his identity. Here, instead, itâs his memories.
âŠI love that so much. And I canât wait to see what happens next.

















