The Guardian stated that "the women in the books and films are silly, naughty, flimsey things that need hard male mastery."
Has the Guardian writer read the novels and truly watched the films?
While I can't and won't defend the Roger Moore era films - they were silly and generally not based on Ian Fleming's stories - the early Sean Connery films and the last film, "Casino Royale," were based on Fleming's novels. The women in those stories were hardly flimsey.
Honey Rider from "Dr No" placed a black widow spider in the bed of a man who raped her. "Black widows are the worst," she told Bond. "It took him a whole week to die."
When she noticed Bond's somewhat shocked look, she asked "Did I do wrong?"
"Well, he responded. "I wouldn't make a habit of it."
In "Thunderball," Domino came to Bond's rescue when Largo was about to shoot Bond. Domino came up behind Largo and shot him in the back with a diver's speargun.
"I'm glad I killed him," she said coldly.
"You're glad?" Bond said.
Flimsey women?
Fleming wrote the thrillers unabashedly for entertainment, but I find them to be classic tales of good verus evil. Bond fought the good fight against communists, criminals and terrorists.
Yes, he was a professional killer, but he killed on orders from his government and those he killed were evil men. He did not enjoy killing, but he looked at killing like a soldier.
Fleming, a naval intelligence officer during WWII, based his character on the secret agents and commandoes he knew from the war. These men, and some women, often killed in the line of duty, and we should be very glad they did.
The enemy - Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan - were evil and murderous, as was the next "Evil Empire," the Soviet Union.
Today we face Islamic fanatical terrorists who are also evil and murderous. I truly hope that some true-life James Bond - be he a Navy SEAL, Green Beret or CIA paramilitary officer - is able to kill bin Laden and the other crackpots who are planning massive death and destruction.
Fleming may not have been politically correct by today's standards, but one has to lack imagination and a sense of adventure not to enjoy the Bond books and the films.
According to a recent Conde Nast study, the James Bond novels, films and video games have gnerated $14 billion since the first novel was published in 1953. Fleming must have done something right.
If you would like to read more about Ian Fleming and James Bond you can go to my online Crime Beat column at www.orchardpressmysteries.com/casino_royale.html
Paul Davis daviswrite@aol.com www.orchardpressmysteries.com/crime_beat.html
This was a good response to The Guardian piece.
ReplyDeleteThe Guardian stated that "the women in the books and films are silly, naughty, flimsey things that need hard male mastery."
Has the Guardian writer read the novels and truly watched the films?
While I can't and won't defend the Roger Moore era films - they were silly and generally not based on Ian Fleming's stories - the early Sean Connery films and the last film, "Casino Royale," were based on Fleming's novels. The women in those stories were hardly flimsey.
Honey Rider from "Dr No" placed a black widow spider in the bed of a man who raped her. "Black widows are the worst," she told Bond. "It took him a whole week to die."
When she noticed Bond's somewhat shocked look, she asked "Did I do wrong?"
"Well, he responded. "I wouldn't make a habit of it."
In "Thunderball," Domino came to Bond's rescue when Largo was about to shoot Bond. Domino came up behind Largo and shot him in the back with a diver's speargun.
"I'm glad I killed him," she said coldly.
"You're glad?" Bond said.
Flimsey women?
Fleming wrote the thrillers unabashedly for entertainment, but I find them to be classic tales of good verus evil. Bond fought the good fight against communists, criminals and terrorists.
Yes, he was a professional killer, but he killed on orders from his government and those he killed were evil men. He did not enjoy killing, but he looked at killing like a soldier.
Fleming, a naval intelligence officer during WWII, based his character on the secret agents and commandoes he knew from the war. These men, and some women, often killed in the line of duty, and we should be very glad they did.
The enemy - Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan - were evil and murderous, as was the next "Evil Empire," the Soviet Union.
Today we face Islamic fanatical terrorists who are also evil and murderous. I truly hope that some true-life James Bond - be he a Navy SEAL, Green Beret or CIA paramilitary officer - is able to kill bin Laden and the other crackpots who are planning massive death and destruction.
Fleming may not have been politically correct by today's standards, but one has to lack imagination and a sense of adventure not to enjoy the Bond books and the films.
According to a recent Conde Nast study, the James Bond novels, films and video games have gnerated $14 billion since the first novel was published in 1953. Fleming must have done something right.
If you would like to read more about Ian Fleming and James Bond you can go to my online Crime Beat column at www.orchardpressmysteries.com/casino_royale.html
Paul Davis
daviswrite@aol.com
www.orchardpressmysteries.com/crime_beat.html