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More handpicked essays just for you.
British techniques for propaganda during World War Two
British techniques for propaganda during World War Two
British techniques for propaganda during World War Two
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The Bond Girls
Whenever there is a Bond film, there is always a Bond girl. She is as indispensable as the gadgets, the car, the chase and the villain set on overtaking the earth.
They have always been in the centre of controversy; they have always been branded as beautiful women (often with sexually overt names) who need Bond and ironically, Bond cannot complete his mission without them. They always seem to have perfection in everything they do. However, this portrayal of women can be somewhat unrealistic. Some may want the representation of the ‘Bond Girl’ to stay as it is but others may want the portrayal of the ‘Bond Girl’ to depict the modern idea of ‘girl power.’
I for one think that this representation of women is harmless, partly because it is only a fictional character. It is a representation to be regarded only in entertainment.
In this essay, I am going to look at and analyse the Bond saga looking especially at how the ‘Bond Girls’ in particular are shown and how their characteristics and qualities have changed over the decades.
The James Bond series was created to boost up Britain’s prospects of being noticed as a powerful country with their own hero armed with fast cars, girls, gadgets and gimmicks. Over the years the audience grew to love this hero who they called ‘Bond, James Bond’ with his callous persona, dead-pan humour armed with good looks and a sexy voice to go with his trademark saying. In reality, Britain was falling rapidly from the world stage.
The first ‘Bond’ film, released in 1962 was ‘Dr. No’. It was created with a meagre £90.000 budget and featured Sean Connery (then a virtually unknown actor) who was to play Bond’s character for the remainder of the decade with the exception of 1969’s release of ‘In His Majesty’s Secret Service’ featuring George Lazenby.
Throughout the years of Bond, every film has been popular despite the changes in actors, directors and producers. The films gave the audience a visit back to the propaganda-filled forties. It also gave the audience a sense of diversion through all the action and the sense of satisfaction at being able to predict the finish. Every Bond film has followed the ‘Bond formula,’ which helps the audience become aware of the chain of events that occurs in the Bond movies.
His character, although quite old, is still popular with younger generation. I t...
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...suggests that she has been through some sort of rough activity. The font used in the postcard is big, gold, in use of capitals, which alludes to luxury and wealth, and the symbol of the gold gun suggests wealth and action. The gold colour connotes glamour and sexiness.
The writing and name of the title; ‘the world is not enough’ suggests that the characters are not happy with what they have and therefore they want more. The world cannot give them what they yearn for.
Whatever’s changed about the Bond Girls, they still have to be racy, active, sexy and uncomplicated. I think perhaps that this is what has made them more accessible and acceptable to women.
I think these changes have occurred because women’s’ role in the society have changed over the years. Until recently, women were the weaker sexes compared to the dominating males. Women were passive and were just happy being portrayed as such. However, over the years, more and more women fought for their rights and nowadays want equality with men. More women have taken up occupations, which before were considered to be men’s jobs.
The depictions of women in films have changed in time with society to ensure the films popularity.
Throughout time, women in movies and other similar texts are shown to be generally focused on men. This might make sense if every movie ever made was set in a time where women had absolutely no rights but of course, that is not the case. Older and more modern depictions of women in media, both show women whose lives revolve around men. Even movies that market their female characters as strong and powerful are still shown to be dependent on the male leads and puts them first. Also, since women in movies have more of a focus on men, female to female relationships suffer in the same films. There are very few exceptions to this unfortunate truth.
Doctor No was the first bond movie that was released in the theatres in 1962, the sixth novel in the order Ian Fleming wrote. The movie undoubtedly was an instant hit with a gross collection of $59,600,000 worldwide. Sean Connery became the first James Bond and a successful one right after his first Bond movie. James Bond became the most memorable character he ever played on screen. George Lazenby came in second in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Critics have divided themselves into clans for this one, few praise Lazenby for bringing the actual James Bond of the books who is at times jittery and scared, but some guffaw at Lazenby’s poor performance as Bond when compared to the fearless Bond that Connery created. Next Bond movie, Lazenby thrown out and Connery is back with Diamonds Are Forever who now seems as old as M himself. Roger Moore com...
Introduction - Content Films such as Casino Royale and Mission Impossible are both culturally significant to people’s general opinions of spies and the profession of espionage. Ian Flemings Bond movies are the longest running film series ever and this helps the perception and opinions of the films to be passed on from generation to generation. So far six actors have taken on the role of James Bond and all were significant super fit, good-looking and popular actors. This only helps to increase the popularity of the films and now that the cinema is public it means people of all ages go to watch these films with family and friends. Many films and actors have taken on similar storylines and characters to that of the Bond films such as Johnny English and the Austin Powers.
The Viewers who go to see a Bond film expect smart new action not just
Pretty Woman, 1990s Hollywood movie, embodies many new as well as old values and ideologies. I was surprised when I saw that, the old themes and sexual stereotypes are not completely abandoned, but the old portrayals of gender stereotypes are transmuted.
The life of danger and excitement are an alluring cocktail to anyone wanting to be a spy. So when we watch a James Bond movie, what is fact and fiction? According to interviews with former MI6 employees the overwhelming consensus was “A lot of the time you spend at the desk” (Taylor). This is far from what the movies depict as the actual life of an intelligence officer. Their lives don’t consist of constant gunfights and martinis. According to former CIA military analyst Tara Maller, “It's about writing reports. You wouldn't want to watch an analyst at a computer writing a President's Daily Brief.” Maller is right; Homeland would not have such high ratings if we watched Carrie Mathison writing a Daily Brief. If the executive producers wanted to stick to a more realistic script the show should have been about a Special Operations Team instead of a bipolar case officer. The work of a case officer cannot even compare to the action that Hollywood depicts as the norm. When asked how close this was to the truth (the gap between case officer and special forces), former MI6 employee Richard Tomlinson said” It’s a wide ...
Bond was referring to his family coat of arms that was translated to him in the 1969 movie "On Her Majesty’s Secret Service". And finally the music scores. David Arnold, who was the composer for "Tomorrow Never Dies" comes back again with an excellent sounds and adding a techno or a retro theme to James Bond. "The World Is Not Enough" is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, some sexuality, sexual innuendo and old school elements for true James Bond fans. Running time 128 minutes.
The nation was growing up. Movies were starting to show more violence and sexuality. Women were coming out of their shell so to speak. They were starting to dress and act much differently than ever before. Women were now showing a side that was not ever seen before in film. Such stars of the 1930's Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, and Bette Davis appeared self confident and sexy. Before this women were seen as housewives and not much more. Even outside of movies women were seeking much more independence. They were now looking for things other than the perfect man. They wanted jobs, but there just wasn't enough to go around.
The Change of Bond Girls In Adams' article Bond Girls:gender, technology and film she says that
Margaret Atwood’s speech ‘Spotty-Handed Villainesses’ is an epideictic text, which explores the significance of having a multi-faceted depiction of female characters within literature as a means of achieving gender equity, centring on the fictional presentation of women as either virtuous or villainess. The title of the speech
He is invincible and infallible. He is like a god who can save his partner and himself at any critical juncture. No matter how urgent and dangerous the situation is, Bond is able to make the right decisions all the time. However, in Casino Royale, Bond made plenty of mistakes. He got poisoned by Le Chiffre so easily, which almost killed him. He did not recognize his two “friends” were actually both traitors. Because of love, Bond got trapped and tortured by Le Chiffre, and he even wanted to quit his agent job in order to live with his girlfriend. In this version, James Bond is no longer infallible, no longer always cool and logical, he got emotions as well as weaknesses. Nonetheless, because of his weaknesses, James Bond became more like an actual human being who has flesh and blood, audiences would have more attachments to a character like
portrayed as the “femme fatale” and also “mother,” the “seductress” and at the same time
Since the beginning of time, women have been seen as different from men. Their beauty and charms have been interpreted as both endearing and deadly to men. In the Bible, it was Eve’s mistake that led to humanity’s exile from the Garden of Eden. However, unlike in the Bible, in today’s world, women who drive men to ruin do not do so through simple mistakes and misunderstandings, they do so while fully aware of what effects their sexuality can cause. One thing remains constant through these portrayals of women, and that is that they are portrayed as flawed creations and therefore monstrous. It is a woman’s sex drive and sexuality that can lead to her monstrosity. The femme fatale is an enticing, exquisitely beautiful, erotic character who plays the ultimate trick of nature: she displays her beauty, captures the man and goes in for the kill. Films such as Adrian Lyne’s Fatal Attraction and stories such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale, and Sir Gawain the Green Knight use the femme fatale as a means of making a woman into a monster; the femme fatale can never win in the battle of the sexes. But what is it that makes the femme fatale such a dangerously character for the hero as well as the readers or viewers?
A number of popular television shows and films filling mainstream media today have taken a spin to promote women to main character roles of power and command. The traits of these female characters, however, become illusionary as plots thicken to reveal their status to be subordinate to leading male character roles; of which are typically controlling or manipulative over gender stereotypic female traits within the script. While media is being blindly applauded for their newfound glorification of women in power, there remains an underlying message of male supremacy in more than many broadcasted portrayals. Today’s mainstream television media delivers a notion that only a man can pave way for the merit of a woman.
Women have made progress in the film industry in terms of the type of role they play in action films, although they are still portrayed as sex objects. The beginning of “a new type of female character” (Hirschman, 1993, pg. 1). 41-47) in the world of action films began in 1976 with Sigourney Weaver, who played the leading role in the blockbuster film ‘Aliens’ as Lt. Ellen Ripley. She was the captain of her own spaceship, plus she was the one who gave out all the orders. Until then, men had always been the ones giving the orders; to see a woman in that type of role was outlandish.