The 'James Bond' series of films provides us with a resource which allows us to think about the shifting ways in which concepts of masculinity and femininity have been represented in British cinema since the early 1960s. Discuss this statement, drawing on relevant academic reading, and two 'James Bond' films of your choice.
Masculinity and femininity are an ever changing concept. Cultural sexual ideologies have been rooted to hegemonic views of genders. 'James Bond' and his 'Bond Girls' depict the 'idealised' males and females of the past five decades; the cinematic visions of beautiful women beside handsome spies, fast cars and high stakes, supposedly display the dreams of the audience. Bond is seen as an icon of true masculinity, his image has remained the same over the past fifty years, however, the characterisation of 'James Bond' has varied, depending on actor and decade, based on social and political climates and values. The femininity portrayed within the 'James Bond' series is perhaps the most prominent change throughout; this is partly due to the feminist movement which can be said to have begun in 1963. The decline in misogyny allowed for progression from the submissive to the empowered. Within this essay, I will be discussing the concepts of masculinity and femininity from the 1960s, when the 'James Bond' series of films began, to the contemporary portrayal, which shows evident differences from the early depictions and how these representations have influenced British cinema, the wider world and vice versa.
There are many traits associated with conceptualisations of masculinity and femininity, though they are constantly changing, Butler (1990) suggests that hegemonic portrayals place all assumptions in heterosexuali...
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...s the gender ideals of Britain, but also British fantasies of global influence. The 'male gaze' upon gender roles is explored throughout British cinema, despite the growth in portrayals of women over the years, masculinity and male prowess are still projected symbols in modern British cinema. The success of 'James Bond' derives from how audiences identify with the title character and all his subsidiaries; they feel they can become like them.
The new creations of each of the characterisations reflects the changing views of what society claims a hero should be. Since the 1960s, masculinity has been seen as a form of protection for the vulnerable, however, the shift of masculinity in British cinema has seen it become damaged. 'The Full Monty' from 1997 followed the disempowerment of masculinity through the decline of industry, where femininity rose, masculinity fell.
Since the revival of Australian cinema in early 1970s, Australian films have focused on certain themes of social perceptions and representations of masculinity. We see dominant, recognisable male images in our cinema – the bushman, the larrikin, the ‘mate’, and the ‘battler’. Masculinity stereotypes are projected in both Two Hands (1999) and Strictly Ballroom (1992) to varying degrees. Australia has a reputation for aggressive masculinity. This has its roots when the first settlers, mostly male convicts landed in Botany Bay who raised ‘hell’ when drunk.
The figure of the ‘new lad’ has been a feature of popular culture in the United Kingdom, United States, and elsewhere since the early 1990s. In the book, The Trouble with Men: Masculinities in European and Hollywood Cinema, the author relates to Nick Hornby’s, a screenwriter and English novelist, thoughts on lads. He states that there are two versions of the modern male that have anxieties between the two main constructions of contemporary masculinity: New man and New Lad (Phil Powrie 2004, pp.84). By the start of the twentieth century, the word ‘masculinity’ was always associated with the word ‘crisis’; this is now portrayed in ‘lad flicks’. Masculinity is the central object of contemporary ‘lad flicks’; they combine different genre elements to focus specifically on difficulties that face contemporary masculinity. The male characters in these films...
In the classical Western and Noir films, narrative is driven by the action of a male protagonist towards a clearly defined, relatable goal. Any lack of motivation or action on the part of the protagonist problematizes the classical association between masculinity and action. Due to inherent genre expectations, this crisis of action is equivalent to a crisis of masculinity. Because these genres are structured around male action, the crises of action and masculinity impose a crisis of genre. In the absence of traditional narrative elements and character tropes, these films can only identify as members of their genres through saturation with otherwise empty genre symbols. The equivalency between the crises of genre and masculinity frames this symbol saturation as a sort of compensatory masculine posturing.
These movies allowed female characters to embody all the contradictions that could make them a woman. They were portrayed as the “femme fatale” and also “mother,” the “seductress” and at the same time the “saint,” (Newsom, 2011). Female characters were multi-faceted during this time and had much more complexity and interesting qualities than in the movies we watch today. Today, only 16% of protagonists in movies are female, and the portrayal of these women is one of sexualization and dependence rather than complexity (Newsom, 2011).
In the thirty years since its release, Alien has become a film of various debates amongst film theorists. Academic analyses of the film draw attention to many differing themes, most popularly with feminism. Most critiques, academic and otherwise, ultimately conclude that Alien is a feminist film because of its representation of the workplace as a home to equality and a place where traditional gender roles have been obliterated. What is ultimately revealed by Alien is the anxiety of men during the era of second-wave feminism in which the film was produced. This film provides a step forward for feminists, but imagines men taking two steps back in equality.
Kimmel, Michael S. "Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame, and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity." Theorizing Masculinities. Ed. Harry Brod, and Michael Kaufman. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 1994. 119-42. SAGE knowledge. Web. Research on Men and Masculinities Series. 5 May 2014.
Smith, Jeff, and Chloe Beighley. "Normalizing Male Dominance: Gender Representation in 2012 Films." Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy. N.p., 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
In recent times, such stereotyped categorizations of films are becoming inapplicable. ‘Blockbusters’ with celebrity-studded casts may have plots in which characters explore the depths of the human psyche, or avant-garde film techniques. Titles like ‘American Beauty’ (1999), ‘Fight Club’ (1999) and ‘Kill Bill 2’ (2004) come readily into mind. Hollywood perhaps could be gradually losing its stigma as a money-hungry machine churning out predictable, unintelligent flicks for mass consumption. While whether this image of Hollywood is justified remains open to debate, earlier films in the 60’s and 70’s like ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ (1967) and ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976) already revealed signs of depth and avant-garde film techniques. These films were successful as not only did they appeal to the mass audience, but they managed to communicate alternate messages to select groups who understood subtleties within them.
While we tend to look at the world in a gendered fashion, there are differences in what’s considered masculine and feminine. In addition to varying from person to person, the concepts of masculinity and femininity also vary across time periods, across different cultures, and even across the span of an individual’s life. Kimmel pluralizes these terms to “acknowledge that masculinity and femininity mean different things to different groups of people at different times” (Kimmel; 10). He goes on further to reference sociologist R. W. Connell’s explanation of hegemonic masculinity, which states that it is “constructed in relation to various subordinated masculinities as well as in relation to women” (Kimmel; 10). In an article by Connell, he describes
Gender and the portrayal of gender roles in a film is an intriguing topic. It is interesting to uncover the way women have been idealized in our films, which mirrors the sentiments of the society of that period in time. Consequently, the thesis of this essay is a feminist approach that seeks to compare and contrast the gender roles of two films. The selected films are A few Good Men and Some Like it Hot.
Ian Fleming published his first novel, Casino Royale, in 1953. Later on, in 2006 a film was made based on the novel. Fleming published his novel pertaining a man, James Bond, who is a British secret agent and is licensed to kill. Bond is told to gamble with Le Chiffre, who is a member of the Russian secret service. James Bond is assigned a female partner, Vesper Lynd, who is actually a double agent for Russia and Great Britain. Throughout Casino Royale, James Bond is brought to the readers as very hard and insensitive. Whereas the film in 2006, Bond is brought to the film watchers as sensitive and caring. Men in the 1950’s society treat women than in today’s society. A lady should be treated with respect and given dignity. Men should
The idea of male gaze in cinema is best addressed by Laura Mulvey in her article “Visual Pleasures and the Narrative Cinema”. One idea she looks at is the notion that women are related to the image, and men assume the role as bearer of the look. She quotes “In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness.” The traditional exhibition role is what Sarah Polley must overcome in order to express female and national identity in a position of strength. In order to do this she must alter some the traditional constructions associated with the gaze in cinema to bring in order to critique the gaze that is male.
The women in the movie have become smarter and are also in control this is because of women’s rights, women in current ‘James Bond’ films are not treated as extreme sex objects as they were in the past. The gadgets in the James Bond films have also improved and are used more to create action in the movie. The science and technology in the movie has improved, and the movie has changed to the audiences liking, this is why more people go to watch James Bond movies and also why they are more successful. The producers also use promotions to await the release of the movie such as teasers/trailers and computer desktop themes (wallpapers, icons and much more).
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. 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. This was an astonishing change for the American industry of film. Sometime later, in 1984, Linda Hamilton starred in ‘The Terminator’, a film where she was not the leading character, but a strong female character as Sarah Connor. She had a combination of masculine and feminine qualities as “an androgynous superwoman, resourceful, competent and courageous, while at the same time caring, sensitive and intuitive” (Hirschman, 1993, pg. 41-47). These changes made in action films for female’s roles stirred up a lot of excitement in the “Western society” (Starlet, 2007). The demand for strong female characters in action films grew to a new high when Angelina Jolie starred in ‘Tomb Raider’ in 2001 and then in the sequel, ‘Tomb Raider II: The Cradle of Life’ in 2003 as Lara Croft. Her strong female character was not only masculine, but was also portrayed as a sex object. Most often, strong women in these types of films tend to fight without even gaining a mark. At the end of each fight, her hair and makeup would always be perfect. The female characters in these action films, whether their role was as the lead character or a supporting character, had similar aspects. I...