Let’s Talk About SEX!
S is for substantial – no porn
E is for experimental, explorative and hopefully entertaining
X is for [insert sexual fantasy or taboo]
The end of the year is drawing closer and people are starting to talk about which films will be in consideration to be nominated for some of the big awards that are coming up. Spectre, the latest addition to the Bond franchise, might have had the potential to be considered – had it only been a better movie. Still, most of us will agree that it was decent and enjoyable for what it was – just your regular Bond film.
… But wait. Is a regular Bond film still a regular Bond film? Casino Royale and especially Skyfall clearly raised the bars for how much quality we are going to expect from the British spy films. The cinematography, score and writing has set these films apart from the likes of a Pierce Brosnan flick, elevated them to a more sophisticated level of the popcorn flick league. Of course, a Bond film is nothing without sex. One could even argue that Bond films are soaked with sex – sex is engrained in everything from the cars to the suits to the locations. A Bond film is sexy, Bond is and his women are. However, they haven’t been “just” his women. From Eva Green’s mysterious Vesper to the kick-ass Moneypenny, there has been a little variety in the women that have been featured in these films; much like their protagonist, the female characters have started to become actual characters instead of holograms.
As so often, the marketing of Spectre has followed the principle of sex sells. Sex sells Heineken, Omega watches and, in the end, the movie. Talking of sex, there had been much talk about the casting of Monica Bellucci as a Bond-girl. The affair between her character and Daniel Craig’s was in the spotlight of the media since apparently, she was the first “mature” woman Bond has ever “fallen for”. Now there are three mistakes here. Firstly, as Daniel Craig intelligently pointed out, Monica Bellucci is only a few years older than Craig. Their age difference is minimal for Bond standards. Secondly, Monica Bellucci’s role in the movie was minimal as well. We barely had enough time to indulge in her Italian sexiness before she was gone again. And thirdly, Craig does not fall for her; she is a cardboard Bond girl who barely has any backstory and doesn’t really serve any purpose. (Except, of course, we do like to look at her).
The actual part of the “female protangonist” goes to Lea Seydoux who is vastly underused and – despite a much longer screentime – doesn’t really get to do much more than Bellucci. Outwardly, the film fulfills the feministic cry for more leading-esque female characters in male-dominated movies. Yet it fails in that Seydoux has very little to do, her character doesn’t make much sense most of the time and we never truly care for her. If at least Bellucci had played this part, there would have been something slightly refreshing about it. Instead, Bond fucks a woman his age and then has to fuck a woman who could be his daughter for half of the movie to atone for the former fuck. Well I am not fucking happy.
As for Moneypenny who could have been the saving grace for the women in this new Bond; she gets to show off her independent sex life and then has atone for this fuck-up by typing on a computer instead of shooting guns. Well done, 2015.
