When Bond Girls and Villains Collide

[Drax]

http://www.bondmovies.com/news/308.shtml

Enjoy this great article by ShakenNStirred! Thanks again for the contribution!

[ophir]

Great article Shaken! I've really enjoyed all you've added to the board these last few years. You're awesome.

[pegsman]

Great stuff, Shaky! I have three questions, though;
1. I know that you're not a fan of Never Say Never Again, but isn't Fatima Blush, as played by Barbara Carrera, almost a female version of Bond?
2. I sometimes get the feeling the "bad" Bond girls use 007 deliberately to get away from the villain. Do you think Bond's aware of this or not?
3. Don't you think it was a mistake by the writers to imply that Kristatos was too old for Bibi, when he looks much younger than Bond (the actor Julian Glover's seven years younger than Moore)?

[ShakenNStirred]

Originally Posted by pegsman

Great stuff, Shaky! I have three questions, though;
1. I know that you're not a fan of Never Say Never Again, but isn't Fatima Blush, as played by Barbara Carrera, almost a female version of Bond?
2. I sometimes get the feeling the "bad" Bond girls use 007 deliberately to get away from the villain. Do you think Bond's aware of this or not?
3. Don't you think it was a mistake by the writers to imply that Kristatos was too old for Bibi, when he looks much younger than Bond (the actor Julian Glover's seven years younger than Moore)?

Thanks for the encouraging comments Tom, pegsman and Ophir- I've enjoyed having the opportunity to share my views, and see the thoughts and perspectives of other fans that this forum offers me.

Pegsman, regarding your questions:

1) She could well be- tbh, I've only seen NSNA twice and don't remember a lot about her, except that she had a snake, blew up a hotel room, and exploded near the end!

2) When you say the "bad" girls, do you refer to all villain's girlfriends, or just the genuinely sinister henchwomen? If it's girlfriends in general, then I'd agree they do use Bond as a means to escaping the villain when they turn out to be good. Take Ms Anders in TMWTGG and Lupe in LTK for example. However, most of the all-out villainesses, such as Fiona Volpe and Miranda Frost, despite Bond's charms, don't return to the side of "right and virtue", even though Bond was able to provide an escape for them if they wanted it. With the girls who do want to get away, I think Bond knows that, to an extent, he is being used as a means to an end: to get away from the villain. But, equally, he also is usually using them as a means to an end- penetrating the villain's organisation (amongst other things...). I think this is summed up with Anders and Bond:

Anders: "I've dreamed of you setting me free"
Bond: "I've been dreaming of a Sloex Agitator..."

It's a "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours" sort of relationship between Bond and a number of the villain's girlfriends IMO.

3) I think there are two ways of looking at this: 1) That both Bond and Kristatos were supposed to be presented as too old for Bibi, but whereas Kristatos apparently tries it on with Bibi, Bond is far too civilised to go after anyone who isn't of a respectable age in relation to his own- regardless of it being offered to him on a plate. Plus, just because someone is too old, doesn't mean that they are no longer found attractive, which is often stereotypically the case between teenage girls and men old enough to be their fathers- so whilst Bibi saw Kristatos for what he was, she saw Bond in a different light, despite his age. 2) Even if Glover was in reality younger than Moore, I think the filmmakers wanted to suggest that Kristatos was older than Moore, perhaps why they presented Kristatos as a grey-bearded villain, in contrast to Bond's brown and plentiful hair. I know they seemed to be showing more of Moore's true age in FYEO, particularly by making him wear cardigans, I think that they still wanted to imply Kristatos was older than Bond.

[bond 007]

Great article shanken!

Enjoyed it thoroughly.

[pegsman]

Thanks for answering my questions, Shaken, but what I meant with question number three was that I think it was a mistake to go down the you're-too-young-for-me road in just one scene when frankly this was the achilles heel of all Moore movies made after Moonraker. Carole Bouqet was the same age as Lynn-Holly Johnson and everybody saw that she too was too young for him. And there's nothing more irritating to grown women than young girls dating older men. Don't you think it would have been wiser to pretend he was just a little bit older than her? Sure he was an attractive man, still is, but not to 23 year old girls.

[Drax]

P.S. if you guys have anything you want to contribute to BondMovies.com, please let me know! You can PM me or email me at webmaster[at]bondmovies.com

I am open to anything - drawings, articles, anything!!!

[ophir]

Originally Posted by Drax

P.S. if you guys have anything you want to contribute to BondMovies.com, please let me know! You can PM me or email me at webmaster[at]bondmovies.com

I am open to anything - drawings, articles, anything!!!

Just curious Tom, why isn't this on the Opinion Essays page? It hasn't had a new entry since 2005.

[JAMESHOT]

Glad to see Shaken still has some time with all his studies at school to give us a good read every now and then ... I always enjoy his Bond series stories when he writes them. Check them out in the Lit section, Some good insight here into the Villain /Girl relationships onscreen I always liked the way Tracy played up to Blofeld leading him along, just knowing Bond and Dad were coming to the rescue, "Take me to the Alpine room, I want to see the dawn.... I believe Sanchez did care for Lupe after all he did risk his freedom of getting caught just to get her back . After all whipping of females is not an uncommon thing in some parts of the world especially in South American countries so I guess it fit in with his Villainess...

[ShakenNStirred]

Originally Posted by JAMESHOT

Glad to see Shaken still has some time with all his studies at school to give us a good read every now and then ... I always enjoy his Bond series stories when he writes them. Check them out in the Lit section, Some good insight here into the Villain /Girl relationships onscreen I always liked the way Tracy played up to Blofeld leading him along, just knowing Bond and Dad were coming to the rescue, "Take me to the Alpine room, I want to see the dawn.... I believe Sanchez did care for Lupe after all he did risk his freedom of getting caught just to get her back . After all whipping of females is not an uncommon thing in some parts of the world especially in South American countries so I guess it fit in with his Villainess...

Thanks very much JAMESHOT. Yes, even now at university I always like to squeeze in some James Bond time to keep me sane, no matter how much work I have. Thanks for the praise for the Bond stories-but people might think you're a spammer advertising on my behalf!

Good point about Sanchez risking his freedom- I didn't think about that

"Thanks for answering my questions, Shaken, but what I meant with question number three was that I think it was a mistake to go down the you're-too-young-for-me road in just one scene when frankly this was the achilles heel of all Moore movies made after Moonraker. Carole Bouqet was the same age as Lynn-Holly Johnson and everybody saw that she too was too young for him. And there's nothing more irritating to grown women than young girls dating older men. Don't you think it would have been wiser to pretend he was just a little bit older than her? Sure he was an attractive man, still is, but not to 23 year old girls."

Ah I see, I'm with you now. Good point- plus I didn't realise Bouquet and Johnson were the same age. I'm not very good at working out ages of actors, particularly in FYEO it seems!

[JAMESHOT]

Bond did have a love scene with Bibi in FYEO you all must have the wrong DVD or something.......Why do think he wanted to get Melina out of Cortina

[williamalarice]

It's nice to read the article about Bond girls. I am great fan of Bond movies but till the new bond has came i am almost got bored of it.

[ShakenNStirred]

Originally Posted by williamalarice

It's nice to read the article about Bond girls. I am great fan of Bond movies but till the new bond has came i am almost got bored of it.

Yeah, if only there was a website we could to to access movies while we wait. I wonder

[SPECTRE #2]

Originally Posted by JAMESHOT

Bond did have a love scene with Bibi in FYEO you all must have the wrong DVD or something.......Why do think he wanted to get Melina out of Cortina

Attachment 2963

That's a very bad Photoshop!

I want to take a try at this thing with the age difference between Bond an and the girls in FYEO. Although Lynn-Holly Johnson and Carole Bouqet are the same age, the character of Bibi is closer to a a 16 or 17 year old, whereas Melina is probably closer to her late 20s. And I don't believe (and I've never seen anything to make me believe) that Bibi is the 'mistress' of Kristatos, or that there is anything other than a business relationship between Bibi and Kristatos, him sponsoring Bibi's skating ambitions.

[pegsman]

Yeah, Kristatos has kept his hands till himself up untill she meets Bond, but it's clear that she suspect he wants more than a professional relatinonship.