James Bond Research Articles

The Impact of Behaviorism and the Predilection of Ruskin Bond's Discourse on Society's Psyche

The study with respect to interactive behaviorist principles regarding the stylistic intricacies of Ruskin Bond's work tries to understand how these factors affect individual actions, social norms, and emotional reactions. This study aims at probing into how storytelling by Bond causes people's inherent attributes such as sympathy, durability, and generosity through behaviorism, which is a psychological framework emphasizing the observable behavior governed by external influence. The factor of Bond's spare, lyrical writing lies in its timelessness due to frequent explorations of innocence, nature, loneliness, and nostalgia. The characters and settings of Bond reflect the behaviorist ideas that humans learn through observation, reinforcement, and incentives. Given to the behaviorist theories of learned social behavior, the life in small towns and conventional Indian values in Bond's writings urge the readers to value their personal relations and such simple way of living. The research looks at Bond's most notable works and refers to readers' opinion polls to show that Bond's writing serves two purposes: entertainment and the building of social norms and values. Often while reading Bond's stories, a person feels at ease, remember some fond memories, and provides oneself with a chance to hope that there will be good once again; hence, it shows that Bond's writing provides growth in emotions and thoughts as does behaviorism. The findings of the analysis show that the stories narrated by Bond had deep impacts on social psyches of men in order to pursue positive qualities of life and gain emotional strength. His strange way of narration, interwoven with faithfulness to the behaviorist doctrine, made James Bond an impact that bears a semblance of how literature subtly goes about changing some patterns of behavior-individually and collectively. This highlights the importance of telling stories as vital in the development of society's values and attitudes.

Barbara Broccoli and the Popular Image of the Bond Producer

Of all the women involved in the James Bond film franchise over the years, for the last three decades producer Barbara Broccoli has had the greatest power and influence on its development. Since taking over as co-producer (alongside half-brother Michael G. Wilson) of the Bond films in the mid-1990s, Broccoli is constantly mentioned in relationship to James Bond, yet there has been no academic attention paid to her role as Bond producer. This article will address this oversight in Bond studies and contribute to the growing area of scholarship on the producer in the British film industry by analysing the popular image of ‘the Bond producer’ using promotional materials and press coverage. The approach adopted in this article is framed in terms of a negative stereotype of (male) film producers that is widely generalised, and pressbook evidence showing that the original Bond producers Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were positively caricatured in the Bond film publicity. It will consider the enduring legacy of the ‘Men Behind James Bond’ producer image to examine the role played by Broccoli in the discourses of marketing and promotion during the Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig eras. The article will demonstrate that although a high degree of public visibility might be expected to come with the role of Bond producer, the woman behind the image and the day-to-day business of film production largely remains hidden in favour of the authorised narratives shaped by the earlier promotional materials, references made to Bondian character types or popular discourses of gender which the mainstream press reproduce. In so doing the article will reflect on debates about gender and diversity in the Bond franchise to connect to wider discourses around inclusivity in British popular culture that have come to the fore in recent years.

The Mistress of Bond: Eileen Sullivan, and the Role of Cutting the Cloth of James Bond's Wardrobe and Beyond

This article spotlights the work of Eileen Sullivan and her career as a wardrobe mistress, later wardrobe supervisor, which included working on the James Bond films from Dr No (1962) until You Only Live Twice (1967). It will further consider how her career and role as a wardrobe mistress and supervisor changed within the British film industry from the mid-1940s until the mid-1980s, through personal papers shared by her family with me. Alongside this, the article draws upon papers available in the Film Finances Archive, the British Film Institute (BFI) and the British Library. This article will work to redress the absence in scholarship on the labour provided by costume workers below that of the costume designer, which as Melanie Williams (2016) has previously recognised, has been rendered invisible despite their costume work appearing on screen that contributes to the overall visual coherence of a film’s design. It will also address the difficulties of researching the work of wardrobe personnel who have hitherto remained unacknowledged in broader scholarship, and analyse the role of the wardrobe mistress and supervisor including agency and labour, and the impact of caring responsibilities on this ‘gendered’ role.

Debbie McWilliams and the Elusive Role of the Casting Director in the Bond Franchise

Who will be the next 007, villain or ‘Bond girl’ remains a perennial topic of lively discussion. Yet the casting of Bond films as a professional process is not well understood. This is illustrated well by our relative lack of knowledge about one of the longest standing women behind James Bond, Debbie McWilliams, who has been the casting director of the Bond franchise since the early 1980s. Putting McWilliams at the centre of the casting discussion moves it away from the business of substituting one actor for another towards the day-to-day work of the casting department, where auditioning and selecting of actors represents just a small part of the job. Drawing on interviews and production histories, this article argues that the longevity and global scale of the Bond series has shaped the casting profession in important ways that have been overlooked.

Theorizing regressive nostalgia: Understanding exclusionary consumers as a brand threat

This paper contributes to understanding the relevance of a negative nostalgia in branding research. The significance of nostalgia for consumer researchers has long been noted: it has been shown to delight and enchant consumers, influence consumption preferences, and lead to stronger brand attachment and loyalty. However, while the focus in marketing has been on nostalgia as a positive emotion, it is clear that aggression and exclusion are at the heart of many nostalgic narratives. This paper argues that these darker implications of nostalgia for brands have yet to be fully uncovered. In theorizing a form of negative nostalgia, which we term regressive nostalgia, we highlight three key characteristics: temporal dislocation to idealized and imagined past times which is articulated as a preference for racial and cultural purity, and heroic masculinity. We examine the James Bond brand, which came into existence over seventy years ago, to understand how consumers attracted to previous versions of a brand react adversely to new versions of the brand yet remain loyal. Our study also offers guidance to marketing practitioners on how to shield a brand’s contemporary positioning from potential negative connotations of regressive nostalgia.

Reimagining Scholars and Eunuchs: Nationalism, Masculinities, and Historicism in King Hu’s Martial Arts Films

ABSTRACT The historicist and cultural-essentialist filmmaker King Hu set most of his martial arts films in the Ming dynasty, a turbulent but legendary period in Chinese history. This article examines two archetypes in Hu’s films, namely the righteous Confucian scholar-xia and the politically powerful eunuch, who engage in contestations of masculinity within ideal cinematic spaces (jianghu, milieu). These settings and character designs profoundly influenced the martial arts genre. Hu’s cinematography embodied a field for negotiating Chinese masculinities that deviate somewhat from Euro-American theorising about gender binarism and masculinity. By tracing the historical and cultural origins of the scholar and eunuch archetypes, and scrutinising their cultural identities, power structures, gender negotiations, and distinctive notions of nationhood, this article illustrates that Hu’s works parodied and critiqued the problematic authoritarianism of the James Bond film series, despite the prevalence of Bond-esque Western ‘heroes’ in Hong Kong popular culture during the Cold War. He idealised the politically marginalised scholars, critically appraised the hegemonic and transgender eunuchs, and constructed unconventional and resolute swordswomen, and thereby re-articulated the gender and power systems of wen and wu, yin and yang, to revive Chinese cultural traditions and allegorise the sociopolitical landscape.

Situationally-triggered metaphor as political argument

Abstract This paper proposes to investigate the public responses to situationally-triggered metaphors as these have been observed in political argumentation. Situationally-triggered metaphors occur when a nonmetaphorical connection is made between the metaphor and an aspect of the relevant situational context. The question addressed in this research is: how are such metaphors perceived by the public when these form part of the political argumentation? To answer this question, the study focuses on a particular instance of political situationally-triggered metaphor i.e., Boris Johnson’s “James Bond” metaphor produced during COP26. The paper draws on Critical Metaphor Analysis and Deliberate Metaphor Theory to analyse the public comments and reactions posted on the social media platform Twitter in response to the politician’s arguments. The analysis reveals that most of the public responses exploit the “James Bond” metaphor to dispute Johnson’s self-identification to the fictional character and provide meta-arguments that revolve around the politician’s misuse of metaphors. In contrast, responses that exploit the metaphor to convey political arguments or endorsement are much more limited. It is thus argued that situationally-triggered metaphors not only represent a political rhetorical device, but they are also effective political tools to shift public attention towards discursive patterns instead of arguments presented in discourse.

Film-Induced Tourism as a Key Factor for Promoting Tourism Destination Image: The James Bond Saga Case

This research extensively discusses the connection between destination image and films influencing tourism. Despite the worldwide fame of the James Bond saga and extensive publications on the subject, research into the role of tourism promotion in the image of destinations is still scarce, and there is no specific focus on analysing promotional aspects in relation to film-induced tourism. This study focuses on the influence of cinematographic images on the destination image perception and promotion, specifically exploring the case of the James Bond saga as a practical case. With 25 films released since 1962, the James Bond saga provides a basis for evaluating cinematic presence in tourism promotion strategies. This research proposes the content analysis of the official tourist websites of 23 destinations where the James Bond saga was shot, which offer some tourist products linked to the saga. The key findings provide valuable insights into the promotion of James Bond saga tourism destinations, the role of films in promoting destinations, and the tourism products developed from the saga films. The results provide visual outputs about the target image of the film shooting locations, and the text analysis provides keywords linked to the theme. The study’s methodology contributes to the discourse on film tourism and destination image topics and brings practical and theoretical contributions to both academia and destination managers.

James Bond and Modesty Blaise: Comparing Ian Fleming's and Peter O'Donnell's Literary Creations

The creation of Peter O’Donnell’s Modesty Blaise strip cartoon (1963–2001) and book series (1965–1996) took place during – and under the undeniable influence of – the "Bondmania" that swept the world in the 1960s. Still, as a strong, independent, and sexually liberated female hero, Modesty Blaise was in many ways quite new to the early 1960s. Regardless of this, however, she was regarded as a “feminine answer to James Bond”, and this view continues to echo in the writings of many contemporary critics and academics. Comparing Ian Fleming’s original Bond stories and O’Donnell’s books, this article will discuss and question the validity of seeing Modesty Blaise and her world as "derivatives" of Bond. The article pays special attention to the similarities and differences in the skillsets, life histories, and personalities of James Bond, Modesty Blaise, and her trusted companion in arms, Willie Garvin. It also explores the nature of the operations that Bond and Blaise and Garvin undertake; the former as an agent of the British Secret Service, the latter two as independently wealthy "freelancers" or "vigilantes". A closely related issue is the way in which the chiefs of British Intelligence, Fleming’s M and O’Donnell’s Sir Gerald Tarrant, are portrayed in and figure into the narratives. Although Fleming’s influence is clearly present in the first Modesty Blaise stories, the article will argue that the Modesty Blaise and James Bond series have many more dissimilarities than similarities and that the former merits increased academic attention in its own right.

Fiona Volpe: A New Perspective on James Bond's Iconic <em>Femme Fatale</em>

While narratives of gender politics and female identity in Western visual culture have become more dynamic with the passage of time, one of the most contentious spheres of discussion in mass media surrounds that of Ian Fleming’s ultimate fictional creation, James Bond. Female sexuality and gender politics in the Bond universe has been robustly, and rightfully, scrutinised by academic and casual spectators for at least 50 of the 70 years since his inception. Yet, one of the most enduring characters in the cinematic canon has not yet been given this discerning treatment, in earnest. Originally called "Fiona Kelly" by screenwriters Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins, Fiona Volpe was portrayed by Italian actress Luciana Paluzzi-Solomon in Terence Young’s 1965 film adaptation of Thunderball. In November 2017, I had the opportunity to interview Mrs. Paluzzi-Solomon for a now-abandoned book concept. As one of the few actresses from the Sean Connery-era who are still living, she was remarkably forthcoming regarding her professional and personal experiences on set. Without pride or prejudice, Mrs. Paluzzi-Solomon’s account proved to be not only to be illuminating in and of itself as an interview, but also served as a foundation to better understand the origins, development, and public reception of the gold standard femme fatale of the Bond films. This article will explore the character of Fiona Volpe, her origins, plot function, and legacy, from the unique perspective of the woman who brought her to life.

Shaken and Stirred: The Crisis of Masculinity in<em> Casino Royale</em>

This article evaluates the literary figure of James Bond as a manifestation and projection of the Masculinity Crisis of the 1950’s white western male. In his first outing in Ian Fleming’s 1953 Casino Royale, Bond functions as a figure of subjectivity-splitting anxiety through whom the Masculinity Crisis is channelled with catastrophic effects for the character’s own sense of self, mirroring wider social fears about changing roles in an increasingly altering post-war society. While a number of scholars increasingly note the utility of masculinity theory in James Bond studies, the origin of the character’s troubled relationship to his own masculine self is yet to be explored in Fleming’s first novel as cinematic critiques take centre stage in analytical discussions. This article argues that the demands of a hegemonic hyper masculinity, combined with the dualistic lifestyle of a spy, see Bond oscillate between "ideal" and "transgressive" versions of masculine embodiment. This is shown to ultimately work to dissociate the character from his own sense of self, propelling him into crisis. It examines three areas of binary conflict: wealth and ruin, virility and castration, and masculinity and femininity, arguing the extreme pressures of each create an unstable, uneasy, and unhealthy masculine entity in need of critical re-examination.

Reading the Complexity of James Bond's National Identity on Film

Though frequently conceived of as an essentially neo-colonial figure, James Bond’s national identity in the Eon Productions film series is more complex. Rather than solely or even predominantly rooted in the imperial centre of England, Bond frequently emerges from peripheral and ambiguous spaces, whether the marginal within the United Kingdom – Scotland, Wales – or from former colonies, like Ireland or Australia. Of the six men who have portrayed Bond in the series, two are English (Roger Moore and Daniel Craig). The remainder portray Bond as ambiguously English-and-not. All of this comes to the forefront in 2012’s Skyfall, which directly addresses Bond’s national origins. The title refers to Bond’s homeplace: his family’s estate in Scotland. Bond is played here by Craig, an English actor, and the film avoids pinning down when he left Scotland, other than it being after his parents’ death. Because Skyfall has priest holes, this film also frames Bond as explicitly Catholic, further positioning him outside Britain’s imperial centre. Bond’s complex and peripheral national identity complicate postcolonial readings of the films. Homi K. Bhabha’s theory of mimicry illuminates Bond’s doubled existence: when members of a colonised society imitate and take on the culture of the colonisers, the effect is, as Lacan notes, “camouflage ... it is not a question of harmonizing with the background, but against a mottled background, of becoming mottled". In this context, Bond’s role “on her majesty’s secret service” raises questions of complicity, compliance, and the fraught, always incomplete disavowal of Otherness.

Retro Games, Contemporary Minds: A Review of <em>Goldeneye 007</em> (Nintendo 64, 1997)

Growing up in the 1990s and early 2000s, James Bond somewhat surrounded me. Pierce Brosnan's films mesmerised me, ITV ran older Bond films every week, and there were trading cards and magazines too. But it is GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 that is the single product I have engaged most with over time. Still fondly remembered by people of my age, Rare's game has had a huge impact on the video game industry; many critics still include it in greatest games lists, and the game's single-player and multiplayer game modes and mechanics have helped to form the foundations for modern-day first-person shooters. Moreover, the game engrossed the playerl playing it was exciting and amusing, and further drew players into the world of Bond.The game has been re-released and re-developed a few times, but I wanted to see how blinded by nostalgia older gamers, including myself, are. This review looks to answer this query, as a small group of d'Overbroeck School's students play and review the game using the original hardware. They explore GoldenEye 007 with a frank discussion of its weaknesses and strengths, how its multiplayer and single-player compare, and how it affects their view of the James Bond Franchise.

Before and After <em>For Your Eyes Only</em>: Permanently Reinventing the "Bond Girl" Formula

In the early years of the James Bond franchise, female characters that bucked the “Bond Girl” stereotype of a ditzy, dependent-upon-Bond young woman were few and far between. This changed in 1981, with the release of For Your Eyes Only, a film, which this article will show, permanently altered the “Bond Girl” formula through its four female characters. Tracy di Vincenzo (Diana Rigg), Bond’s deceased wife, is the center of the film’s cold open through Bond’s visit to her gravesite, highlighting her narrative and emotional significance to Bond. Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet) is a fully competent woman on a revenge mission following the death of her parents, who saves Bond on multiple occasions. Bibi Dahl (Lynn-Holly Johnson) is a Lolita-like figure that Bond rejects, highlighting for the first time that he has scruples in regard to his choice of women. Countess Lisl von Schlaf (Cassandra Harris) is shown having an intimate and emotional relationship with Bond, seen through Bond’s choice to hold her hand, stay with her long after intercourse, and mourn her following her death. Using close textual analysis, this article demonstrates how these women (and For Your Eyes Only in general) upended the “Bond Girl” formula and pinpoints this film as an integral installment and turning point for the representation of women in this iconic franchise, for the 1980s and beyond.

Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond: Assessing Authenticity in <em>You Only Live Twice</em>

You Only Live Twice (1967) saw James Bond team up with the Japanese Secret Service to navigate the choppy waters of Cold War tensions between the USA and Russia, both of which had been pitted against each other by a nefarious criminal mastermind. Bond embraces Japanese culture, to the point of taking not only a Japanese wife, but a Japanese identity. This article will examine the authenticity of the depiction of 1960's Japan, from customs and manners, to the actual Cold War tensions that were bubbling under the surface of contemporary Japan, which would result in the Japanese university protests the following year.

Becoming Bond: Player Perspective in the 007 Electronic Games

Drawing on game studies and James Bond scholarship, and gleaning from advertisements and interviews with arcade owners and game designers, this article investigates the numerous 007 electronic games such as pinball games, computer games, video games, handheld games, and mobile games. Bond games are marketed as products that grant the player the opportunity to be Bond. This article explores that promise by analysing the various perspectives that the games offer. Pinball games allow the playing to complete tasks like the famous agent, and the computer/video games permit the player to become Bond and play as him via first and third person perspectives. By examining players’ perspectives this article will expand upon the limited scholarship on 007 games.

Judging athletic movement in moving images: a critique of agonic reason in representations of alpine sport, seen through the Paltrow v. Sanderson ski crash trial

ABSTRACT This paper concerns the judgement and critique of athletic movement in moving images. Inspired by the ski crash trial case of Paltrow v. Sanderson, and by comparing different media representations of downhill skiing, the essay outlines a framework that discerns as well as connects elements of movement and images, developing the concept of the ‘diorama’ in relation to Deleuze’s notion of the diagram and Kant’s idea of critique. Thus, moving images featuring elite alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin, fictional character James Bond, and an official skiing game for the international ski federation (World Cup Ski Racing, FIS) figure as comparative material to the animation that played a central role in the celebrity trial. Diorama and diagram are posited on a continuum to assess when and how judgement takes place in each of the exhibits. The essay concludes by discussing how the judging of athletic movement in moving images contributed to Paltrow winning the case, and theoretically by connecting this finding to dioramas and diagrams as tools apt for a framework aiming at the critique of athletic movement in moving images.

Образ общего врага СССР и НАТО в англоязычном кинематографе периода холодной войны

The author extensively examines the plots of films from the Cold War period in English-language cinema, focusing on the representation of the “common enemy” and the Soviet side. The research aim is to identify how this theme evolved during periods of détente and escalation of the Cold War in the 1980s, exploring the images and plots used in films. The study analyzes a range of films and TV series as sources of this theme, including James Bond films, the series “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and “The A-Team”, as well as works by directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Don Siegel, and John Mackenzie. The scientific novelty lies in analyzing plots and characters that have received little attention in Russian cultural studies. New sources have been introduced into the academic discourse, and the theme of the article is novel, shedding new light on the topic of cultural confrontation between the USSR and the Western bloc, revealing plots that reshape perceptions of the representation of the Soviet side in Anglo-American cinema. The author concludes that British and American directors did not consider the USSR as absolute evil, leading to the creation of a narrative trope of a common enemy hostile to both NATO and the Soviet Union.

Surveillance in literature: stalking in the name of safety

We have come a long way from the days of human spies to strange gadgets of James Bond or Mission Impossible to the microchips and drones to the government funded agencies like National Security agency that have access to all the telephone and Internet records through the Telecom companies. Surveillance can be viewed as a violation of privacy, while authoritarian governments seldom have any domestic restrictions as against the so called liberal democracy. Over the past 20 years surveillance has become an increasingly important topic within both academic and public debate. A society where privacy and human dignity is eroded or abolished completely or the social divisions and exclusions that are fostered warning us about the current trend of our age.

‘The safety of the realm’: fact, fiction, and wartime trauma in Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels

ABSTRACT The creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming, served as Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence throughout World War II and played a leading role in many of its key operations. Yet despite Fleming’s grounding and experience in actual wartime intelligence operations and organisations, the origin of the Bond novels in real wartime intelligence has been neglected. Instead, the adventures of James Bond have more often been read as escapist fantasies concocted by Fleming for fame, profit, and imperial propaganda. This article will respond to this neglect of Fleming’s realism by tracing numerous parallels between wartime intelligence operations, agents, and institutions – such as Operation MINCEMEAT, Operation RUTHLESS, 30 Assault Unit, and Camp X – and the plots and personnel of Bond novels including Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, From Russia, with Love, and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The article will further explore how Fleming artfully evaded the constraints of Official Secrecy by disguising classified intelligence material as ‘romanticized caricatures’ in his postwar spy fiction. The profound impact of Fleming’s personal wartime trauma on the Bond novels will also be examined to ground the stories more firmly in actual wartime experience and intelligence.