James Bond Character Analysis

James Bond as a Representation of Normative Society James Bond, a character introduced in Ian Fleming’s novels, has been considered as being one of the most mass-mediated characters of the last century. He is a popular hero, an icon of adventure, a guru of male style, the last word in gadgetry, and a loaded symbol of sex and violence. However, these features and attributes are not necessarily a fixed part of the James Bond character. Throughout the last century one can see that the character adaptations of Bond have changed. James Bond can, therefore, be considered to be a certain representation of normative society; as society changes, so does the adaptation of the James Bond character. First of all it is necessary to deconstruct the character …show more content…
In the Casino Royale (2006) film adaptation there is a chase scene with a bomb maker. Monika Gehlawat states in her article Improvisation, Action and Architecture in Casino Royale that “the film deviates from standard 007 representations by stressing improvisation over forms of technological or social mastery.” (p.2).What becomes evident in the scene is that James Bond in this scene represents the heteronormative western neo-liberal ideals, whilst the bomb maker represents ‘the Other’, the exotic world that is not related to the Capitalist ideals. In this instance one can see the western representation (James Bond) infiltrating in Madagascar, a land which is not considered to be part of western society, and chases a “threat” towards the western world in a location that is not the west. The tracking of people in foreign and strange lands is of course archetypal for any kind of espionage. Furthermore, what this scene represents is how the, probably indigenous, bomb maker chases away and moves fluidly through the obstacles, whilst James Bond, as a western neo-liberal representation, demolishes everything on its path in order to achieve its goal and catch the “threat”. Hereby it also represents the notion that the western neo-liberal world has never receded from the colonialized world and continues to spread …show more content…
He is just like any other character in the James Bond universe a zero on itself, something that has no value unless value and commodity is added to it. Without the use of commodities that are available in that specific normative society, the fictional world that is created becomes fragmented and too distorted from reality which makes it harder for the consumer to identify him/herself with the universe. As society changes, so do the (technological) commodities, therefore it is possible for James Bond to have multiple adaptations, since he is created around those commodities. Thus, James Bond can be perceived as being and having to be a representation of normative society by updating the different commodities to normative standards of that