James Bond, a man of many adventures, the star of several books and movie’s, has become the picture of British masculinity. This British masculinity can be defined by the rigorous consistency, sophistication, social elegance, physical and intellectual superiority, and levelheadedness with which Bond gracefully and timely saves the world from its unknown offenders. This ideal man is the height of British superiority and his adventures are the epitome of Anglo-centric world views during the cold war. Dr. No, the first of the Bond movies to be produced, featured Sean Connery as James bond. The film also featured splashes of historical and contemporary accuracies, and the rest is filled with cinematic entertainment such as high energy action scenes,
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No, provided some of the racism within the movies, depicting a combined dark nature of the Germans and the Chinese. The Chinese are portrayed as untrusting, exclusive, and wealthy, with a sense of superiority similar to Britain’s own. The German side was represented in No’s conniving ability to gain the trust of the Chinese, only to betray them. This depicts each ethnicity as having certain things ingrained within their culture: the Chinese and distrust; and the Germans and untrustworthiness. This could very easily be interpreted as an analogy for Germany and Russia, China’s communist neighbour to the north, in the sense that, in WWII, Stalin, fraught with distrust, trusted Hitler, but was eventually betrayed. One point which must be made seems to be lacking from other analyses of this movie; when Bond and No, at the table, agree that the Bond girl, miss Ryder, should not be involved in the serious conversation between men. This is not only consistent with the Chinese and German perspectives of the place of women, but also the British perspective. The move to remove Ryder from the conversation is a blatant suggestion that women should not be involved in such matters. This idea ran strong after WWII, when men came home to their jobs overtaken by women. It is a rather overt attempt to put women in their place, as a damsel in distress who needn't even be around for serious matters. Both Bond and No have air of refinement to them, in which they appreciate the finer things in life, such as fine champagne, feats of engineering, and
No, provided some of the racism within the movies, depicting a combined dark nature of the Germans and the Chinese. The Chinese are portrayed as untrusting, exclusive, and wealthy, with a sense of superiority similar to Britain’s own. The German side was represented in No’s conniving ability to gain the trust of the Chinese, only to betray them. This depicts each ethnicity as having certain things ingrained within their culture: the Chinese and distrust; and the Germans and untrustworthiness. This could very easily be interpreted as an analogy for Germany and Russia, China’s communist neighbour to the north, in the sense that, in WWII, Stalin, fraught with distrust, trusted Hitler, but was eventually betrayed. One point which must be made seems to be lacking from other analyses of this movie; when Bond and No, at the table, agree that the Bond girl, miss Ryder, should not be involved in the serious conversation between men. This is not only consistent with the Chinese and German perspectives of the place of women, but also the British perspective. The move to remove Ryder from the conversation is a blatant suggestion that women should not be involved in such matters. This idea ran strong after WWII, when men came home to their jobs overtaken by women. It is a rather overt attempt to put women in their place, as a damsel in distress who needn't even be around for serious matters. Both Bond and No have air of refinement to them, in which they appreciate the finer things in life, such as fine champagne, feats of engineering, and