More Skyfall
Nov. 12th, 2012 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackSo, apparently James Bond is James Bond's real name. Huh, I just assumed it was a pseudonym.
WRT the female characters, it's not that their subplots were bad: M's plot was really good, Eve's was really good with a questionable ending, and only Severine's was rather questionable. The problem is that, surprise, they ALL end up dead or giving up their career ambitions, and mostly don't get to act on their own initiative.
There's only room for so many characters in the Bond franchise, but I think it would be better if there were other MI6 agents we saw occasionally from film to film, showing that even while Bond was the most famous and got some of the scariest missions, there were other people still doing their best on other missions which occasionally intersected with Bond. It can even heighten the drama, if bit part agent from film #1 becomes villain/martyr/rescuee in film #2.
I may be too cynical -- maybe Moneypenny retiring from active service doesn't represent a fifty-year leap into the past, followed by a career of mooning hopelessly after James Bond. Maybe their flirtation will continue as equals, and the non-James-Bond character will achieve equally much respect from the coworkers, from the franchise, and from the audience. I really hope she does, but realistically I think it's not very likely.
ETA: Although, given M's role, and Eve's equal-opportunity flirtation up until the end, it may well be better than most Bond films, even though I ranted about the way's in which it's dire. I know Bond films are not a bastion of gender-equality, but it seemed to come close to being really good, and then throw it all away and settle for "maybe not as bad as most Bond films"
WRT the female characters, it's not that their subplots were bad: M's plot was really good, Eve's was really good with a questionable ending, and only Severine's was rather questionable. The problem is that, surprise, they ALL end up dead or giving up their career ambitions, and mostly don't get to act on their own initiative.
There's only room for so many characters in the Bond franchise, but I think it would be better if there were other MI6 agents we saw occasionally from film to film, showing that even while Bond was the most famous and got some of the scariest missions, there were other people still doing their best on other missions which occasionally intersected with Bond. It can even heighten the drama, if bit part agent from film #1 becomes villain/martyr/rescuee in film #2.
I may be too cynical -- maybe Moneypenny retiring from active service doesn't represent a fifty-year leap into the past, followed by a career of mooning hopelessly after James Bond. Maybe their flirtation will continue as equals, and the non-James-Bond character will achieve equally much respect from the coworkers, from the franchise, and from the audience. I really hope she does, but realistically I think it's not very likely.
ETA: Although, given M's role, and Eve's equal-opportunity flirtation up until the end, it may well be better than most Bond films, even though I ranted about the way's in which it's dire. I know Bond films are not a bastion of gender-equality, but it seemed to come close to being really good, and then throw it all away and settle for "maybe not as bad as most Bond films"