Wednesday 27 April 2016

Section A Improvements

Question 1 Improvements

WWW: Good Start and the usage of Equilibrium and good usage of both products 

EBI: More on Narrative, More Detail


With Waterloo Road and Educating Yorkshire they both use elements from Barthes Enigma Code. This is highlighted more with Educating Yorkshire in comparison to Waterloo Road which is weird considering on is a documentary and the other is a drama. With Educating Yorkshire it uses Barthes Enigma Code in order to highlight the progression that Mushy has made for example during that clip they are filming the speech from multiple angles and getting key shots of his teachers and fellow students crying which in turn creates a narrative of this kids progress and struggle to bet the odds which is further highlighted with how it was trending in the UK on Twitter.

Question 2 Improvements

WWW: Well writen, an example is used

EBI: Apply more theories, more on representation on school life


I believe that with the narrative that Waterloo Road creates an unrealistic environment on what school life really is. This is due to the stereotypes created from the rich and powerful creating a unrealistic environment that Waterloo Road presents which links to Dyer's Theory of the powerful creating the representation of the powerless. Alternatively this could link back to Stuart Hall's Media Construction theory media is constructed by the society we create. Which could be the case that we are making the stereotype of school being like what is represented in Waterloo Road via the social media platforms and who we represent ourselves instead.

Thursday 14 April 2016

Critical Investigation Final Draft

“Waste of a Good Scotch[1]"
Do recent additions to the James Bond franchise such as "Skyfall" reflect changing representations of women in film?
"Skyfall" marks the anniversary of the James Bond franchise marking it as the 23rd instalment in the iconic franchise and marking 50th years of James Bond films and it couldn't have been celebrated any better with the film winning an Oscar for best original song and it being held as one of the best James Bond films of all time. But behind all of the action, drama and fast cars lays a foundation of outright sexism that hasn't been properly addressed in the past 50 years of this iconic franchise, ever since Dr No James Bond has hardly evolved as a character since the early 60’s and beyond. Bosley Crowther was a professional film critic and worked for the New York Times for 27 years so his opinion is extremely valuable and even he said that “Of course, it's nonsense -- pure, escapist bunk, with Bond, an elegant fellow, played by Sean Connery, doing everything (and everybody) that an idle day-dreamer might like to do.[2]” so when provides such positivity to a film we have to respect his professional opinion considering the level of prestige his name carries in America.
Looking at the character in-depth you see a man who only cares about himself and how he doesn't let anyone else in even if he has slept with 55 women in the past 23 films. But due to this James Bond films following a very similar structure using a range of different gender, genre and character theories. Due to how Dr No and "Skyfall" follow the same character structure in over 50 years of making James Bond films and have made very little progression from the first James Bond film to the latest James Bond film due to their misguided attempts at progression. This is a key reason for James Bond never being a character that matches the views and ideologies of modern society in the 21st century.

But the iconic Bond girl has become an importance in every James Bond film and despite everyone acting ok with this the way James Bond treats them is beyond belittling. But the question is has James Bond shown any progression since Dr No to now in "Skyfall" with women.

To compare the views and ideologies accurately the need to provide historical context is very important. So when Dr No was released the views on women back in the 1960's stared changing "Feminism began to find a voice in society, with movements like Women’s Lib demanding equal pay and opportunity."[3]However during that time it was a controversial view to have with the men fighting back against that view "Women were repeatedly represented shown as housewives, mothers, and homemakers while men were often represented in situations of authority and dominance..."[4]
So it's fair to say that women were progressing but they did have to fight against men's misogynistic view of the world. And this is where the main problem starts for the James Bond franchise the author himself Ian Fleming. He has been famous for his misogynistic views "Ian Fleming hates women and I don't buy into anything to do with that. The Bond films are generally sexist. I don't like anything that descends from a sewer of misogyny."[5]so it's to no surprise that Ian Flemingmade James Bond this overbearing hero making him everything Ian Fleming wanted him to be with the author describing Bond as a "Height: 183cm, weight: 76 kilograms; slim build; eyes: blue; hair: black; scar down right cheek and on left shoulder; signs of plastic surgery on back of right hand ..."[6]
Ian Fleming played himself in his own book series as the main protagonist as a result that carrying the views and ideologies that Ian Fleming has as well which had a knock on effect on the film series. Ian Fleming had a reputation of being misogynistic and “…sexism of the Bond novels is woven into the fabric of the films they inspired, as the term Bond Girl”.[7] He wrote the first 13 book which lead to the first 13 films to be built on the foundation of Ian Fleming's ideology of men superiority.Also another problem that this franchise faced was the timing of when the books where released.
The films started in 1962 with Dr No but the book series started in 1953, the stereotypes of men and women was set in stone in the sense of the man being the breadwinner who bring in the money and makes the important decisions around the house however the role of the women back then was to cook and clean and to do all of the house work and to basically wait for the man hand and work and to do whatever he wants her to do.
This is important due to the fact that this was the era when James Bond was created, in a society where it was universally accepted to have women effectively be slaves to men who are only around to serve them and pleasure them which is why I mentioned this because James Bond as a character in the books and the movies acts misogynistic and treats women as toys rather than equals.
In the 1950's it was acceptable for people in that era to treat women like that due to the fact that they didn't have the power in the 1950's in comparison to the amount of power they have now. So when the books came out and they pictured women as the inferior slave to James Bond's charm and desire and the films also captured accurately what the book try to showcasing the male gaze throughout the 50 years of James Bond with over 40 plus women he has slept with in the process.
Looking at the official first ever James Bond film Dr No, it was made in the 1960's only 4 years after the famous novel written by Ian Fleming. The film was hailed as a masterpiece with reviews like "The James Bond series started in great style with this cleverly conceived dose of sheer escapism that, unlike later episodes, remained true to the essence of Ian Fleming's super-spy novels."[8]and "As well as the girls, guns, gadgets we expect from the typical Bond storyline.”[9]which demonstrates how people still think how great this film was.
But at the same time this film follows the character structure theory from Propp's when it comes to some of the key elements of the filmfor example you have James Bond as the stereotypical white hero, then you have Honey Ryder as the Damsel in Distress, you have Dr No has a stereotypical foreign villain and you have the black sidekick Quarrel who dies at the end. Now in Dr No to see if we have any progression from Dr No to "Skyfall" it's important to see how Dr No set the bar for the representation of women in Dr No.
In this film is in parts sexist and in this film gets throughout the film with changes from the book to the big screen with Honey Ryder name changed from Honeychile and how all shedid was be a damsel in distress throughout the entire film even if people see Honey Ryder as one of the most iconic film characters of all time due to her introduction ever if James Bond also had sex with Miss Tao during the film for no reason other than to show off the power James Bond has on women and no one has to the power to say no to him.
It can be argued that this heavily links with Uses and Gratifications because It can be argued that a lot of people aspire to be like James Bond, for men to have the ability to dress in the fanciest of clothes, drive the most exotic vehicles, being able to do whatever you want with no one to tell you otherwise and to be able to charm any women to obey any demand you wish which is one of the reasons why It can be argued this franchise has lasted so long people aspire to be James Bond it's a personal identity for people to aspire to.
A key point to bring up with James Bond is that he is an iconic character who is now a stable in British media who is someone that a lot of people immortalise “James Bond was a real person living in the modern world. The details of his life appear only sporadically in the books, but they proved vitally important in grounding him in his time, which made his extraordinary and often implausible adventures seem possible.” 
This demonstrates how men still had all of the power in the early 1960's even with they were gaining power James Bond took that ideology and took it back to the stone age with the film clearly being made for white males who want escapism and get lost in the world the Dr No creates. It links back to uses and gratification due to the fact that a lot of people wanted to see themselves in James Bond.
Dr No was a film that portrayed villains as foreign, women as powerless and racial minorities as inferior therefore comparing it to "Skyfall" will be interesting to see if in 50 years "Skyfall" has progressed from the Propp's Character Theory, every race being portrayed as equals and James Bond actually given a strong character.
Which leads to one of the strongest reasons why this franchise is so successful the time it was released. As mentioned before men ruled society and they decided what was right and what was wrong and which leads to the Hypodermic Needle having a massive effect on the film's success. "The theory equates the media with an intravenous injection: certain values, ideas and attitudes are injected into the individual media user, resulting in particular behaviour. The recipient is seen as a passive and helpless victim of media impact"[10] The importance of the Hypodermic Needle in James Bond's success is essential because in the 1960's the second wave of feminism had started " The second wave began in the 1960s and continued into the 90s. This wave unfolded in the context of the anti-war and civil rights movements and the growing self-consciousness of a variety of minority groups around the world." [11]but despite this men still had the majority of the control in how we looked at things so all of the misogyny that the character displayed was all ignored and instead the general public passively accepting James Bond as a hero instead of a misogynistic anti hero which is what he truly is
“It was the 14th film to gross over $1 billion worldwide. It became the seventh-highest-grossing film at the time, the highest-grossing film in the UK, the highest-grossing film in the series, the highest-grossing film worldwide for both Sony Pictures and MGM, and the second-highest-grossing film of 2012. The film won several accolades, including two BAFTA Awards, two Academy Awards and two Grammys.[12]

With the 50 years of development "Skyfall" was released on October 26 in 2012 with Daniel Craig as James Bond with the film getting universal praise with it being compared to Dr No for overall quality and also winning an Oscar for best original soundtrack and it scoring a rating of 93% on Rotten Tomato with reviews like"
It achieves an effective balance between the ever-escalating action sequences that each successive Bond picture apparently demands, fresh use of charismatic talent, and nods to the legacy..."[13]
So there is no denying that "Skyfall" is one of if not the best James Bond film since the original. But looking at the film in depth it suffers from the same problem the Dr No suffers from with the ideology of men being superior to women. I say this because there are many scenes in this film that demonstrates how women still have very little power in comparison to men which makes it worse if comparison the age difference between the films and how women now are represented a lot better in comparison to the 1960's that makes "Skyfall" even more sexist in comparison to Dr No.
In the opening chase scene you have James Bond chasing an unnamed hit man how is carrying a very important macguffin for later on in the film and you have Eve a black female supporting Bond as his equal. Firstly portraying Eve as a equal to Bond was very refreshing to see a women playing such a key part in an action scene"Girls can be athletic. Guys can have feelings. Girls can be smart. Guys can be creative. and vice versa. Gender is specific only to your reproductive organs (and sometimes not even to those), not your interest, likes, dislikes, goals, and ambitions.” [14] which is why this is some of the most progressive moment in James Bond history with a black female character being treated as James Bond's equal in the opening scene of the film and both character being shown the same level of priority as well.
After watching the opening scene it showed a lot of promise towards a strong black female character being portrayed as James Bond's equal which was be something which would be unthinkable looking back at all of the previous instalments from this franchise
However it all goes downhill from here where in the end of the opening scene you have James Bond in a hand to hand combat on a speeding train and Eve hasn't got a clear shot. Now this scene contains the two main female characters in Eve and M both making a very important mistake which leads to both characters starting their individual downfalls with M forcing Eve to take the shoot even if there was a high chance of Eve killing Bond in the first place which is what happened.
This lead to Eve quitting field work even if she did everything right to that point and was forced against her will to take the shoot even if she said "I can't I may hit Bond" [15] and effectively became a messenger with James Bond commenting "Ain't you a little overqualified to be delivering messages” [16] and M forcing her to do it as the head of the MI6 department.
When it comes the M she created this villain in the first place with Raoul Silva who was a world class hacker in the MI6 and M released him due to him hacking the Chinese Government over they threatened the UK, Raoul was simply doing something for the greater good of the United Kingdom. Instead M shows more poor judgment and released one of the most dangerous men on the planet with no guidance or control. Which only lead to her entire department being threatened to be shut down due to her poor judgement and lack of a need of the department in the first place.
No surprise that in Spectre they still threatened to shut down MI6 because they didn't prove them wrong anything they proved the government right because in "Skyfall" Raoul Silva is a villain that was created by MI6. This doesn't even include one of the worst Bond Girls of all time with Sévérine with her only appearing in a few scenes before James Bond pointlessly sleeps with her and then a few scenes later she was shot dead that's it there was no connection between the characters and not even James Bond acted like he even cared about her playing her off comparing to a drink. "After Bond comes face to face with the film’s villain, Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), Sévérine is bound and Bond is challenged to shoot a glass of scotch off her head. Bond misses, but Silva shoots and kills her. Bond then glibly comments that her demise is merely a "waste of good scotch.[17]" This was unpalatable, and I could sense it in the shifting of some of my neighbours in the theatre."[18]Also after he says that he kills every single guard in the area which makes no sense because if he could have done that why didn't he do it before Severine was shot and Sliva killer her just to make a point to James Bond that not even James Bond cares about ever so her death which makes her role in this film completely worthless and her only purpose was to be a macguffin for the plot.
Due to it being a James Bond film ithad to have a Bond girl in once again beat over the point that James Bond is smooth with the ladies even if the audience already know this and the need for a Bond girl declines with every film. In this film every women in "Skyfall" is now worse off since the start to the end with M death, Eve quitting field work, Severine death and Bond's wife abandoned when he decided to go back to MI6.
However M's death was a brilliant representation of women and how they are equal to men because in the past three films since the reboot they were changing her character to make her less powerful "Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and "Skyfall", M's initial strength, which I argue comes to defying attempts to categorize her, disappears and replaced with uncertainty about herself.".[19] But in her death scene you can see her actively helping James Bond to set up his old house with traps and proving more than emotional support which is what the majority of Bond girls only do in the first place and when she dies you can see the genuine emotion coming from James Bond in that scene unlike the death of Severine. It can be strongly argued that we have made some progress from the 1960's with M being changed from a man to a confident women, having more women play an important role to the plot and Dr No due to the fact that modern day media allows more and more people to have their voice heard but no female has decided to take a real stand against the James Bond franchise.
But once again linking back to my question with other action films have come out starring an lead female character such as The Hunger Games, Alien and Star Wars Force Awakens they have been able to write strong female character who can hold their own without the need of anyone else. But the James Bond franchise is terrible at it because they will do all of the hard work into making an amazing character but in the end they always find a way to mess it up for example. M's death was brilliant handled but instead of finding another female character like Moneypenny or even someone else who hasn't appeared so far they instead have the person who wanted the MI6 project to be shut down as the head of the department. It would have made perfect sense to cast Moneypenny as M because she didn't fall for James Bond's seduction techniques and also they established that he's intelligent in her own right so it who have been brilliant to give her the role but once again another failed opportunity.

Due to the opening scene in "Skyfall" it shows that they are capable of portraying women equal to James Bond even if it was for a brief stint but it possible none the less so what they need to do is stop putting in Bond Girls who actually have chemistry with Bond and are put on the same level as Bond which leads to a better overall film for example in Casino Royale, it's held as one of the best James Bond films of all time due to the chemistry between Vesper and Bond with comments like "Their introduction does not come until 58 minutes into the film, but Vesper clearly makes a big impact on Bond and their somewhat feisty relationship develops as they pose as a couple at the Casino Royale in Montenegro". [20] even if the character turns out to be a spy for the antagonist Le Chiffre so once again we can't have a strong female character who isn't evil or dead.
It was different back in the 1960's because of the fact that they were just starting to find their feet but it was still a man's world “Women are denied a viewpoint...” and they still had more of an impact stopping James Bond in comparison to the modern day. For example when James Bond first came out (The book series) there was uproar of women standing up against this book calling it "Sex, Snobbery and Sadism" [21], "Fleming's Deadly Sin" [22] and "Junk Bond" [23] and these are all from newspapers when the books where released back in the 1950's so why has the outcry stopped.
It can be strongly argued that believe that it comes down to what do women want because they have chosen to ignore all the misogyny with review about "Skyfall" from women saying "With wry geriatric jokes, a plot that strikes 007 right where he lives and even some throwback gadgets, "Skyfall" gives James Bond a delightfully retro reboot."[24] that has come from this franchise for no reason at all for example when Avengers Age of Ultron came out there was weeks of hate coming from women talking about how the film portrays Black Widow as a slut and decided to boycott the film entirely so it can be strongly argued that all comes down to if women want to challenge one of the biggest movie franchises of all time.
But linking back to the question it can be strongly argued thatwe have regressed from the 1960's  due to the fact that people now have more opportunities to get their opinion across to the public but they decided to say nothing in comparison to people in the 1960's who at least tried to fight against this movie franchise. It's become even worse in recent years due to the rise of new and digital media and now people can become even more vocal than ever before about things they disagree with.
Another key example of this is when they showcased a black stormtrooper in the latest Star Wars film The Force Awakens with comments like "blacks have taken it all from us: our belongings, our lives &now our films. ban black actors from invading white spaces."[25]and "white children deserve wholesome movies, not more PC anti-white diversity crap." [26]also on Twitter there was a campaign called #BoycottStarWarsVII[27]  purely due to people believing that having a black character in a franchise like Star Wars in a horrible thing to do.
Also when a black stormtrooper was discovered this was national news in Americaso if people are so quick to voice their opinion on Star Wars which is an equally beloved franchised like James Bond maybe even more loved than James Bond why aren't we discussing the misogyny of this character.
It's becoming more clear that everyone is aware of the fundamental problems that James Bond's character has but people just don't want to have a serious discussion about it for example in this article from the Time "Every few years we get a new Bond film, which means every few years we get a new Bond girl. With each new film, we ask, will this be the time where we get someone who is more than just a damsel in distress, perhaps even a woman to save the day? The answer is always no. James Bond is the saviour of the world so ceding power to anyone would be unthinkable."[28]
The only way this is going to change is if the films change from it’s set structure that it has been using for the past 50 yearsit’s fundamentally effecting the film which can be strongly argued it is doing currently, secondly people need to stop seeing James Bond as this great white saviour because of this people see him as a role model which he isn't he is a misogynistic person who kills people and does whatever he wants and finally they need to stop including women in the James Bond films unless they are given the same amount of power as James Bond is given.
In conclusion the representation of women in the James Bond franchise hasn't made as much process as any film franchise should have made considering the duration of this franchises existence. It’s a 50 year franchise into doing something different instead of copying and pasting the same story over and over again.
The most disappointing things about the James Bond franchise is that they have made consistent attempts in order to make James Bond less of a misogynistic character and freshening him up to the modern views and ideologies that we see in the 21st century but every time they do that it leads to them making another mistake sending them back to square one again. There is no clearer film that points this out than the latest film in the James Bond franchise than Spectre. "Spectre the film earned an obscene $877 million worldwide on a $240m budget, so it’s obviously a huge hit."[29] To put in context how successful this film was it made more money than the last two Mission Impossible films, Fast Five and Fast and Furious 6. The reason why I bring this up is because it perfectly sums up my point about how James Bond has made progress but at the same time have made very little progress at all.
In Spectre they have a character called Madeleine who is protected by Bond for the duration if this film but what good about this film is that they develop her character and don't just make their romance something that come out of nowhere like in Die Another Day or Quantum of Solace where the romances just happened instead of genuine character development with statements like "Madeleine Swann is “not really a Bond girl as we can imagine she’s a real character”[30] which is a direct quote from Léa Seydoux who plays Madeleine Swann which further boost my point that they made a character who is strong in her own right and isn't dependent on anyone.
But in the same film James Bond seduces a widow at her husband's funeral who he killed which further adds to my point in all of the progress that the James Bond films have made even now they are still making basic mistake in making strong female "characters" they have made strong female characters before like M, Vesper, Madeleine and even Moneypenny but two of them are dead Moneypenny got demoted and Madeleine will properly be never seen again due to this being Daniel Craig's last James Bond film so it's up to the Eon Production team to start making strong female characters that last more than one film.

Bibliography

Work Cited

Books

Branston, G., & Stafford, R. (2002). The media student's book (3.rd ed.). London: Taylor & Francis Books
Fleming, I. (1957). From Russia, with love. New York: Macmillan.
Funnell, L. (2015). For His Eyes Only: The Women of James Bond
Franta, C. (2015.). A work in progress: A memoir.
Woolf, V. (1957).A room of one's own: Virginia Woolf. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich
Fourie, P. J. (2007). Media studies Media History, Media and Society. Cape Town: Juta and Company.

Academic Papers

Zoonen, L. (1994). Feminist media studies. London: Sage.
Bidisha, writer of Venetian Masters

Internet with details

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/”"Skyfall"”/

Hough, A. (n.d.). “"Skyfall"”: 'most successful' James Bond film tops $1bn at global box office. Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/jamesbond/9771918/”"Skyfall"”-most-successful-James-Bond-film-tops-1bn-at-global-box-office.html

Crowther, B. (1963). Dr No (1962) The Screen: 'Dr. No,' Mystery Spoof:Film Is First Made of Ian Fleming Novels Sean Connery Stars as Agent James Bond [Review of the movie Dr No].

Dr No.(n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://www.radiotimes.com/film/j744z/drno?ref=Article.Tag

Does Liking James Bond Make Me a Bad Feminist? | Tribeca. (2016.). Retrieved March 11, 2016, from https://tribecafilm.com/stories/spectre-james-bond-movie-franchise-daniel-craig-misogyny-feminist-acceptance-feminism-lea-seydoux-bellucci

Spectre Fails to Create a Powerful Bond Girl. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2016, from
http://time.com/4102716/spectre-fails-to-create-a-powerful-bond-girl/

Twitter. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2016, from https://twitter.com/ #BlackLivesMatter

Racists threaten to boycott “Star Wars VII” because it promotes “white genocide,” apparently. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://www.salon.com/2015/10/19/racists_threaten_to_boycott_star_wars_vii_because_it_promotes_white_genocide_apparently/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/james-bond-spectre/lea-seydoux-madeleine-swann-video-interview/

http://www.pacificu.edu/about-us/news-events/four-waves-feminism

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2016/01/26/box-office-while-star-wars-broke-records-spectre-grossed-nearly-900m-worldwide/#5977eee510f3
Filmography

Campbell, M. (Director).(1995). GoldenEye [Motion picture]. United States: United Artists Corp.

"Skyfall"[Motion picture]. (2013). Milano: Twentieth century fox home entertainment. "Ain't you a little overqualified to be delivering messages

Riley, S. (Director). (2012, October 5). Everything or Nothing The Untold Story of 007Documentary].

Work Consulted

Cadwalladr, C. (2012). James Bond misogynist? What about the boys at the BBC? | Carole Cadwalladr. Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/04/carole-cadwalladr-james-bond-sexism-bbc

Rohrer, F. (2008). Is James Bond loathsome? Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7694801.stm

Existential Ennui: Is Ian Fleming's James Bond Really a Sexist, Misogynistic Bastard? (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://www.existentialennui.com/2010/10/is-ian-flemings-james-bond-really.html

Will the new Bond movie fix one of the biggest problems of “"Skyfall"”? (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2016, from https://www.yahoo.com/movies/s/bond-movie-fix-one-biggest-183002402.html?nf=1

Bond 24 Megathread: Spectre. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/338817-bond-24-megathread-spectre/page-8

James Bond: The Misogynist Dinosaur - D&CFilm. (2015). Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://www.devon-cornwall-film.co.uk/2015/10/31/james-bond-misogynist-dinosaur/

Bennett, T., &Woollacott, J. (1987).Bond and Beyond.Macmillan Education.

Chapman, J. (2000). Licence to thrill: A cultural history of the James Bond films. New York: Columbia University Press.

Black, J. (2001). The politics of James Bond: From Fleming's novels to the big screen. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Levy, A. (2006). Female chauvinist pigs: Women and the rise of raunch culture. New York: Free Press.

Gauntlett, D. (2002). Media, gender, and identity: An introduction. London: Routledge.

Wyatt, D. (2016). Retrieved March 11, 2016, from http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/james-bond-is-a-very-lonely-sexist-misogynist-says-daniel-craig-10480576.html

Phelan, J., & Rabinowitz, P. J. (2005). A companion to narrative theory. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.



[1]"Skyfall"[Motion picture]. (2013). Milano: Twentieth century fox home entertainment.
[2]Crowther, B. (1963). Dr No (1962) The Screen: 'Dr. No,' Mystery Spoof:Film Is First Made of Ian Fleming Novels Sean Connery Stars as Agent James Bond [Review of the movie Dr No].

[3]Zoonen, L. (1994). Feminist media studies. London: Sage.
[4]Branston, G., & Stafford, R. (2002). The media student's book (3.rd ed.). London: Taylor & Francis Books
[5]Bidisha, writer of Venetian Masters
[6]Fleming, I. (1957). From Russia, with love. New York: Macmillan.
5Funnell, L. (2015). For His Eyes Only: The Women of James Bondp246
[8]http://www.radiotimes.com/film/j744z/dr-no?ref=Article.Tag
[9]Funnell, L. (2015). For His Eyes Only: The Women of James Bond
[10] Fourie, P. J. (2007). Media studies Media History, Media and Society. Cape Town: Juta and Company.
[11] http://www.pacificu.edu/about-us/news-events/four-waves-feminism
[12]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/"Skyfall"
[13] http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/”"Skyfall"”/
[14]Franta, C. (2015.). A work in progress: A memoir.
[15]"Skyfall"[Motion picture]. (2013). Milano: Twentieth century fox home entertainment.
[16]
[17]"Skyfall"[Motion picture]. (2013). Milano: Twentieth century fox home entertainment.
[18] https://tribecafilm.com/stories/spectre-james-bond-movie-franchise-daniel-craig-misogyny-feminist-acceptance-feminism-lea-seydoux-bellucci
[19]Funnell, L. (2015). For His Eyes Only: The Women of James Bond
[20]https://jakemcmillan.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/top-10-definitive-bond-girls-no-2-vesper-lynd-eva-green/
[21]Riley, S. (Director). (2012, October 5). Everything or Nothing The Untold Story of 007 [Documentary].
[22] "
[24]http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20646059,00.html
[25]http://www.salon.com/2015/10/19/racists_threaten_to_boycott_star_wars_vii_because_it_promotes_white_genocide_apparently/
[26] "
[27]Twitter. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2016, from https://twitter.com/ #BlackLivesMatter
[28] http://time.com/4102716/spectre-fails-to-create-a-powerful-bond-girl/
[29] from http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2016/01/26/box-office-while-star-wars-broke-records-spectre-grossed-nearly-900m-worldwide/#5977eee510f3
[30] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/james-bond-spectre/lea-seydoux-madeleine-swann-video-interview/

Thursday 25 February 2016

Critical Investigation: learner response

Type up your teacher comments from your first draft.

WWW: Good attempt to incorporate wide contexts / (Clerification to the other WWW from Mr Bush). Interesting argument with relevant citations. Good use of theory, such as Uses and Gratifications + Propp, clear understanding of text shown. Supports argument, good analysis looking into representations. Good overall evaluation of the debate. Variety of books and websites.

EBI: Shorter Paragraphs. Less on Dr No. More on Skyfall, especially near the start. More references, especially theory - representation (eg Dyer), feminist (Mulvey). Work on expression, clearer argument, variety of sentences, create more engaging writing. Use more quotes, link back to institution factor (Why James Bond was successful franchise in making loads at the box office). Add some theories to support your analysis i.e women representation. Should have included more media terminology and theories to make the debate more interesting. Order your footnote correctly. Check grammar, Capital Letters in correct place.

Write what mark/grade you are aiming for in your second draft.

D
Write a numbered list of five things you will do or change for your second draft that will help you get there. Be specific and explain in detail.

Check grammar, Capital Letters in correct place.
Shorter Paragraphs
Work on expression, clearer argument, variety of sentences, create more engaging writing.
Add some theories to support your analysis
Order your footnote correctly

Wednesday 24 February 2016

Critical Investigation - Second Draft

“Waste of a Good Scotch"
Do recent additions to the James Bond franchise such as 'Skyfall' reflect changing representations of women in film?

Skyfall marks the anniversary of the James Bond franchise marking it as the 23rd instalment in the iconic franchise and marking 50th years of James Bond films and it couldn't have been celebrated any better with the film winning an Oscar for best original song and it being held as one of the best James Bond films of all time. But behind all of the action, drama and fast cars lays a foundation of outright sexism that hasn't been properly addressed in the past 50 years of this iconic franchise, ever since Dr No James Bond has hardly evolved as a character since the early 60’s and beyond.

Looking at the character in-depth you see a man who only cares about himself and how he doesn't let anyone else in even if he has slept with 55 women in the past 23 films. But due to this James Bond films following a set structure that mirror’s Propp’s film theory on character stereotypes. Due to how Dr No and Skyfall follow the same character structure in over 50 years of making James Bond films and no progression has been made from the first James Bond film to the latest James Bond film. This is a key reason why I believe that James Bond will never be a character that matches the views and ideologies of modern society in the 21st century.

But the iconic Bond girl has become an importance in every James Bond film and despite everyone acting ok with this the way James Bond treats them is beyond belittling. But the question is has James Bond shown any progression since Dr No to now in Skyfall with women.

To compare the views and ideologies accurately the need to provide historical context is very important. So when Dr No was released the views on women back in the 1960's where changing "Feminism began to find a voice in society, with movements like Women’s Lib demanding equal pay and opportunity."[1]However during that time it was a controversial view to have with the men fighting back against that view "Women were repeatedly represented shown as housewives, mothers, and homemakers while men were often represented in situations of authority and dominance..."[2]

So it's fair to say that women were progressing but they did have to fight against men's misogynistic view of the world. And this is where the main problem starts for the James Bond franchise the author himself Ian Fleming. He has been famous for his misogynistic views "Ian Fleming hates women and I don't buy into anything to do with that. The Bond films are generally sexist. I don't like anything that descends from a sewer of misogyny."[3] so it's to no surprise that Ian Fleming made James Bond this overbearing hero making him everything Ian Fleming wanted him to be with the author describing Bond as a "Height: 183cm, weight: 76 kilograms; slim build; eyes: blue; hair: black; scar down right cheek and on left shoulder; signs of plastic surgery on back of right hand ..."[4]

Ian Fleming copying and pasting himself into his own book series as the main protagonist as a result that carrying the views and ideologies that Ian Fleming has as well which had a knock on effect on the film series. Ian Fleming had a reputation of being misogynistic and “…sexism of the Bond novels is woven into the fabric of the films they inspired, as the term Bond Girl”. [5] He wrote the first 13 book which lead to the first 13 films to be built on the foundation of Ian Fleming's ideology of men superiority. Also another problem that this franchised faced was the timing of when the books where released.

The films started in 1962 with Dr No but the book series started in 1953, the stereotypes of men and women where set in stone in the sense of the man being the breadwinner who bring in the money and makes the important decisions around the house however the role of the women back then was to cook and clean and to do all of the house work and to basically wait for the man hand and work and to do whatever he wants her to do.

I mention this due to the fact that this was the era when James Bond was created, in a society where it was universally accepted to have women effectively be slaves to men who are only around to serve them and pleasure them which is why I mentioned this because James Bond as a character in the books and the movies acts misogynistic and treats women as toys rather than equals.

In the 1950's it was acceptable for people in that era to treat women like that due to the fact that they didn't have the power in the 1950's in comparison to the amount of power they have now. So when the books came out and they pictured women as the inferior slave to James Bond's charm and desire and the films also captured accurately what the book try to showcasing the male gaze throughout the 50 years of James Bond with over 40 plus women he has slept with in the process.

Looking at the official first ever James Bond film Dr No, it was made in the 1960's only 4 years after the famous novel written by Ian Fleming. The film was hailed as a masterpiece with reviews like "The James Bond series started in great style with this cleverly conceived dose of sheer escapism that, unlike later episodes, remained true to the essence of Ian Fleming's super-spy novels."[6] and "As well as the girls, guns, gadgets we expect from the typical Bond storyline.”[7] which demonstrates how people still think how great this film was.

But at the same time this film follows the character structure theory from Propp's when it comes to some of the key elements of the film for example you have James Bond as the stereotypical white hero, then you have Honey Ryder as the Damsel in Distress, you have Dr No has is a stereotypical foreign villain and you have the black sidekick Quarrel who dies at the end. Now in Dr No to see if we have any progression from Dr No to Skyfall it's important to see how Dr No set the bar for the representation of women in Dr No.
In this film is in parts Sexist and in this film gets throughout the film with changes from the book to the big screen with Honey Ryder name changed from Honeychile and how all she did was be a damsel in distress throughout the entire film even if people see Honey Ryder as one of the most iconic film characters of all time due to her introduction ever if James Bond also had sex with Miss Tao during the film for no reason other than to show off the power James Bond has on women and no one has to the power to say no to him.

I believe that this heavily links with Uses and Gratifications because I believe that a lot of people aspire to be like James Bond, for men to have the ability to dress in the fanciest of clothes, drive the most exotic vehicles, being able to do whatever you want with no one to tell you otherwise and to be able to charm any women to obey any demand you wish which is one of the reasons why I believe this franchise has lasted so long people aspire to be James Bond it's a personal identity for people to aspire to.

This demonstrates how men still had all of the power in the early 1960's even with they were gaining power James Bond took that ideology and took it back to the stone age with the film clearly being made for white males who want escapism and get lost in the world the Dr No creates. It links back to uses and gratification due to the fact that a lot of people wanted to see themselves in James Bond.
They didn't provide him with a strong personality or made him a unrealistic character they made him average male with normal hair would could pass himself as a normal person which is why Personal Identity and Personal Relationships play such a strong part in this film success because of the fact that people could watch the film and see themselves in it. To make a comparison to other character, Sherlock Holmes is an iconic character created by Arthur Conan Doyle of a detective who a out of this world observation skills.

The difference between the two characters is that James Bond is relatable and could realistically become him unlike Sherlock Holmes who has a God-given gift “His character is glib, ruthlessly cunning, and hopelessly chained to his own cognition.”[8] The problem that is showcases in Dr No is in this quote "Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.”[9].
To conclude Dr No was a film that portrayed villains as foreign, women as powerless and racial minorities as inferior therefore comparing it to Skyfall will be interesting to see if in 50 years Skyfall has progressed from the Propp's Character Theory, every race being portrayed as equals and James Bond actually given a strong character.

"Skyfall, the latest James Bond film, smashed through the $1 billion mark at the box office tonight as it continued its record-breaking showing in cinemas worldwide."[10]
With the 50 years of development Skyfall was released on October 26 in 2012 with Daniel Craig as James Bond with the film getting universal praise with it being compared to Dr No for overall quality and also winning an Oscar for best original soundtrack and it scoring a rating of 93% on Rotten Tomato with reviews like"It achieves an effective balance between the ever-escalating action sequences that each successive Bond picture apparently demands, fresh use of charismatic talent, and nods to the legacy..."[11]

So there is no denying that Skyfall is one of if not the best James Bond film since the original. But looking at the film in depth it suffers from the same problem the Dr No suffers from with the ideology of men being superior to women. I say this because there are many scenes in this film that demonstrates how women still have very little power in comparison to men which makes it worse if comparison the age difference between the films and how women now are represented a lot better in comparison to the 1960's that makes Skyfall even more sexist in comparison to Dr No.

In the opening chase scene you have James Bond chasing an unnamed hit man how is carrying a very important macguffin for later on in the film and you have Eve a black female supporting Bond as his equal. Firstly portraying Eve as a equal to Bond was very refreshing to see a women playing such a key part in an action scene "Girls can be athletic. Guys can have feelings. Girls can be smart. Guys can be creative. and vice versa. Gender is specific only to your reproductive organs (and sometimes not even to those), not your interest, likes, dislikes, goals, and ambitions.” [12] After watching the opening scene it showed a lot of promise towards a strong black female character being portrayed as James Bond's equal which was be something which would be unthinkable looking back at all of the previous instalments from this franchise

However it all goes downhill from here where in the end of the opening scene you have James Bond in a hand to hand combat on a speeding train and Eve hasn't got a clear shot. Now this scene contains the two main female characters in Eve and M both making a very important mistake which leads to both characters starting their individual downfalls with M forcing Eve to take the shoot even if there was a high chance of Eve killing Bond in the first place which is what happened.

This lead to Eve quitting field work even if she did everything right to that point and was forced against her will to take the shoot even if she said "I can't I may hit Bond" [13] and effectively became a messenger with James Bond commenting "Ain't you a little overqualified to be delivering messages[14] and M forcing her to do it as the head of the MI6 department.

When it comes the M she created this villain in the first place with Raoul Silva who was a world class hacker in the MI6 and M released him due to him hacking the Chinese Government over they threatened the UK, Raoul was simply doing something for the greater good of the United Kingdom. Instead M shows more poor judgment and released one of the most dangerous men on the planet with no guidance or control. Which only lead to her entire department being threatened to be shut down due to her poor judgement and lack of a need of the department in the first place.

No surprise that in Spectre they still threatened to shut down MI6 because they didn't prove them wrong anything they proved the government right because in Skyfall Raoul Silva is a villain that was created by MI6. This doesn't even include one of the worst Bond Girls of all time with Sévérine with her only appearing in a few scenes before James Bond pointlessly sleeps with her and then a few scenes later she was shot dead that's it there was no connection between the characters and not even James Bond acted like he even cared about her playing her off comparing to a drink. 

"After Bond comes face to face with the film’s villain, Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), Sévérine is bound and Bond is challenged to shoot a glass of scotch off her head. Bond misses, but Silva shoots and kills her. Bond then glibly comments that her demise is merely a "waste of good scotch.[15]" This was unpalatable, and I could sense it in the shifting of some of my neighbours in the theatre."[16] 

Also after he says that he kills every single guard in the area which makes no sense because if he could have done that why didn't he do it before Severine was shot and Sliva killer her just to make a point to James Bond that not even James Bond cares about ever so her death which makes her role in this film completely worthless and her only purpose was to be a macguffin for the plot.

Due to it being a James Bond film it had to have a Bond girl in once again beat over the point that James Bond is smooth with the ladies even if the audience already know this and the need for a Bond girl declines with every film. In this film every women in Skyfall is now worse off since the start to the end with M death, Eve quitting field work, Severine death and Bond's wife abandoned when he decided to go back to MI6.

However M's death was a brilliant representation of women and how they are equal to men because in the past three films since the reboot they were changing her character to make her less powerful "Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, M's initial strength, which I argue comes to defying attempts to categorize her, disappears and replaced with uncertainty about herself.".[17] But in her death scene you can see her actively helping James Bond to set up his old house with traps and proving more than emotional support which is what the majority of Bond girls only do in the first place and when she dies you can see the genuine emotion coming from James Bond in that scene unlike the death of Severine. To conclude I believe we have regressed from the 1960's and Dr No due to the fact that modern day media allows more and more people to have their voice heard but no female has decided to take a real stand against the James Bond franchise.

Due to the opening scene in Skyfall it shows that they are capable of portraying women equal to James Bond even if it was for a brief stint but it possible none the less so what they need to do is stop putting in Bond Girls who actually have chemistry with Bond and are put on the same level as Bond which leads to a better overall film for example in Casino Royale, it's held as one of the best James Bond films of all time due to the chemistry between Vesper and Bond with comments like "Their introduction does not come until 58 minutes into the film, but Vesper clearly makes a big impact on Bond and their somewhat feisty relationship develops as they pose as a couple at the Casino Royale in Montenegro". [18]

It was different back in the 1960's because of the fact that they were just starting to find their feet but it was still a man's world “Women are denied a viewpoint...” and they still had more of an impact stopping James Bond in comparison to the modern day. For example when James Bond first came out (The book series) there was uproar of women standing up against this book calling it "Sex, Snobbery and Sadism" [19], "Fleming's Deadly Sin" [20] and "Junk Bond" [21] and these are all from newspapers when the books where released back in the 1950's so why has the outcry stopped.

It can be strongly argued that believe that it comes down to what do women want because they have chosen to ignore all the misogyny with review about Skyfall from women saying "With wry geriatric jokes, a plot that strikes 007 right where he lives and even some throwback gadgets, Skyfall gives James Bond a delightfully retro reboot."[22] that has come from this franchise for no reason at all for example when Avengers Age of Ultron came out there was weeks of hate coming from women talking about how the film portrays Black Widow as a slut and decided to boycott the film entirely so it can be strongly argued that all comes down to if women want to challenge one of the biggest movie franchises of all time.

But linking back to the question it can be strongly argued that we have regressed from the 1960's  due to the fact that people now have more opportunities to get their opinion across to the public but they decided to say nothing in comparison to people in the 1960's who at least tried to fight against this movie franchise. It's become even worse in recent years due to the rise of new and digital media and now people can become even more vocal than ever before about things they disagree with.

Another key example of this is when they showcased a black stormtrooper in the latest Star Wars film The Force Awakens with comments like "blacks have taken it all from us: our belongings, our lives &now our films. ban black actors from invading white spaces." [23] and "white children deserve wholesome movies, not more PC anti-white diversity crap." [24]also on Twitter there was a campaign called #BoycottStarWarsVII [25]  purely due to people believing that having a black character in a franchise like star wars in a horrible thing to do.

Also when a black stormtrooper was discovered this was national news in America so if people are so quick to voice their opinion on Star Wars which is an equally beloved franchised like James Bond maybe even more loved than James Bond why aren't we discussing the misogyny of this character.

It's becoming more clear that everyone is aware of the fundamental problems that James Bond's character has but people just don't want to have a serious discussion about it for example in this article from the Time "Every few years we get a new Bond film, which means every few years we get a new Bond girl. With each new film, we ask, will this be the time where we get someone who is more than just a damsel in distress, perhaps even a woman to save the day? The answer is always no. James Bond is the saviour of the world so ceding power to anyone would be unthinkable."[26]

The only way this is going to change is if the Propp's character structure stop fundamentally effecting the film which I believe it is doing currently, secondly people need to stop seeing James Bond as this great white saviour because of this people see him as a role model which he isn't he is a misogynistic person who kills people and does whatever he wants and finally they need to stop including women in the James Bond films unless they are given the same amount of power as James Bond is given.

So the representation of women in the James Bond franchise hasn't made much process if any at all due to the fact that no one wants to challenge the 50 year franchise into doing something different instead of copying and pasting the same story over and over again.

Word Count without Quotes = 3,190 words

Bibliography

Work Cited

Books

Branston, G., & Stafford, R. (2002). The media student's book (3.rd ed.). London: Taylor & Francis Books
Ian Fleming, From Russia with Love 1957
Lisa Funnell, For Her Eyes Only 2012
A Work in Progress: A Memoir 2015
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf 1929

Academic Papers

Zoonen, L. (1994). Feminist media studies. London: Sage.
Bidisha, writer of Venetian Masters

Internet with details

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/skyfall/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/jamesbond/9771918/Skyfall-most-successful-James-Bond-film-tops-1bn-at-global-box-office.html
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but-not-simpler/why-you-should-envy-but-not-worship-sherlock-holmes/
http://www.radiotimes.com/film/j744z/drno?ref=Article.Tag
https://tribecafilm.com/stories/spectre-james-bond-movie-franchise-daniel-craig-misogyny-feminist-acceptance-feminism-lea-seydoux-bellucci
http://time.com/4102716/spectre-fails-to-create-a-powerful-bond-girl/

Filmography

“You’re a sexist, misogynist, dinosaur" M, on James Bond, played by Dame Judi Dench, in her first Bond film, Goldeneye.
Skyfall 2012 Sam Mendes "Ain't you a little overqualified to be delivering messages
Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007
Work Consulted

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/23/daniel-craig-james-bond-misogynist
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/james-bond-is-a-very-lonely-sexist-misogynist-says-daniel-craig-10480576.html
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/04/carole-cadwalladr-james-bond-sexism-bbc
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7694801.stm
http://www.existentialennui.com/2010/10/is-ian-flemings-james-bond-really.html
https://www.yahoo.com/movies/s/bond-movie-fix-one-biggest-183002402.html?nf=1
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/338817-bond-24-megathread-spectre/page-8
http://www.devon-cornwall-film.co.uk/2015/10/31/james-bond-misogynist-dinosaur/
https://tribecafilm.com/stories/spectre-james-bond-movie-franchise-daniel-craig-misogyny-feminist-acceptance-feminism-lea-seydoux-bellucci



[1]Zoonen, L. (1994). Feminist media studies. London: Sage.
[2]Branston, G., & Stafford, R. (2002). The media student's book (3.rd ed.). London: Taylor & Francis Books
[3]Bidisha, writer of Venetian Masters
[4]Ian Fleming, From Russia with Love 1957
[5]Lisa Funnell, For Her Eyes Only 2012 p246
[6]http://www.radiotimes.com/film/j744z/dr-no?ref=Article.Tag
[7]Lisa Funnell, For Her Eyes Only 2012
[8]http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but-not-simpler/why-you-should-envy-but-not-worship-sherlock-holmes/
[9]A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf 1929
[10] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/jamesbond/9771918/Skyfall-most-successful-James-Bond-film-tops-1bn-at-global-box-office.html
[11] http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/skyfall/
[12]A Work in Progress: A Memoir 2015
[13]Skyfall 2012 Sam Mendes
[14]Skyfall 2012 Sam Mendes
[15] Skyfall, Sam Mendes, 2012
[16] https://tribecafilm.com/stories/spectre-james-bond-movie-franchise-daniel-craig-misogyny-feminist-acceptance-feminism-lea-seydoux-bellucci
[17]Lisa Funnell, For Her Eyes Only 2012
[18] https://jakemcmillan.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/top-10-definitive-bond-girls-no-2-vesper-lynd-eva-green/
[19] Everything or Nothing The Untold Story of 007, Steven Riley
[20] "
[21] "
[22] http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20646059,00.html
[23]http://www.salon.com/2015/10/19/racists_threaten_to_boycott_star_wars_vii_because_it_promotes_white_genocide_apparently/
[24] "
[25] Twitter Campaign
[26] http://time.com/4102716/spectre-fails-to-create-a-powerful-bond-girl/