Bond girls... why always much younger than Bond?
J-B-007
Posts: 17MI6 Agent
Have you noticed that? All these pretty girls are much younger than Bond is? The age difference vary on very high numbers, don't you think so? Just for example, Melina in FYEO is more than 20 years younger than Bond, Natalya in GE also...
Obviously they coundn't find girl (or rather woman) who is 40-50 years old (like Bond) and also nicelooking and sexy.
Your opinion?
Obviously they coundn't find girl (or rather woman) who is 40-50 years old (like Bond) and also nicelooking and sexy.
Your opinion?
Comments
Not all. Once again I must point to Pussy... ;% Honor Blackman was a few years (I'm too much of a gentleman to discuss that in more detail) older than Sean Connery. Similarly, Diana Rigg was slightly older than George Lazenby. Admittedly, they're the exception rather than the rule.
Generally this reflects a cinematic standard in which a leading man is often cast against an actress 10, 20 or 30 years his junior (Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Entrapment is a pretty extreme example). It ain't right but that's how they've been doing things in Hollywood for years, much to the chagrin of aging actresses; unless she can actually act, a middle-aged actress who's been dependent on her looks often finds the good parts drying up.
OK. He made a point about casting politics, I made a sexist/realist (strike what you don't agree with)point. What I wrote was a caveman's version of this: Many men favour younger women. Some say it's to feel younger. Others say it's because younger women look better, or even that they subconciously look for the best childbearer. It's not uncommon for women to end up with older men. Possibly because they are more experianced and better providers. Especially if the men are financially well off, resoursefull, goodlooking and perhaps a bit of a bad boy they seem to attract younger females. Bond is all of the above. This real life tendancy is exagerated in Hollywood. I hope this post hasn't put me in what the norse sagas refer to as "a suitable possision for being attacked"!
There are exceptions to the rule, more so outside the Bond series.
True Lies - Jamie Lee Curtis = 36yo
The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) Rene Russo = 45
Catherine Zeta Jones is now 38
I could go on but there are too many to list.
Another point that may or may not be right is that any aging attractive actress still playing 'sexy' roles would cost a fortune to appear in any film. Choosing younger actresses may just be good business, keeping outlay down.
@merseytart
Unfortunately in the Bond Universe ( and most Hollywood films for that matter) she does. I cant say its ever been an issue with me. The Bond films are what they are and are not renowned for their social statements. The irony being that I have always found the slighty older Bond girls to be far more interesting and intriguing than their younger counterparts.
Diana Rigg or Britt Eckland, Maud Adams or Dennise Richards ... there really is no comparison.
I thought it was {:)
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
You're quite right about that, my dear. I myself even married an older woman...and I agree with you that the notion of ageism in Hollywood is hardly breaking news. The rampant use of way-younger actresses opposite more mature leading men is but the most ubiquitous example.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
As was
Mature Guys Only
A View To A Zimmerframe
Retire Another Day
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Thank you, Loeff's. I aim to please.