James Bond in the MeToo era

Monsieur SixteMonsieur Sixte Posts: 39MI6 Agent
edited January 2019 in General James Bond Chat
Do you think that future Bond films will have to change the way Bond interacts with women due to the new dating rules (always evolving) brought about by the MeToo movement. One set of current rules can be found here:

https://fupping.com/connellbarrett/2018/11/30/5-new-dating-rules-for-men-in-the-metoo-era/

One rule is that you should always ensure that you get clear verbal consent from the woman before taking her to bed. I've even heard some MeToo advocates say you should ask for verbal consent before you hold a woman's hand or kiss her. The latter (kissing her) is dealt with in the following extract from an "agony aunt" in The Guardian newspaper called Jean Hannah Edelstein:

Question to Jean:

Hi Jean,

Been a nice date. Like to do it again.

Does one kiss, or not kiss, to make a second time possible?

(Good luck answering THAT one. Lol.)

E.

Her answer:

Hi E,

The best way of guaranteeing a second date comes down not to whether or not you kiss someone, but whether or not you tell them that you’ve had a nice time and ask them to go on another date with you. But if you’re hesitating over whether or not you should kiss someone at the end of a date, just say: “May I kiss you?”

Some months ago I had a conversation with a young man who believed this to be a passion-killer. He had heard rumors that women don’t like to be asked for permission to be kissed because it demonstrates some kind of weakness on the part of the person who asks. This is not true.

If you ask someone permission for a kiss and they want to kiss you, they’re not going to reject you because you asked first, even if they didn’t think it was necessary for you to ask.

Sure, there’s also a chance that they’ll say no, and that might be embarrassing. But if you kiss a person who doesn’t want to be kissed, that’s sexual assault. Not sexually assaulting the people we date should be collectively understood as more important than saving ourselves potential embarrassment. People who don’t understand this should stay home on their own.

JHE

Taken from: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/may/02/dating-after-metoo-should-i-ask-my-date-if-i-can-kiss-her

It is hard for me to envisage Bond (especially Connery’s Bond) doing this sort of thing. It would cramp his style and make him look too timid and desperate.

Any thoughts on this?

Comments

  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,703MI6 Agent
    I don't think being oversensitive to these rules is the right way forward for Bond. He shouldn't ask before he kisses, but it's probably best to ask before sneaking intothe shower with a sex trade victim. I think the results of the Favourite Bond Girl poll (so far) are interesting and instructive. The most popular Bond actresses are women with interesting backstories who are important to the plot of the movie. They are not "Bond's equal", they are intersting people who do interesting things. That's the way forward, regardless of #MeToo
  • Sterling ArcherSterling Archer Posts: 197MI6 Agent
    From personal experience, girls I know would just want to be kissed assuming you can properly read the facial and social cues. It would be a mood killer to ask, "May I kiss you? We aren't teenagers kissing a girl for the first time.

    Anyhow, glad I'm in a serious relationship and will be engaged sooner rather than later. I don't want to deal or think about this bs anymore.

    Sexual assault is a serious issue but when you do things like this you demean the issue entirely and that is a huge disservice to girls/women who have or will have to deal with such issues.

    The second James Bond has to ask for a kiss, he's not James Bond anymore.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,703MI6 Agent
    I agree. But there are examples of Bond kissing a woman without any visible interest from her. I remember Bond kissing Octopussy, it was commented on in the "Bond Girls are forever" documentary. Bond shouldn't ask for a kiss. But (especially) in this day and age he should wait until she gives some signal, subtle or not.
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,239MI6 Agent
    Well, Craig is at the Cary Grant time of his life when the woman has to be seen to be making a play (we saw this from Grace Kelly in films like To Catch A Thief) because otherwise he seems like an aged predator. Ditto with Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest.
    It's like a Mad comic strip I recall fondly from the late 1980s... when you're young you're a young blade! Then it cuts to another pic of an old guy doing the same. making a saucy comment to a young woman... when you're old you're a dirty old man!
    It had similar set-ups too... when you're young you're an underachiever, when you're older you're a specialist! :D

    In the last film SP it's the blonde on the train who makes a move, not Craig.
    Not so much with the brunette in Rome (this isn't very PC is it but can't remember the actresses' names).
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

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  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,596MI6 Agent
    Well, Craig is at the Cary Grant time of his life when the woman has to be seen to be making a play (we saw this from Grace Kelly in films like To Catch A Thief) because otherwise he seems like an aged predator. Ditto with Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest.
    It's like a Mad comic strip I recall fondly from the late 1980s... when you're young you're a young blade! Then it cuts to another pic of an old guy doing the same. making a saucy comment to a young woman... when you're old you're a dirty old man!
    It had similar set-ups too... when you're young you're an underachiever, when you're older you're a specialist! :D

    In the last film SP it's the blonde on the train who makes a move, not Craig.
    Not so much with the brunette in Rome (this isn't very PC is it but can't remember the actresses' names).

    I don't think this can even work today. This method didn't stop people from finding the Bond/Bibi dynamic creepy in For Your Eyes Only. People here often blame Bond for going after a young girl in that situation, when Bond only rejects her.
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  • VesperMelogranoVesperMelograno The SouthPosts: 901MI6 Agent
    Matt S wrote:
    Well, Craig is at the Cary Grant time of his life when the woman has to be seen to be making a play (we saw this from Grace Kelly in films like To Catch A Thief) because otherwise he seems like an aged predator. Ditto with Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest.
    It's like a Mad comic strip I recall fondly from the late 1980s... when you're young you're a young blade! Then it cuts to another pic of an old guy doing the same. making a saucy comment to a young woman... when you're old you're a dirty old man!
    It had similar set-ups too... when you're young you're an underachiever, when you're older you're a specialist! :D

    In the last film SP it's the blonde on the train who makes a move, not Craig.
    Not so much with the brunette in Rome (this isn't very PC is it but can't remember the actresses' names).

    I don't think this can even work today. This method didn't stop people from finding the Bond/Bibi dynamic creepy in For Your Eyes Only. People here often blame Bond for going after a young girl in that situation, when Bond only rejects her.
    This is a perfect example of how the #MeToo movement should be just about females. Bond was put in a really bad spot by Bibi.
    I've always wanted to have Christmas in Turkey
  • nobodynobody Posts: 110MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    I don't think being oversensitive to these rules is the right way forward for Bond. He shouldn't ask before he kisses, but it's probably best to ask before sneaking intothe shower with a sex trade victim. I think the results of the Favourite Bond Girl poll (so far) are interesting and instructive. The most popular Bond actresses are women with interesting backstories who are important to the plot of the movie. They are not "Bond's equal", they are intersting people who do interesting things. That's the way forward, regardless of #MeToo
    Agree he shouldn't ask before he kisses, but might want to avoid the "persuasion" method he used on Goldfinger's friend, Miss Galore (didn't catch her first name)…
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,703MI6 Agent
    Yes, That sort of thing should be avoided. Bond also blackmails a woman to have sex with him at Shrublands in TB. Bond should continue sleeping around and he shouldn't ask for permision to kiss a woman, but he should meet interesting women who are active and opinionated about sex and other issues. I don't think it's a huge problem if Craig's Bond sleeps with a 25 year old woman if she is willing, strong and intelligent. It's treating women with no personality badly just to have sex with him that should be problematic, not if they're 25 or 40.
  • DavidJonesDavidJones BermondseyPosts: 253MI6 Agent
    Anything would be better than walking uninvited into the shower of a former sex slave.
  • zaphod99zaphod99 Posts: 1,415MI6 Agent
    DavidJones wrote:
    Anything would be better than walking uninvited into the shower of a former sex slave.

    Quite. #+1
    Of that of which we cannot speak we must pass over in silence- Ludwig Wittgenstein.
  • superadosuperado Regent's Park West (CaliforniaPosts: 2,651MI6 Agent
    nobody wrote:
    Agree he shouldn't ask before he kisses, but might want to avoid the "persuasion" method he used on Goldfinger's friend, Miss Galore (didn't catch her first name)…

    @PussyGalore tweeted: #MeToo :))
    "...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
  • Arbogast 777Arbogast 777 Minneapolis Posts: 595MI6 Agent
    James Bond should read #metoo as “pound me too.”

    /thread
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