Last month I wrote an article about why I was a massive fan of the James Bond films. I even started a rewatch of all the films in February after writing the article, and there’s no better time to discuss the issues the films have.

In the era that Bond was written and subsequently made into a film, a lot of socially accepted concepts went out of date, and it does show.
Bond has always been a womaniser; in the latter films, this was explained away as a technique for him to gather intel from suspects, while in the early films, it was Bond wanting to sleep with every attractive woman he spots. This is explored briefly in the first Bond novel, Casino Royale. When Bond spots a woman at the beach and mentions how he had a desire to sleep with her just because she was an attractive woman.

There are a few times in the films where the Bond girls love scenes seem forced and very much unnecessary. Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Octopussy, Thunderball, Goldfinger.
Goldfinger and Thunderball are especially problematic in today’s modern age, Goldfinger being the main one. Where the girl says no to the bond’s advances, and he doesn’t stop till he gets what he wants. The Thunderball scene could be seen as more playful, but the Goldfinger one is more uncomfortable, with the Bond girl, named Pussy Galore of all things, seeming to struggle to keep Bond away while he tries to kiss her.

Does it ruin the film? No, I still watch it. It’s an unfortunate product of the 60s. It doesn’t stop one moment from modern bonds from being a bit weird. In Skyfall, Bond meets a girl, Sévérine, who is revealed to be a former sex slave who was trafficked as a teenager. What does Bond do? Hops in the shower with her. It’s a bit sleazy, and I’m not the only person to think that.

The other part I noticed which would be criticised if done today was part of the plot in You Only Live Twice. Bond goes undercover to find out where missing astronauts are, so he gets married to a local Japanese girl and has prosthetics attached to his face to make his appearance more Asian. A controversy happened with Jonathan Pryce, who did the same thing for his role in Miss Saigon; he would later be the villain in Tomorrow Never Dies.

While many critics slam the Bond films, I like to look at them as time capsules that capture the essence of each decade perfectly.