Fifty years after the first Bond movie, and with another one on the way soon, the Internet is rife with 007-themed videos, mostly of the mash-up variety.
But the smart film blog Press Play has, as always, taken a more thoughtful approach, with a video essay written by Deborah Lipp, narrated by her sister Roberta, and edited by past Brow Beat contributor Kevin B. Lee.
Lipp, who has written a book about Bond (and blogs about TV at Basket of Kisses), argues that, especially in a time of Doris Day movies and “I Dream of Jeannie,” the pilots, spies and villains who were the original Bond girls could be feminist icons. They were “sexy, in a whole new way.”
She acknowledges that there is also sexism in the Bond movies, but feminism, she argues, “isn’t just a self-conscious rejection of sexism, it’s also about showing girls options.” Also: Pussy Galore is gay.
Watch the video essay below, or read the text-only version at Press Play.
