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Reflection

While I understood the new films were well known for using intertextuality to reference the older Bond movies, through analysis of the case study I found these references spread to other British texts. Skyfall’s references to classic Shakespearean literature, such as a “brave new world” and to iconic British artist Turner in the denotation of The Fighting Temeraire painting. I concluded Bond is not only a Hollywood mega franchise but is also a cultural institution that celebrates British heritage. As a consumer of the films, these positive British cultural references made me proud of my British identity; it has made me a supporter of the franchise and what it represents culturally.

On the other hand, the extremity of misogyny and sexist ideology particularly present in the early Bond films has also made me question my position as a fan of the series. With female characters overtly sexualised to appease men, whom are juxtaposed to present powerful and superior characters. Although, as seen in my findings there is considerable improvement in gender representation; the repressive ideology remains standard to Bond convention. The Bond girl in particular exemplifies this narrow minded and out-dated female representation. Compared with the newer films, it is however encouraging to see representations of women in power with characters such as M and the most recent representation of Miss Moneypenny mediating a positive feminist discourse. I found that even as a critical viewer with a feminist perspective you almost let Bond get away with the misogyny. The series is so iconic and embedded in our cultural psyche that as a viewer you allow leeway for these negative feminine representations because that is the way it has always been, it is just who Bond is. Therefore my close analysis of the series has influenced my stance as a critical viewer, it has encouraged me to become more aware of the negative representations and to question the series future representations. My eyes have been opened to the reality of contemporary ideology, where repressive thought is still very much a part of the franchise and of society’s ideological perspective as a whole. Overall my experience has taught me what it means to be a critical consumer of information particularly that presented in main-stream and multi-platform media. Whilst the well-crafted nature of the franchise has certainly made a fan out of me, my analysis has changed my position as a viewer and for the better.

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