James Bond

"The James Bond stories do not 'reflect' social or political reality, but rather 'mediate' it through the generic conventions of popular fiction." Discuss the statement with reference to Bond movies.

Film, existing as a form of art, is a complicated system of the mixture of novel, drama and music (Monaco, 2000). McFarlane (2005) claims that as one of the nations who developed films earliest, Britain began its film story in 1895, since when numerous British films are proved to be great success achieving global reputation. Among them the series of James Bond, which has produced 21 films evolving over 40 years, is considered to be in a vital position. The story of the superspy started in the 1960s when social changes took place in Britain for the decline of old-fashioned authority and increase of a new dynamic society (Christopher, 1999). Consequently, James Bond was regard as an imperial hero in an age of decolonisation (Chapman, 2002), which means particular realties may be reflected, for instance, the growing of male’s new fashion.

bond at par

Bonds

English: David Niven in Casino Royal - Casino Roya...

However, the imaginary Bond movies often make serious factors arduous to be realized ostensibly but need further deliberation, such as the background of Cold War, the relationship between UK and USA and the changing role of women. Owing to this, it might be argued that the majority of social or political issues in James Bond’s stories are rather mediated through the various elements involved in the films than reflected on the surface. This essay will illustrate the typical social and political realities implicated in Bond stories as well as analyzing them are being reflected or rather mediated by examining key points mentioned above.

First of all, it is generally held that to some degree, Bond stories, or rather the character of Bond himself reflects some issues in British...