The World's Most Beloved English Misogynist

Now that Daniel Craig has assumed the role of James Bond and rescued it from the last few Brosnan outings, which were garbage (though Goldeneye and the World is Not Enough were dope), I think it might be time to reflect on just what this character reflected about our past, and what it continues to reflect about our present.

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that James Bond represents a sort of superficial wish fulfillment for men, much as Sex and the City does for some of our society's more vapid women or Entourage does for adolescent boys and men with adolescent dispositions. The first scene in Dr. No, the first James Bond movie, is a perfect idealized representation of what it meant to be a man in the early 60's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eAXJOUTcj4

And there is something about the character that still appeals to a man today, which is why it has survived. It makes me giggle like a little girl every time I hear him say "Bond, James Bond" in that scene. But should a man in real life live like James Bond does in make-believe life? Craig and Co. have attempted to humanize the character by showing how he fell in love and then got hurt in Casino Royale, the assumption being that his womanizing in subsequent movies is a defense mechanism caused by this initial lost love.

But is that really what the public wants? I, for one, have no feelings, and have trouble relating to those that do. James Bond was my last refuge in a world of metrosexual male protagonists like Jason Bourne, who was always whining about how he can't remember anything and who didn't take advantage of Julia Stiles after that German chick died, even though it would have been totally easy since he had the badass, super-soldier thing going for him, and since she's probably desperate since she hasn't had much of a career since 10 Things I hate About You, and that came out in '97 or something.

I suppose it had to happen this way. First they burn their bras, and then a few decades later they burn our fictional misogynist role-models. I think I'll move to Saudi Arabia, where my kind is more appreciated.