Ken M SweeneyOct 7

I’ve always found it deeply disturbing how women are treated in the James Bond films. In almost every entry, a woman—or several—is brutally killed, often soon after sleeping with Bond. It’s one of modern cinema’s most normalised examples of misogyny, hiding in plain sight. 🧵

#JamesBond #FilmCriticism #Cinema #FilmAnalysis #MovieDiscussion #CulturalCritique #FilmHistory
#FeministFilm #RepresentationMatters #WomenInFilm #GenderInMedia #MediaCritique #Tropes

Show threadKen M SweeneyOct 7
These women aren’t real characters. They’re plot devices—used for Bond’s pleasure, then humiliatingly discarded through severe violence to move the story forward or give him emotional motivation. I once called it the “dick of death,” and the phrase still sadly fits. 2)
Show threadKen M SweeneyOct 7
Take #Goldfinger (1964): Jill Masterson is killed by being painted in gold after sleeping with Bond. Her sister Tilly then dies trying to avenge her. Both women are tools for Bond’s journey, not people in their own right. 3)
Show threadKen M SweeneyOct 7
In #TheSpyWhoLovedMe (1977), Stromberg feeds his secretary to a shark for revealing information. The scene is probably the worst depiction of the problem and is played almost for spectacle—her terror treated as background entertainment. 4)
Show threadKen M SweeneyOct 7
And in #Moonraker (1979), a woman who betrays her employer is literally hunted down and torn apart by dogs. Again, her death is not about her—it’s about showing how ruthless the villain is. 5)
Show threadKen M SweeneyOct 7
In #LicencetoKill (1989), Lupe Lamora is repeatedly beaten by the villain and later offered to Bond like a reward. Violence against her is treated as titillation rather than trauma. 6)
Show threadKen M SweeneyOct 7
Even the “modern” era amplifies the pattern. In #QuantumofSolace (2008), Fields—an MI6 operative—sleeps with Bond and is found dead, covered in oil. It’s a direct homage to Goldfinger’s Jill Masterson, right down to the punishment for intimacy. 7)
Show threadKen M SweeneyOct 7
In #Skyfall (2012), Sévérine is executed moments after Bond flirts with her and uses her as access to Silva. Bond doesn’t even react. Her death is treated as background noise to his banter. 8)
Show threadKen M SweeneyOct 7
Even #NoTimetoDie (2021), which tries to show a more emotional Bond, still sidelines its women once they serve his plotline. The franchise can’t seem to imagine female agency beyond his orbit. 9)
Show threadKen M SweeneyOct 7
It’s time to name it for what it is: a storytelling tradition built on female disposability and moral punishment for intimacy. It’s not prudish to notice—it’s compassionate. Cinema can thrill without perpetuating this “dick of death” legacy. 10)
#PopCulture #MediaLiteracy #Storytelling #ScreenStudies #BondFranchise #ClassicCinema
Show threadKen M SweeneyOct 7
The next #Bond shouldn’t just change his face or tone. It should change its ethics. Let women exist in these stories as full people, not casualties of desire. That’s the true modernisation the series still hasn’t dared to attempt. 🎬
#FeministFilm #RepresentationMatters #WomenInFilm #GenderInMedia #MediaCritique #Tropes
Show threadAlison WilderOct 7

@TheComfortableSpotPodcast but what even is James Bond, if he's not a misogynist prick? Seems to me like it's time to say goodbye.

Hey, that would be a decent Bond title! "Time to Say Goodbye" indeed!

Show threadKen M SweeneyOct 7
@alisynthesis It’s quite disturbing how many men, of all ages, still see the character as a role model.
Show threadAlison WilderOct 7

@TheComfortableSpotPodcast I definitely agree with that. But personally, I think it would be nice for people to have some new bad-ass male role models who were never awful people to begin with.

This is coming from a person who is extremely tired of franchises that started when my boomer parents were young, though, so grain of salt. 🙂

Show threadKen M Sweeney
@alisynthesis well he's kinda old but Anson Mount's Captain Pike from Star Trek's Strange New Worlds is pretty good. The character's back story already has a well documented tragic end which makes his portrayl all the more interesting. It's one of the few successes in the modern interpretation of the Star Trek franchise.
Oct 7 at 12:53amMastodon for Android