OK, so I haven't read through however many pages there are of this yet, but I'll start here as this made me laugh:
Which got me to thinking that 5 or 10 years from now you will never be hearing any female celebs naming Daniel Craig as being one of the ten "sexiest men."
I'm still waiting on this thread to deliever on the promise of providing a "female viewpoint" on Bond. Come on ladies, you must be out there.
I can't speak for any other women but I'll give it a go from my point of view. Most unhelpfully, I am unable to say
exactly what the attraction is.
This is not going well already...
I do know that by the time I was about 7, friends, family, teachers, other kids in the street, everyone knew that if a Bond film was on the telly on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, as they frequently were in the early eighties, I would not be coming out to play, I wouldn't eat, I wouldn't do anything. The whole weekend was building up to and aftermath of Bond. On the Monday following such a weekend, I remember the teacher would ask if I'd enjoyed the Bond film in class. The thing is, I don't remember publicising my love of Bond at that time. I was a fairly quiet child (hard to believe, I know
) and spent much of my time in class and practising with my gymnastics coach, but somehow everyone knew about Bond and me.
I couldn't tell you which I saw first, it was too early but I do remember, very early on, being utterly chilled by the spaceship swallowing in YOLT; disliking Jaws but loving Drax; and wondering what he actually meant by writing 'From Russia, With Love' on a photo. I was young
. As I got older, I bought and read all the books, both Fleming and continuation novels, joined the fan club, collected the videos etc. By my teens, I was pretty wild and even though most nights I was pretty stoned there were times I could be found absolutely joint free with my head buried in Benson's 'Bedside Companion' e.g. There was not a lot else around at that time that kept me out of trouble. Going on, all my boyfriends ended becoming Bond afficionados, then my first husband and any close friends, right up to my current husband who, for various reasons has never seen a Bond film or read a Bond book.
I found I liked glamorous things, fast cars, high heels and had a terrible, painful wanderlust and sense of adventure. I also had a (possibly undeserved) reputation for being distant and cold. I also have some very anal tendencies
, so I started identifying with Bond, I could see the similarities and why he was the way he was (written, that is). I think this is why my Bond love has endured. It has outlasted my animals, men, houses, various friendships... I can't see it ever ending. Bondworld has infinite variety - it has travel, glamour, romance, adventure, mystery, even a certain unique morality. How can anyone not love it?
Oh dear, how I do go on, sorry 'bout that