007's boss finally rises as role model for Bond girls
Since ``Casino Royale'' has become a big box office hit, James Bond fans are backpedaling madly on their year's worth of grousing about how the new Bond, Daniel Craig, would not be stirring enough for the role. It turns out that he's delicious. This is no surprise to me, since anyone who had seen him eight years ago as a homicidal monk stalking the Virgin Queen in ``Elizabeth'' should have known that he'd be a killer Bond.
But I did find a satisfying surprise in ``Casino Royale'' that I have interpreted as a triumph for Bond broads everywhere. The character of M, chief of the British secret service, has finally come into her own.
Of course, the formidable Judi Dench, who has played M in Bond films for the past 11 years, came into her own long ago. And any actress who could portray both of Britain's great queens, scoring an Oscar nomination for her Queen Victoria in ``Mrs. Brown'' in 1997 and then winning the prize the following year for her Elizabeth I in ``Shakespeare in Love,'' would have no trouble taking on M.
Macho doesn't cut it
Still, the past decade of Bond scripts haven't given Dench much to work with. Yes, M did discipline the smug Bond in several films, kissing off her employee with such remarks as ``You're of no use to anyone now.'' And in ``Tomorrow Never Dies'' she slammed an arrogant admiral who said he didn't think she had the, shall we say, male equipment for the top job. ``Perhaps,'' she retorted. ``The advantage is, I don't have to think with them all the time.''
This sort of banter seemed too obvious, though, and too defensive. The tone reminded me of the sort of complaints I've heard from female executives in Silicon Valley over the past 15 years. They don't want to be forced into a role of being ``mini-men.'' They simply want to do the job their way without having to act all the time as though they've got something to prove.
Now it seems as though M, at least, is able to do just that. Considering that Bond films represent the culture at its most macho and Neanderthal, I'm taking this as a positive sign.
In fact, Bond's first line in ``Casino Royale'' defines him very clearly as the good soldier to M's general. Before he dispatches an evildoer, Bond says, coolly, ``M doesn't mind you drawing money on the side. She'd just prefer it wasn't by selling secrets.'' Then the guy's dead.
No confusion there.
Dressed to kill
Not long after that, M is seen riding through the streets of London while she is in throes of cleaning up an international incident. ``I report to the prime minister, and even he's smart enough not to ask what we do,'' she says in her withering, clipped accent. ``Christ, I miss the Cold War!''
Nothing defensive there.
Still, there is nothing male about M's equipment. For one thing, she's always wearing fabulous diamond earrings. Also, she takes Bond's calls in bed, wearing her red satin pajamas while her old man sleeps peacefully beside her. It's about time.
M may be past her bikini days, but surely Ursula Andress (Honey Ryder), Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore), Halle Berry (Jinx) and even the current independent Bond girl Eva Green (Vesper Lynd) would agree that running the secret service -- and James Bond -- is where all the real action is.
M is the quintessential Bond woman for the 21st century.
http://commanderbond...n...&item=37451 - The Mercury News
