When watching a Bond film, there's a few certainties you can tick off in a majority of his adventures: guns, fighting, fast cars, gadgets and women. The latter, and perhaps the most iconic of the ingredients, has become an established part; specifically the honour of being dubbed a 'Bond girl'. Many have come and gone over the years, and even now the memories of Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore (yes, try not to snigger) getting thrown into a bale of hay by a rambunctious Connery, or Ursula Andress' emergence from the sea in 'Dr. No' are cemented in pop culture, but arguably for all the wrong reasons.
It's one thing rising to fame in one of these films, but as a 'Bond girl', the connotations of merit are somewhat different in reality. The term 'Bond girl' means just that: an attractive female, often with little impact on the main plot, serving a sexualised purpose for a subplot that ends up with Bond bedding said female. Depending on your stance on feminism, it's either rather degrading, or a privilege to feature as one of these glamorous, desirable objects of 007's affection.
Vesper's plight in 'Casino Royale'
With the franchise getting a much needed reboot with 2006's 'Casino Royale', a new approach to the female lead was inevitable, but was it successfully implemented? Eva Green's Vesper is a breath of fresh air with her no nonsense attitude, stern authoritative intellect and icy intimidation, yet we are still encouraged to focus on her beauty. Indeed, we read her domineering qualities in accentuated terms because of how beautiful she is. While she appears to be the most reinvented Bond woman, once her motives are revealed it actually lessens her character. Being manipulated by men with blackmail and a perceived threat to the man she loves tells us she is actually subservient and in no real control after all.
The women of 'Skyfall'
Similarly, the set up initially is for Eve to be self-assured and confident, yet is quashed right at the end as the back-and-forth flirtation over the course of the film serve to put her in the position of Miss Moneypenny; a character synonymous for swooning over Bond's charm and sexual magnetism. The sole perception of Moneypenny over the decades is a suited, primed desk worker stationed to meet and greet Bond upon arrival.
Severine -- the quintessential 'Bond girl' -- is introduced as a strong woman, but is soon unravelled by 007 who confirms she's a) a whore, and a) under total control of villain Silva. She's got the looks and is, from the offset, seen purely as sexual gratification until she is nonchalantly disposed of (but not before Bond has domineeringly bedded her, of course).
Even though modern interpretation of 'the Bond girl' can appear rewritten, the fundamental flaws and motivations of these women characters still fall very much into the realm of inferiority. How does the franchise seriously address or overhaul the issue? Is a female Bond the only way?