Daniel Craig has been all over the place during his press tour for "Spectre." One day, he’s ready to quit playing 007 altogether, and another he’s leaving the door open (and most signs indicate he’s contractually obliged for another). He’s wavered between being ambivalent and openly hostile about playing the character, but one thing he’s been very clear about is that James Bond is pretty much a misogynist.
“Hopefully, my Bond is not as sexist and misogynistic as [earlier incarnations]. The world has changed. I am certainly not that person. But he is…," he said last month. And it’s a point he drives home again in a new interview with The Red Bulletin.
"Bond can be a gentleman. Sometimes, anyway. He’s a considerate person, he takes care of business, and he looks out for other people and his family. He’s someone who opens doors for people— for everyone, that is, not just women," Craig said. "But let’s not forget that he’s actually a misogynist. A lot of women are drawn to him chiefly because he embodies a certain kind of danger and never sticks around for too long."
It’s an interesting observation insofar as one wonders how long this particular trait of Bond can remain relevant in a world where that kind of suave but also boorish man is fast becoming a relic. Food for thought. Meanwhile, on whether or not he’ll suit again, Craig gives his most level-headed answer yet.
"…it’s always the same question: Which is worse — leaving the party too early, or staying, getting totally drunk, and then passing out on the floor? I still don’t know," he said. "What I need right now is to stop working, relax and get back to normal life. There’s nothing unusual about that. It’s really horrible not seeing your family for weeks at a time. There’s one thing I actually find more exciting than Bond at the moment: going home."
"Spectre" opens on November 6th.
From Craig\’s public statements from Bond, it seems he has been all but released from the role, and he is burning his bridges there so that a) it looks like he left on his own initiative b) he can take different mainstream roles since the Bond character is by now far outside of the mainstream in terms of its gender politics.
"It\’s an interesting observation insofar as one wonders how long this particular trait of Bond can remain relevant in a world where that kind of suave but also boorish man is fast becoming a relic." Kevin Jagernauth is an idiot.
Bond is certainly a sexist, and in some of his earlier films (especially the ones from the early 70s) he\’s verged on misogyny, but at bottom there\’s nothing to suggest he\’s genuinely misogynistic–i.e., that he hates women. Craig has a great instinctual understanding of the character, but like many actors he\’s not especially profound in conversation. He\’s on better ground when says Bond\’s appeal to woman is "chiefly because he embodies a certain kind of danger and never sticks around for too long." True, and a sense of danger and enjoyment of casual sex is attractive to both sexes. If you look through the books and better films, Bond\’s behavior is usually more chivalrous than caddish. What marks him apart from earlier heroes is that he has no hang-ups about sex and enjoys it. So do his partners, which might account for why women have always been a large part of the audience for Bond films. Incidentally, I\’m curious about what Indiewire finds "boorish" about Bond. If it\’s referring to some of the dumber moments in the earlier films, the point is granted, but the remark seems to apply to the very idea of the character.