I don’t understand it: an alpha male with always good lines who gets every woman he wants drives the newest and most expensive car and saves the world.
Something completely realistic, right?
It’s like producers know what make men insecure and cater to this audience, but if I’m right there are several millions of men feeling like losers looking for something to compensate.
Suddenly I feel only incels watch this.
Maybe some women like these movies for some other reasons?
I think several factors play into its lasting popularity.
The series was written and first made into movies at a different time. A time when being a misogynists alpha male was aspirational for many, many more men. The unexpected success of the first movies created the foundation to an intellectual property that generations of mostly fathers introduced to their mostly sons. It never went away. Even in years where lawsuits prevented making new movies or when the latest installment of the franchise was considered controversial for whatever reason, the popularity stayed high. And the older the series gets, the more controversial everything becomes.
Very few movies have what I would call a great coherent plot. They are going through checklists: we need a bonkers villain, a weird henchperson, a fancy car, at least one love interest, a gadget, a plan for world domination, and a witty line or two. Throw in a location in the Caribbean or the snowy Alps and that’s the formula. It’s Batman from MI-6 in London, really. It’s a comic book story that tries to seem somewhat realistic, in each movie’s release year’s contemporary time. And the more time passes the less jarring the obvious differences to reality become, and the more they are enjoyable as “leave your brain at the door”-popcorn-eating entertainment. Also, I think, the fact that many actors have played different roles over the years, sometimes overlapping with other cast changes, mostly unaddressed in the films why that happened, added to this “brain at the door”-ishness.
They’ve gone with the time - to an extent. Where Sean Connery bedded every (young) woman he met and discarded them with a pad on the butt saying things like “man talk,” Daniel Craig’s lady conquest numbers were much lower and the sex less gratuitous - within the formula. Pierce Brosnan’s Bond was called a misogynist pig by his female boss. Under the stewardship of Broccoli/Wilson, the second generation in charge of the franchise, they have incrementally changed the formula.
Because the series is so long lasting, there is tons of free publicity in the media, e.g. who will be the next Bond? Will be be less sexist? Will the female lead be more than a conquest? They don’t really need to buy ads for this. Also, there are plenty of companies willing to product place for a hefty price. If there ever was a time when the makers were considering if this was still of the time, the economic interests will surely push those progressive thoughts aside.
I think that if we lived in a world where the Ian Fleming idea had not been adapted into film during the early years of the cold war, nobody would greenlight this project today. And it is its entrenchment in popular culture that keeps it going.
The appeal is definitely more male but I know women who like Bond movies as well. I know this is very stereotypical: men look at the Aston Martin, the gadgets, and the boobs, women at the dresses, the pretty scenery, and how well the Bond girl stands up for herself. And while I’m sure that a subgroup of men looks at the Bond character as a role model, I would say the majority knows this is fiction and just a tad less comic-bookish than Ironman. It’s the male version of a cheap romance novel on a silver screen with more mass appeal.
If this has not become clear from this dissertation: I’m a fan. I can enjoy these movies without wanting to revert to 1960s gender role models. I also know it’s not for everyone.