Bond's Changing Masculinity: From Connery to Moore

Building off of Susan Jeffords’ article “The Big Switch: Hollywood Masculinity in the Nineties,” James Bond’s masculinity changed from the Connery to the Moore films. In the original Connery films, Bond is presented as the ultimate macho man. His muscles are flaunted throughout Dr. No, as he is generally running around on the beach with his equally objectified companion, Honey Rider. He is incredibly comfortable using weapons on the job, as in Dr. No, and is oftentimes more confident in his shooting skills than his companions, unlike Quarrel. To complete his macho image, he is shown smoking more often than not, and believes he can handle any situation on his own. He also has no problem objectifying women and generally only viewing them as sexual conquests. He physically overpowers Pussy Galore in Goldfinger and bullies her into having sex just so he can prove how desirable he perceives himself to be.

Roger Moore, on the other hand, is presented as a more delicate and sophisticated Bond. His body is not as toned as Connery’s, but he still has no problem with hand-to-hand physical combat. In The Man with the Golden Gun, Bond is able to somewhat hold his ground with one of the martial arts students in Fat’s dojo. However, he does something Connery’s Bond would be hard pressed to attempt: he used his brain to realize the smartest option in that situation would be to flee instead of possibly being killed because he was so outmatched. While he is still clearly a male chauvinist by the way he feels the need to have sex with any woman within a ten foot radius, Moore is more apt to work with the women he is allied with. For example, in Octopussy he not only warns Octopussy that she was double crossed by Kamal Khan, but he returns with Q in the iconic British hot air balloon to rescue her at the end of the film.