James Bond is one of the most iconic movie heroes of all time. Since his debut in 1962’s Dr No, Bond has gone on to defeat several evil organizations, including the iconic SPECTRE several times, and helped the world avoid World War 3 on countless occasions. While Bond is frequently classified as a hero, there are times when his behavior has flirted with the villainous.
While some of these occasions are almost certainly due to the problematic times of the movie’s release date, others are clear issues with the character himself. This article will list 10 times Bond was more of a villain than a hero.
The Time He ‘Turned’ Pussy Galore
In the Goldfinger book, it is clear that Pussy Galore is a lesbian and towards the end of the novel Bond ’turns’ Pussy Galore and sleeps with her. However, the movie is far less clear about Pussy Galore’s sexuality. Instead, the movie shows Bond attempting to seduce Galore in a barn.
It is clear from their interaction that Galore is not interested and even fights Bond, yet Bond refuses to take no for an answer and tries to kiss Pussy Galore and continues to force a kiss on her against her will. It is a very difficult scene to watch today and is certainly not a trait of a hero.
All The Times He’s Hit Women
The early years of the Bond franchise were full of sexism and misogyny, whether it be the constant backside slapping from Connery and his belittling of women or even Roger Moore’s surprise that Dr. Goodhead was a woman. However, the clearest and most overt examples of his misogyny come from his violence toward women.
The most notable example of this was in From Russia With Love, when Bond slapped and threatened Tatiana Romanova on a train.
The Nurse
This is actually a two-pronged attack from Connery on the nurse from Thunderball. During an initial examination, Bond grabs the nurse and pulls her in for a kiss against her will, though the nurse eventually breaks free. After this, Bond was placed on some kind of back stretching machine and left alone in the room.
A villain comes in and switches the machine to a dangerous setting, but fortunately, Bond is rescued by the nurse. Rather than expressing his thanks, Bond uses the situation to blackmail the nurse into having sex with him.
Killing Unarmed Henchmen
There are several instances of Bond murdering unarmed henchmen. The first was in Dr. No when Bond watched Professor Dent use all of his bullets before then executing the professor with two shots, one even in the back.
Another notable instance was in The Spy Who Loved Me. Bond defeated a character named Sandor in a fistfight, leaving the character hanging on to Bond’s tie in order to stop him falling off the edge of a building. Instead of arresting Sandor and bringing him in for questioning, Bond lets him fall to his death.
Leching Over A Bathing Woman
This one is just plain creepy. Most heroes wouldn’t stand behind a door and creepily watch as a woman takes a bath in private. This a gross violation of privacy and a clear lack of respect for the bathing person.
However, Bond does not care about this. He stands behind the door and stares at her with a creepy smile on his face while she bathes. It is truly odd.
Strangling a Woman With Her Bikini Top
In Diamonds are Forever Bond is on a quest to find Blofeld and begins tracking down SPECTRE agents in order to find his location. One of these agents is the woman in the picture above.
Rather than questioning her in a normal manner, Bond rips off her bikini top and starts choking her while asking ‘where is Ernst Stavro Blofeld’. This is a clear sexual assault from Bond, there is no reason to expose the agent at all, nor is there to choke her.
Locking A Dwarf In A Suitcase
While it is true that Nick Nack tried to murder Bond and certainly deserved some kind of retort from Bond, the manner in which Bond dealt with him was very sick. Bond chases Nick Nack around the boat before then cornering him on a bar counter, Bond then grabs a suitcase and traps Nick Nack in it.
The camera then cuts to show Nick Nack has been put in a cage on the mast of the ship, exposed to the elements and with no access to water or food.
Property Damage
It is true that sometimes Bond cannot help causing some levels of property damage in order to achieve his missions, as the saying goes, you can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs.
However, sometimes Bond goes above and beyond in his private property destruction. For instance, in Tomorrow Never Dies, Bond remotely drives his BMW off the top of a parking lot, throwing the car a busy street, before it smashes through the window of a local insurance store. Clearly, this was a dangerous behavior that could have resulted in several innocent deaths and was certainly not necessary.
Tricking Solitaire
Another example of Bond tricking a woman into sleeping with him. For those who are unaware, Live and Let Die was a movie full of voodoo and mystical imagery.
The character of Solitaire is a fortune-teller who can tell the future from tarot cards, but this power will leave her once she loses her virginity. Bond, knowing that Solitaire believes the tarot, rigs a deck so that it will tell Solitaire to sleep with Bond.
The Mistreatment of Sévérine
Not all of the problematic Bond moments happened in the 20th Century. In Skyfall, we meet Sévérine, a woman who Bond deduces was trapped in the Macau sex trade since she was a child. She was released by Raoul Silva and has been working for him since, though it seems that she works for him only because she is scared of him.
Bond is aware that she has been maltreated by men all of her life, yet still slinks his way into her shower without her permission. Furthermore, after Sévérine is murdered by Silva during a sadistic shooting competition, all Bond says is ‘a waste of good scotch’.
