Spoiler warning for Skyfall (non-spoiler review HERE)...
As happens every time a new 007 film opens, pundits and critics are generally quick to point out how this new 007 picture has one of the very best 'Bond girls' ever. Oh this time she's strong, independent, able and willing to hold her own with James Bond, and not merely there to be a sex object. So if critics pretty much say that nearly every time, at what point do we have to acknowledge that the meme of the helpless and useless Bond Girl is mostly a myth. To put it simply, many of the so-called Bond Girls were, if not champions of feminism, presented as mostly capable and independent characters who happened to be obscenely attractive and (often improbably) attracted to Mr. James Bond. From Dr. No onward to Skyfall, the hapless sex object who exists purely to be ogled and bedded is more exception than rule. And quite frankly, over the last 25 years (or after Roger Moore left), almost every major 'Bond Girl' was a relatively well-developed character or at least played an important role in the story. Ironically, perhaps in a misguided attempt to appease the fans, the treatment of women in Skyfall is actually comparatively regressive. In short, it takes the series back to a certain misogynistic mindset that hasn't been prevalent since the Connery years.
