From Russia with Love: Have "macho men" gone the way of the Cold War?

Image courtesy of a post at Tribe

The second James Bond flick experienced as part of my daughter’s media education process reminds me why we took as long as we did to get around to working through the series.

Movies take on a new context when you watch them with your kids for the first time, as you see the film through their eyes.  Two aspects of the movie in particular seemed archaic by today’s standards and would appear foreign to someone my daughter’s age.

One is the fear of the Cold War. Even when I was in the U.S. Navy 20 years ago, the Cold War with Russia was all but over.  By today’s standards, running home emergency drills to hide in backyard bunkers seems silly.

The second aspect was the love ’em, hit ’em, and leave ’em approach to women.  In one scene where Bond discovers the love interest is with the enemy, he gives her a slap across the face, to which her immediate response is “I love you, James!”  Sir Connery himself acknowledged in what I am sure is a regrettable interview that sometimes women just need a slap.

I was introduced to Connery’s Bond in my single-digit years.  I dreamed of Swiss army knife suitcases, wondered if Russia would press the button, and thought macho adult men would get the women if they just smacked them around a bit.

Three decades on, I don’t have a fold-able rifle but do carry my laptop in my backpack, the Cold War is no more present than “weapons of mass destruction”, and my daughter is disgusted at Bond’s treatment of women.

It is good to see some things change.