Skyfall: Masculine Ideologies - Essay Example

? Skyfall: Masculine Ideologies Your Full James Bond films have been known to portray traditional masculine ideologies. With the social trend on globalization, influence of the modern day masculine ideologies was expected to be evident in current action films. The action film Skyfall (Mendes, 2012) is a modern day James Bond movie. Scenes from the film were evaluated against some of the traditional masculine ideologies to determine whether the male lead character has adapted the modern masculine ideologies as a response to globalization. Keywords: Skyfall, Masculinity, Ideologies, James Bond Skyfall: Masculine Ideologies “Bond. James Bond” (Mendes, 2012). This is probably one of the most classic lines delivered in an action movie. What separates this movie from other action films is the classy male lead character of the film. James Bond is an evidence of the influence of traditional masculine ideology on film. Over the years, James Bond movies have been filmed and shown all over the world, and the same ideology has been portrayed. With the advent of globalization, social change in the ideology of masculinity also emerged. Masculinity in the modern era conveyed a man as peaceful and more expressive in contrast to the traditional ideology of being patriarchal (Connell, 2013). Skyfall is another James Bond movie, created in the period of globalization. Does it conform to the modern masculinity ideologies? Is there a shift in the ideologies as an adaptation of the trend towards globalization? This paper aims to determine the form of masculine ideology in the film Skyfall, as an influence of globalization on the character. Summary of the Film The action film SkyFall (Mendes, 2012) revolves around the male lead character James Bond, who works for the MI6, a British Intelligence Agency. As a spy, famously known as Agent 007, he was assigned different missions and given the privilege of the innovations in ammunitions. When one of his missions got compromised, he got into a chase and a colleague had the mistake of shooting him rather than the enemy. He fell from the train and plunged into the river, then washed off to a falls. Hearing the sound of the running water from Agent 007’s headset, the people at the MI6 headquarters, including his handler Agent M, all presumed that he was dead. For a period of time, he did not show up, even when an obituary was circulated. He remained underground, faking his death, because he held a grudge against M for giving the order to the other agent to take the shot whether or not it would hit the enemy or Agent 007 during the chase (Mendes, 2012). After some time, the MI6 headquarters was suddenly attacked mysteriously, and Agent M was assumed to be the target. The unknown villain was able to hack into the MI6’s security and even breached Agent M’s laptop. To make matters worse, the encrypted data in the stolen hard drive was decoded and the spies who were undercover in the different terrorist groups were slowly being revealed to the public, leading to their torture and death. The situation of the MI6 did not escape the media’s attention, and Agent M was in trouble. Agent 007 saw what was happening and decided to go back to MI6 (Mendes, 2012). When he returned for duty, Agent 007 was subjected for debriefing and physical tests. He was evaluated to be fit to report back to the field, and started his pursuit for the villain who infiltrated the MI6 and was also after M. He was sent to China where he met Silva, the man responsible for the chaos in MI6. He was a former agent of the MI6, and M was also his handler. Silva tried to brainwash Agent 007 to joining him take down the MI6, but Agent 007 refused and instead, he was able to catch Silva. But the capture was also part of Silva’s plan. Agent 007 later on was able to figure out that Silva wanted to kill M as a revenge for his past ordeals. Knowing the plan, Agent 007 tried to set a trap for Silva and brought M to his childhood home in Scotland. However, during the fight, and with endless guns firing, M was hit. Silva caught her in a chapel as she attempted to escape despite her wounded situation. When Silva was about to kill her, Agent 007 threw a knife at Silva’s back and the villain was killed. Despite being able to save M from Silva, Agent 007 still failed to keep M alive because of too much blood loss from her wound. The film ended with Agent 007 just continuing on with his life, with a different Agent M (Mendes, 2012). Masculine Ideologies in SkyFall Masculinity and Health Just like any James Bond movie, Skyfall (Mendes, 2012) is driven by masculine ideologies. The scene in the film where Agent 007 reported back to the MI6 and was obviously not fit to get back to the field showed the masculine ideology of hiding weakness. Where society expected a man to be strong despite injuries, the film portrayed the character to have no limitations even if it was shown later on in the film that he was actually not fit. Furthermore, the scene where he injured himself to take out two metallic materials also implied masculinity. This kind of ideology is well supported by the study of Wade (2008) on the traditional ideology of masculinity with attitudes towards their health. In his study, men who have traditional ideologies on masculinity tend to put less priority to their health because of the social connotation that men have to be physically strong at all times. This kind of perception leads a man to act in accordance with the cultural expectations on masculinity, with the consequence of putting high-risk to his health and endangering his life. The scene where Agent 007 and an enemy plunged into the freezing water during a chase at the latter part of the story is also a portrayal of traditional masculine ideology. It was obvious in that scene that the temperature was very cold and the lake was already frozen, and to deliberately break the ice and choke the enemy under water was life endangering. To make matters worse, the water on top already froze back and he had to use a torch gun to be able to escape (Mendes, 2012). A person does not need to be a doctor to know the effect of that situation to any normal human being. Agent 007 would have suffered from hypothermia, which was not even slightly evident in the film. Another scene, though obviously irrelevant to the story, was when Agent 007 drank a glass of liquor while a scorpion was ready to sting his hand at any moment. When he successfully drank his shot, all of the men around him cheered on him (Mendes, 2012). In real life, some men may find it absurd, however, some will think it is cool. This kind of behavior points to the traditional masculine ideology, and implies that putting one’s self at a very risky situation, for fun or whatever other reason, merits a man with power or acknowledgment among his peers. Masculinity and Emotions Throughout the film, it was obvious that Agent 007 hardly showed any kind of emotion. The closest emotion that could be seen on the film was the portrayal of a man who has not shaved and looked awful. Agent 007 did not show any signs of emotion when he killed a woman because he failed to shoot the glass at the top of her head. It was as if he just missed the target and no life was sacrificed (Mendes, 2012). This kind of traditional masculine ideology, where a man is not supposed to show any emotion but only of rage and anger was also described in the study conducted by Schehr (2000). Schehr (2000) compared the martial arts genre with the action-cop genre of films, where it was evident that physical male strength was very influential in almost any aspect of an action film. The villain, Silva, showed emotions in the film but were of anger, pain and rage. Conflict of the film was brought about by his thirst for revenge. Towards the end of the film, the scene where Silva caught M at the chapel portrayed emotions of forgiveness in exchange of their death. Another part of the film that showed the unattached emotion of the masculine ideology was the scene where M died in the arms of Agent 007. There was not much emotions felt and looking into the eyes of the character did not even show sadness. Masculinity and Violence Action films driven by masculine ideologies are evident because the films always depict that violence is the only solution to resolve a conflict. Stereotypes may find long intellectual dialogues boring. The traditional masculine ideology of a man is the “warrior-type” character (Schehr, 2000). A clear example of this ideology was the scene where nine men attacked Agent 007 and M in the house that they used as a strategy to lure Silva. Obviously, they were outnumbered and given the scenario that Agent 007 had two elderly allies helping him was a liability. They were able to kill all of them, but Agent 007 realized that Silva was not with those men. Then a helicopter appeared. Silva was on the helicopter with two more of his men, he ordered the pilot to shoot at the house. The helicopter was equipped with high-power ammunitions and fired endlessly on the target. At this point, M and the old man already escaped, while Agent 007 was left behind. Despite the bullets and bombs getting into the house, Agent 007 did not get hit at all, nor was he bruised (Mendes, 2012). It is quite funny to think that viewers still appreciate a character capable of handling or wiping out the enemies all by himself, not to mention the bullet-dodging skills of the male lead character. This kind of male portrayal is clearly an influence of the traditional masculine ideology, which in reality, the kind of situation portrayed in the film is impossible to occur. The study by Meagher (2003) where two different scenes from a movie were shown to several male and female participants emphasized on the emotional and physiological effects of an action and romance scene. The study suggested that action scenes had little physiological effect on men compared to women, using their heart rate as a measurement of the physiological effect. The explanation for this result was because men tend to watch action films more frequently than women, so they have grown immune to the violence in action films. This is an implication of the influence of the traditional masculine ideology, and even stereotyping, that romance scenes, consequently romance films are for females and a man watching these kinds of films is prejudged as a gay or effeminate in nature. While the men who watch action films are stereotyped to be more masculine compared to those who favor romance films. Masculinity and Sex Action films, more often than not, have sex scenes. The presence of beautiful female characters showing interest on the lead male character, implying high levels of sex appeal and physical attraction, is another form of the traditional masculine ideology. It appears that the increased number of sex scenes in a film, somehow influences the stereotyping of men. The study by Wade (2008) on masculine ideologies suggested that men with traditional masculine ideologies have the tendency to have more sexual relationships compared to the non-traditional males. This finding then leads to the health issues, suggesting that with the increased tendency of sexual contact, men with traditional ideologies are more prone to getting infected by sexually transmitted diseases (Wade, 2008). James Bond Over The Years A typical James Bond would be the sleek man, oozing with charm and sex appeal, gets his way with the ladies, dodges hundreds of bullets fired at him and a one-man-warrior. This has been how James Bond is portrayed over the years. He is like Rambo in a tuxedo. In a span of more than ten years, James Bond films have been made and it is evident that the people behind these films made sure that the image of a “James Bond” remained the same. Despite the social, cultural and economic changes brought about by globalization, the masculine image projected by the James Bond character remained to be that of traditional ideology. Comparing the James Bond character portrayed by Pierce Brosnan in Golden Eye (Campbell, 1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (Spottiswoode, 1997) and Die Another Day (Tamahori, 2002) with the James Bond played by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale (Campbell, 2006), Quantum of Solace (Forster, 2008) and Skyfall (Mendes, 2012), there really is no masculine ideological difference. Effects and cinematography have improved; villains and plots have definitely changed, but the means through which the conflicts were resolved and the image being projected, as a “James Bond” remained the same. Furthermore, all these films have at one point in the movie depicted sex scenes whether symbolically or physically, again showing a form of traditional masculine ideology. It appears that with the James Bond image being portrayed through these films over the past ten years, the traditional form of masculine ideology is resurrected regularly. From a director or producer’s end, it may be just business, but from a social point of view, and for organizations or communities that work towards gender equality, this is apparently a cycle. The influence that this kind of film has on adolescents and even adults continue to be refreshed over and over because there is no change in the context of masculinity of a James Bond film. This then suggests that the James Bond image is already a stereotype because the man has been associated with pre-defined traditional masculine ideologies that have to be asserted in every film about the character. Ideologically, without a tuxedo, a pistol, charm and a lady, a male character in an action film is not James Bond. Conclusion Media is probably the most influential instrument in modern times, and this includes films. The power of the internet to reach millions of people further increased the influential power of media. Action films commonly portray male lead characters under the influence of traditional masculine ideologies, and the film Skyfall (Mendes, 2012) projects this kind of ideology to its audience. However, the masculine ideology in the film does not emanate from the action itself, but on the characteristics and situations that have been associated with the male character, James Bond. By comparing the James Bond movies from 1995 to 2012, traditional masculine ideologies remained the same. Violence, solitude, risk-taking and sex, which have been related as masculine ideologies in different researches, showed to be the main elements of a James Bond film. Regardless of the actor, and the director, it is evident that these forms of masculine ideologies are being preserved in the character “James Bond”. This preservation of the traditional masculine ideology contradicts the efforts of eradicating gender-related issues that are being faced by industrialized regions. It is even alarming that this ideology is not only preserved in the character, but also relived over and over because filmmakers continue to bring back James Bond in the big screens. Having digested the context of the film Skyfall (Mendes, 2012), and the exaggeration of some scenes leaning towards masculine ideologies, it is evident that the film remains to be influenced by the traditional masculine ideology. It is then expected that any upcoming James Bond movie will portray the same elements regardless of the current social condition, and continue to project the ideologies that come with it. References Connell, R. (2013). Neoliberal Globalization, Masculinity and Gender Justice. The World Financial Review. Retrieved from http://www.worldfinancialreview.com/?p=1593 Meagher, K. (2003). The Emotional and Physiological Effects of Action and Romance Scenes on Men and Women. Retrieved from vault.hanover.edu/~altermattw/methods/assets/posterpics/Meagher.doc. Schehr, R.C. (2000). Martial Arts Films and the Action-Cop Genre: Ideology, Violence and Spectatorship. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 7(3): 102 – 118. Wade, J. C. (2008). Masculinity Ideology, Male Reference Group Identity Dependence, and African American Men’s Health-Related Attitudes and Behaviors. Psychology of Men & Masculinity. 9(1): 5-16. DOI: 10.1027/1524-9220.9.1.5. Wilson, M. and Broccoli, B. (Producers), & Campbell, M. (Director). (2006). Casino Royale [Motion picture]. United Kingdom: MGM and Columbia Pictures Wilson, M. and Broccoli, B. (Producers), & Campbell, M. (Director). (1995). Golden Eye [Motion picture]. United Kingdom: MGM and UA Distribution Company Wilson, M. and Broccoli, B. (Producers), & Forster, M. (Director). (2008). Quantum of Solace [Motion picture]. United Kingdom: MGM and Columbia Pictures Wilson, M. and Broccoli, B. (Producers), & Mendes, S. (Director). (2012). Skyfall [Motion picture]. London: MGM and Columbia Pictures. Wilson, M. and Broccoli, B. (Producers), & Spottiswoode, R. (Director). (1997). Tomorrow Never Dies [Motion picture]. United Kingdom: United Artists Pictures Wilson, M. and Broccoli, B. (Producers) & Tamahori, L. (Director). (2002). Die Another Day [Motion picture]. United Kingdom: MGM Read More