It’s almost Christmas and I decided to watch Moonraker instead of a Christmas movie.
In Bond’s first scene he’s kissing a woman on a private jet. Suddenly she pulls a gun on him, a man pops out of the cockpit and a fight ensues. Bond pushes the man out of the plane, and guess who pushes Bond out of the plane? Jaws. Yes, Jaws, the man with the metal teeth from the previous movie is back.
I decided to get cozy in bed with warm blankets this time when watching the movie. Usually, I’m at the kitchen table or sitting at my desk so that I have a writing surface to jot down some notes. Sometimes with a bowl of popcorn, sometimes not.
Moonraker is my 11th Bond movie. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen too much growth in James Bond’s character, and it’s almost 1980. And that’s why I, a non-Bond fan, am watching all the Bond movies…to see how Bond evolves over time.
James Bond’s Evolution in Moonraker
I hoped Roger Moore would bring forth a new evolved James Bond, leaving the 1960s Bond behind and embracing the modern 1970s. I was a child in the 70s, and it seemed to me to be a time of progression. My mom got a part-time job, no longer a stay-at-home mom (or housewife as it was called back then).
Big afros were a thing at least until the late 70s with black men and women embracing natural hair. My sister, six years older than me, had a huge afro. I never did because my mom did my hair…straightened with a hot comb and I usually wore one or two ponytails. Even white people were wearing afros by getting their hair permed into tightly coiled curls.
All in The Family, a tv show challenging racism through comedy came out in 1971. Maude was a 1972 show about a feminist. Good Times, a show about a black family in the inner city, came out in 1974. The Jeffersons, a tv show about a financially wealthy black family, came out in 1975, and also spoke openly about race. And there was Sanford and Son that came out in 1972. I still watch it today when I need a good 30-minute laugh.
The Bond producers’ idea of evolution was when Bond went to Harlem in Live and Let Die. And when Bond had sex with a black woman (Rosie) in the same movie. That’s a form of evolution, but the kind of evolution I’m looking for is in Bond’s character–his persona, mentality, him as a person, particularly in his treatment and view of women, which would include no longer having sexual names for female characters. I’d also like to see more of who Bond is other than a one-dimensional superhero.
James Bond and Women
By the middle of Moonraker Bond’s already slept with three women.
I thought the idea that agents sleeping with enemy agents to get information was fabricated for movies. But but after doing a little research it seems it does happen. It’s called a honey trap.
One famous honey trap goes all the back to Bible times with Samson and Delilah! I don’t know if sex was involved, but Samson was in love with Delilah. A group of people paid her to get information from Samson, and she lures him into her trap, and eventually, he gives her the information she wants.
Disrespect towards women continues in this movie. A female doctor is given the name Dr. Goodhead. Why is it never enough to simply allow the woman to be smart without degrading her with a sexual name?
Ian Fleming, creator of the James Bond character, came up with these sexual names for the female characters. Fleming had a warped relationship with women. His twisted history with women had deep roots in his abusive relationship with his mother.
Even though Fleming devised the names it would have been easy for the movie producers to change them but they chose not to. Doing away with these degrading character names would be a start to evolving the Bond franchise.
Moonraker, The Plot
The opening scene reminded me of movie #5, You Only Live Twice because it was on a spacecraft and the plot in both movies is to investigate a missing spacecraft. They’re very different movies and I like this one, Moonraker, better. It’s straight forward and the plot didn’t veer off making me wonder what the heck is going on.
It’s surprising when Jaws becomes an ally to Bond in the film. Jaws also meets a girl and falls in love. Jaws speaks in this film; okay, it’s just one sentence, but it’s shocking because he’s never spoken before.
The opening scene (after the opening music) is spectacular. Bond free falls out of a plane with no parachute.
Production & Filming Info
This movie was filmed in 1978 and came out in theaters in June 1979.
If you’d like to know why I, a non-Bond fan, am watching all 25 James Bond movies you can read about it in detail here: Who Is The Next James Bond? A Non Bond Fan Makes Her Prediction.