The enigma of the male sex symbol
2013; Routledge; Volume: 4; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/19392397.2013.750125
ISSN1939-2400
Autores Tópico(s)Gender Roles and Identity Studies
ResumoAbstract When Daniel Craig emerged from the sea as the new James Bond in Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006), his appearance (and his physique) created a media furore. For the first time since the days of Sean Connery, James Bond was once again a sex symbol. Starting with the many examples offered by the James Bond franchise, this essay identifies the sex symbol as a ubiquitous but essentially ill-defined category of celebrity status. Challenging a 'common-sense' understanding of the sex symbol, this essay emphasises the importance of the sex symbol as a way into understanding the complexity and mutability of attitudes towards sex and sexuality. The intention of this article is to bring the category of sex symbol into critical view, to make some provisional suggestions as to the ways in which this phenomenon might be interrogated and to consider what the specific issues might be in relation to an understanding of the male sex symbol in particular. Keywords: stardomcelebritysex symbolmasculinityBond filmsDaniel Craig Notes 1. Trina Parks in Diamonds Are Forever (Guy Hamilton, 1971) is usually identified as the first black Bond Girl, cast (though notably uncredited) as 'Thumper'. 2. In the specific scene, our point of view shifts several times. The scene opens at the beach with the audience positioned as an omniscient viewer as Solange arrives on horseback followed by a group of running children. For a short sequence we see Solange from the point of view of one of the children. We then revert to an omniscient viewer to witness Bond's emergence from the sea, we then see Solange through Bond's eyes and finally and only at the end of the sequence we see Bond through Solange's eyes. 3. See Sean Redmond's discussion of Keanu Reeves in 'All that is Male Melts into Air: Bigelow on the Edge of Point Break' (Citation2003) in The Cinema of Kathryn Bigelow: Hollywood Transgressor, edited by Jermyn and Redmond.
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