Bond = unsafe?

Bond Blamed for Rise in Unsafe Sex

Fictional superspy James Bond's spontaneous bedroom antics have failed to impress the medical world, as the character appears to champion unsafe sex. The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine has slammed movies including 2002's Die Another Day for their contraception-free antics between the sheets, and blames Hollywood for the rise in sexually transmitted diseases and accidental pregnancies. Raunchy movie Basic Instinct, which thrilled audiences in 1991, is also under fire for a reported six scenes of unsafe love-making, although none of the movies refer to the potential dangers. Dr Hasantha Gunasekera, the author of the research paper, says, "The social norm being presented in movies is concerning, given the HIV and illicit drug pandemics in developing and industrialized countries. The motion picture industry should be encouraged to depict safer sex practices and to depict the real consequences of unprotected sex."

Oh come on, people! I can see why someone would blame James Bond for championing a bad behavior towards women and maybe even unsafe sex, but how can they do this seriously? I mean, who would actually and honestly choose James Bond as a role model? If you know me you know I LOVE James Bond. I know all the movies, all the villains, all the Bond girls. I've loved Bond since I was a child and when Pierce Brosnan was chosen to play James Bond I was even more excited because of this dark secret of mine that is an undying crush on this guy.

Yeah, I know. I really don't know why I drool every time I see him. He's not even my type and he's often so greasy and slick, but hell! To me he has the perfect features. I'm not so much into perfect which is why this crush doesn't surface so often, but I still think he has the perfectly aesthetical face. Ehem. Anyway. Back to the point.

Nobody would (or at least should) pick Bond as a serious role model. He represents a fantasy, of the perfect agent who can do everything and who is lusted after by women (and some men, too, probably *g*). This is NOT realistic, okay? So this really makes my eyes roll. And even worse, how can they complain about Die Another Day??? Yeah there's a really passionate sex scene in there, probably one of the most passionate ones in the entire Bond series, but it only shows them already at it, so maybe he DID slip on a little something before they were going at it. So this complaint is silly. Right now my memory fails me, so I'm not sure if and how he has sex with Frost, but if he does then it's most definitely a "half" sex scene again, meaning they either show the end of it or the beginning, and both means the character could still stop to put on a condom.

So really, what the hell? If you're going to complain about an obviously unsafe sex scene, take Golden Eye where he screws Xenia in the hotbath. That scene is pretty much complete and he would have needed to be a magician to slip on a condom while pinning her against the wall.

Now, what annoys me the most is that these people complain about movies that are just heavy on sex and suspense. Basic Instinct is also mentioned. I really wonder why they're not complaining about romantic movies and comedies. Seriously, tell me one romantic movie where they think about safe sex. In Pretty Woman they just sink on the cheeks and go right at it. Sure, after the camera faded out maybe Edward hopped off Vivian, reached into the drawer and slipped on a condom, but that kinda breaks the mood, doesn't it? (In all fairness, Vivian does have condoms with her and point out the necessity of safe sex earlier on, but you get my point. This was just the first scene that came to mind. There are plenty of other movies where no one ever speaks about safe sex and they still have a full-blown romantic sex montage.)

It's just so unfair to expect a realistic portrayal of human interaction from these movies. They're not meant to be like that and asking for it is limiting the fantasy in many possible ways. This is like the cool hero smoking. We all know it's wrong and you shouldn't encourage the image "smoking = cool", but hell it still looks good! If these keeps up, one of these days we'll only have realistic, politically correct movies that are boring because they're exactly like our own boring lives with the same rules and limitations.