CHAPTER IV. “JAMES BOND” CULT IN WORLD CINEMATOGRAPHY

Product placement as very feature of the “James Bond” series

In general meaning, product placement is “a practice in which manufacturers of goods or providers of a service gain exposure for their products by paying for them to be featured in movies and television programs” [32].

Despite the fact that practising this type of advertisement started long before the “Bondiana”, later it became one of the defining features of this exact franchise. But in some ways the James Bond series were almost pioneers of the practice. For example at first place the car’s product placement were used in “The Man with the Golden Gun” and only after the successful campaign of “AMC” were continued by the other companies. Besides, Aston Martin cars were the main cars of James Bond in 1960s already but it wasn’t so obvious and it wasn’t used as a deliberate advertisement in contrast to AMC movement in the latest movies [46, p. 36].

In addition to the cars, “Bondiana” became a profitable place of the advertisement for the alcohol (the latest example of it is in “Skyfall” with its beer Heineken), tobacco (Lark brand promoted by Moore and Dalton in the 1980s), computers (Sony laptops, mobiles etc. in “Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace”), watches (Rolex Omega in “Casino Royale”) and many other items.

Generally, Hollywood product placement gets a climax of this practice in James Bond films via the “007 agent” image that always receives or uses different goods that helps him in saving the world. As always, these products combine real and modern technologies with artificial hyperbole of the Bond genre, with extra attention to expensive and elegant items such as luxurious cars, electronic equipment and personal accessories from watches till tuxedos.

James Bond in hierarchy of movie spies

Despite the fact that the character of James Bond is extremely differ from the classical portrayal of the agents and spies, his influence on the development of the genre (action/thriller) and movies with the spy theme can’t be overestimated [4, p. 102]. His personality is a unique phenomenon and with its uniqueness it won all hearts.

Though James Bond wasn’t the real person and his life seems to be unrealistic even in the cinema, he became the true embodiment of the spy agent (despite the improbable and fairy shade of the character) on the screen and secured the positions in the mind of the audience. With its formula consisted of pursuits, skirmishes, gadgets it inspired many other works.

“The French Connection” and “Dirty Harry” for example were obviously influenced by the “Bondiana” in its action component, especially the first movie. Great chase scene from “The French Connection” was based exact on the experience of the Bond series.

As for the spy films, the grandiose success of the Bond series in 1960s gave birth to the hundreds of imitators in Europe as well in the USA. Among the well-known examples were the two movies with fictional hero Derek Flint. The most recognisable example of influence of Bond nowadays is “Bourne franchise”.

Despite the fact that basically there’s a different theme and sense was put in “Bourne”, some of the Bond features such as the leading idea of a “dull weapon of the government” were actively used in the novels and movies. The two franchises are very different in its basis but the motif of the cruel fate of the agents (both James Bond and Jason Bourne) who are actually a pawn in the hands of their superiors is relevant for the both of the series.

On the whole, owing to James Bond, the spy thriller finally gets the wide popularity. Earlier we could mention that spy themes were able to dominate the thriller, but now the situation has been changed and we see the espionage thriller as a dominant part of the popular fiction. Stories of spies and agents are no longer just a small part of the culture, they reach its centre.

Bond movies” impact on world popular culture

In order to evaluate the meaning of James Bond for the world wide culture we don’t need special researches or tests. Everyone knows the famous line from the series “Bond. James Bond.” which eventually managed to enter the vocabulary of popular culture. Writers Cork and Scivally claimed that this “signature introduction would become the most famous and loved film line ever” [11, p. 6].

Another popular line which became a recognisable catchphrase in western culture, moreover, appeared in many other programmes, games and movies is “shaken, not stirred”. It described Bond’s preference for how he wanted his martini made but later it turned into the well-known remark, always associated with James Bond figure.

In the previous chapter we touched upon the different movies where the influence of James Bond technology was the most obvious but we didn’t mention tens of true parodies on the “Bondiana”. We can’t help mentioning the most famous and very close to the original “Austin Powers” franchise, which is existence is the best proof of huge influence on the western culture made by James Bond appearance. The things that were the objects of the parody in the Austin Powers series, basically, are the things that somewhere in the past attracted ordinary people and drove them in the cinema: a trite desire for the escapism, the world without poverty and villains, who always pays for their evil deeds [43, p. 106].

With a lapse of time the even name of James Bond became the common noun, the synonym of guru of the style, invincible hero, symbol of sex, violence and glamour. Despite the fact that the personality of the “007 agent” was often accused of racism and snobbery, his fans always imagine him as a seductive and smart agent, licensed to kill.

According tothe results of the research,madein the fourth chapter, we can state the following.

1. Generally, the product placement feature became well-known owing to the James Bond series where it was actively used from the simple accessories till the modern and luxuries cars and tuxedos. Hundreds of famous brands were put in the Bond movies and mainly they represented and marked the elegant and aristocratic style of the agent and successfully differentiated him from the villains.

2. We basically proved that without the emergence of the “Bondiana”, thousands of the movies (especially made in the spy and criminal style) wouldn’t see the screen. The chasing scenes, gadgets, “government-agent themes”, some of the personal characteristics of James Bond were rewritten and used well in the movies afterwards. The James Bond series is still the leader of the spy-thriller industry.

3. The role and impact of James Bond on the different spheres and part of the culture can’t be overestimated. The catchphrases such as Bond’s introduction and many other features stepped into the public life and usage as well as the main character’s style and image crushed down all the notions about the appearance and behavior of the secret agent. Generally we came to the conclusion that the image of the English gentleman was pushed aside a little in order to give some space to the new hero of Britain – James Bond, “007 agent”.

CONCLUSION

According to our research, the major components that have to be included in the concept of “media franchise”, are the following: 1) at least three films in the series (with characters that can be transferred from movie to movie); 2) good results in box office; 3) such genres as action, adventure, sci-fi, thriller along with big budget production values and book source. Due to the point that all necessary evidence has been found it should be said that “James Bond” is a true media franchise.

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APPENDICES

Appendix 1

[1] Chapter 1: Reflections in a Double Bourbon