May Day (James Bond)

Last updated
May Day
James Bond character
Grace Jones as May Day.jpg
Grace Jones as May Day
First appearance A View to a Kill (1985)
Portrayed by Grace Jones
In-universe information
GenderFemale
Affiliation Zorin Industries
Classification Bond girl / Henchwoman

May Day is a character in the James Bond film A View to a Kill , played by actress Grace Jones. Jones received a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the 1985 Saturn Awards for her performance.

Contents

In the film

May Day works as a bodyguard for Max Zorin, and is also his lover. She kills Achille Aubergine (escaping from Bond by jumping from the Eiffel Tower), Godfrey Tibbett and Chuck Lee. She has sexual intercourse with James Bond during the film, dominating him by being on top. [1] [2] [3]

When she fights Bond at the end of the film, however, May Day realizes Zorin has left her to die in his mine, and says, "And I thought that creep loved me!" [2] She then helps Bond move a bomb clear of the mine with a handcar. She willingly drives it out of the mine, where it detonates, killing her.

Casting

Grace Jones was suggested for the role by former Bond girl Barbara Bach. [4] Lisa Funnell notes that May Day was "privileged in the film's promotion, standing back-to-back with Bond in movie posters that asked, "Has James Bond finally met his match?"" [5]

B. J. Worth was the stunt double in the Eiffel Tower scene. [6]

Film poster for A View to a Kill depicting James Bond and May Day. A View to a Kill - UK cinema poster.jpg
Film poster for A View to a Kill depicting James Bond and May Day.

Analysis

Commentators have extensively discussed May Day's position as a black woman, especially in regards to her strength. James Chapman argues that May Day is a "highly problematic character within the terms of the Bond series: as a dominant woman (and, moreover, a dominant black woman) she represents a challenge to Bond's masculinity which is never properly resolved." Chapman concludes that "in terms of the sexist code of the Bond films, May Day is simply too problematic to be allowed to live." [2] Kristen Shaw argues that

May Day is represented as a monstrous female: she is unapologetically violent, has superhuman strength, and seduces Bond by jumping on top of him and taking control. Although she switches allegiances at the conclusion of the film, helping Bond and sacrificing her life in the process, she remains coded as animalistic, non-human, and deviant. These black women are reduced to stereotypes; both are hyper-sexualized and represented as duplicitous and violent. [3]

Travis L. Wagner notes that May Day is "presented as being physically strong and sexually alluring." He argues that "May Day can be read as a distinct postcolonial subaltern Other". Wagner goes on to suggest that

As a subaltern, May Day decidedly lacks a voice for most of the film, often resorting to brutish, violent feats of strength to express her thoughts, all the while reinforcing the colonial rhetoric of the Other as a beast. For May Day, physical actions trump verbal expressions, and this is most notable in her sexual encounter with Bond, where she silently disrobes and jumps into bed with him. [7]

Charles Burnetts sees May Day as a "fluffer" character: a member of a group of women in the Bond films whom Bond seduces earlier in the movie but who disappear by the end and serve only to keep the male "agent" aroused until the arrival of the primary sexual object, the Bond girl. Burnetts suggests that May Day

Embodies aspects of both the “animalistic sexuality” of a colonizing white male fantasy... and a hyper-masculinity that threatens to destabilize Bond’s sexual politics. I argue that May Day serves as a high-watermark for the fluffer character, and, true to her name, as a kind of emergency distress signal with respect to the Bond film's racial and gender politics. [8]

A number of commentators compare May Day to Stacey Sutton, who is the main Bond girl in the film: Paul Simpson argues that Sutton is "consistently overshadowed by Grace Jones' May Day," [9] Chapman suggests that May Day is a "far more memorable character" than Sutton," [2] while Lisa Funnell says that May Day outshines the rest of cast. [5] Burnetts argues that May Day represents

An ideal of athleticism, aggression, and strength that dominates not only her childlike employer/lover Max Zorin, but Bond himself throughout the film. May Day also narratively and spatially upstages her conventionally beautiful and white Bond Girl counterpart Stacey Sutton, only to be made scarce and then finally removed like other fluffer characters in the film’s latter half. As if to register her resistance to the fluffer mantle imposed on her by the film's eventual privileging of Sutton, May Day dominates the first half of the film in narrative, sexual, and spatial terms. In at least two sequences, Bond’s surveillance of Sutton is disrupted by the entrance of May Day into his field of vision, motioning for him to turn away and mind his own business. Bond’s classical (white) male gaze, trained voyeuristically again on a "woman as image", is disrupted here by May Day, a woman of color, who turns the gaze upon Bond himself. Such gender instabilities inevitably extend to the bedroom, where Bond is uncharacteristically dominated by her, a submissiveness on his part that the film struggles to contain. [10]

Screen Rant rates May Day as the bravest of all the Bond girls. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bond girl</span> Female love interest and/or sidekick of James Bond

A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest, female companion or (occasionally) an adversary of James Bond in a novel, film, or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or sexual puns, such as Plenty O'Toole, Holly Goodhead, or Xenia Onatopp. The female leads in the films, such as Ursula Andress, Honor Blackman, or Eva Green, can also be referred to as "Bond girls". The term Bond girl may also be considered as an anachronism, with some female cast members in the films preferring the designation Bond woman.

<i>On Her Majestys Secret Service</i> (novel) 1963 espionage novel by Ian Fleming

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the tenth novel and eleventh book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape on 1 April 1963. Fleming changed the formula and structure from the previous novel, The Spy Who Loved Me, and made a determined effort to produce a work that adhered to his tried and tested format. The initial and secondary print runs sold out quickly, with over 60,000 copies sold in the first month, double that of the previous book's first month of sales. Fleming wrote the novel at Goldeneye, his holiday home in Jamaica, while Dr. No, the first entry in the James Bond film series by Eon Productions, was being filmed nearby.

<i>The Spy Who Loved Me</i> (novel) James Bond novel by Ian Fleming

The Spy Who Loved Me is the ninth novel and tenth book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published by Jonathan Cape on 16 April 1962. It is the shortest and most sexually explicit of Fleming's novels, as well as the only Bond novel told in the first person. Its narrator is a young Canadian woman, Viv Michel. Bond himself does not appear until two-thirds of the way through the book, arriving at precisely the right moment to save Viv from being raped and murdered by two criminals. Fleming wrote a prologue to the novel giving the character Viv credit as a co-author.

<i>A View to a Kill</i> 1985 James Bond film directed by John Glen

A View to a Kill is a 1985 spy film, the fourteenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's 1960 short story "From a View to a Kill", the film has an entirely original screenplay. In A View to a Kill, Bond is pitted against Max Zorin, who plans to destroy California's Silicon Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lois Maxwell</span> Canadian actress (1927–2007)

Lois Ruth Maxwell was a Canadian actress who portrayed Miss Moneypenny in the first fourteen Eon-produced James Bond films (1962–1985), from Dr. No in 1962 to A View to a Kill in 1985. She did not appear in the 1967 adaptation of Casino Royale, nor in the 1983 remake of Thunderball, Never Say Never Again, as the production was not Eon's, though she did, as a similar character, appear in the spoof O.K. Connery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xenia Onatopp</span> Character in James Bond film Golden Eye

Xenia Zaragevna Onatopp is a fictional character and Bond girl in the James Bond film GoldenEye, played by actress Famke Janssen. She is a fighter pilot and assassin who crushes her enemies with her thighs to get sexual satisfaction, working for the renegade MI6 agent Alec Trevelyan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Zorin</span> Fictional character

Maximillian Zorin is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill. He is portrayed by Christopher Walken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pussy Galore</span> Fictional character from the James Bond film series

Pussy Galore is a fictional character in the 1959 Ian Fleming James Bond novel Goldfinger and the 1964 film of the same name. In the film, she is played by Honor Blackman. The character returns in the 2015 Bond continuation novel Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz, set in the 1950s, two weeks after the events of Goldfinger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosa Klebb</span> Fictional Character and James Bond villain

Colonel Rosa Klebb is a fictional character, the main antagonist in the James Bond 1957 novel and 1963 film From Russia with Love, in which she is played by Lotte Lenya. She was a Soviet counter-intelligence operative until being discharged and joining SPECTRE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Final girl</span> Trope in slasher horror films

The final girl is a trope in horror films. It refers to the last girl(s) or woman alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. The final girl has been observed in many films, including Psycho, Voices of Desire, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween, Alien, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, and Train to Busan. The term was coined by Carol J. Clover in her article "Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film" (1987). Clover suggested that in these films, the viewer began by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experienced a shift in identification to the final girl partway through the film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honey Ryder</span> Female character in the James Bond novel and film Dr. No

Honeychile Rider is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond novel Dr. No. In the 1962 Bond film of the same name, her name was shortened and spelled Honey Ryder. In the film, she is played by Swiss actress Ursula Andress, with her lines dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl due to Andress' heavy accent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stacey Sutton</span> Fictional character

Stacey Sutton is a fictional character in the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill. She is played by Tanya Roberts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anya Amasova</span> Character from James Bond

Major Anya Amasova is a fictional character in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, portrayed by Barbara Bach. Amasova is an agent of the KGB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiffany Case</span> Character in James Bond novel and film Diamonds Are Forever

Tiffany Case is a fictional character in the 1956 James Bond novel Diamonds Are Forever and its 1971 film adaptation. A "Bond girl", she was portrayed by Jill St. John in the film. In the novel, the story of her name is that when she was born, her father Case was so embittered she was not a boy that he gave her mother a thousand dollars and a powder case from Tiffany's and walked out. In the film it is stated that she was named after her accidental preterm birthplace, Tiffany & Co., where her parents were going through a choice of wedding bands, to which Bond dryly jokes that she was lucky that it had not happened at Van Cleef & Arpels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White bikini of Ursula Andress</span> Bathing suit worn by Ursula Andress in the 1962 James Bond film, Dr. No

The white bikini worn by Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder in the 1962 James Bond film, Dr. No, is cited as the most famous bikini of all time and an iconic moment in cinematic and fashion history.

The James Bond series of films contain a number of repeating, distinctive motifs which date from the series' inception with Dr. No in 1962. The series consists of twenty five films produced by Eon Productions featuring the James Bond character, a fictional British Secret Service agent. The most recent instalment is No Time to Die, released in UK cinemas on 30 September 2021. There have also been two independently made features, the satirical Casino Royale, released in 1967, and the 1983 film Never Say Never Again.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender in horror films</span>

The representation of gender in horror films, particularly depictions of women, has been the subject of critical commentary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portrayal of James Bond in film</span> Fictional character

James Bond is a fictional character created by the British journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1952. The character first appeared in a series of twelve novels and two short story collections written by Fleming and a number of continuation novels and spin-off works after Fleming's death in 1964. Bond's literary portrayal differs in some ways from his treatment in the James Bond films, of which there have been twenty-seven in total, produced and released between 1962 and 2021.

Charles Christian Waterstreet is a former Australian barrister, an author, and theatre and film producer. He has written two memoirs and produced two films, and he is now a columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald after the NSW Bar Association cancelled his practising certificate. He is known as one of the co-creators of the ABC Television series Rake. However, co-creator and actor Richard Roxburgh asserted in 2017 that Waterstreet had only contributed one idea to a single episode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sévérine</span> Fictional character in the 2012 film Skyfall

Sévérine is a fictional character who appears in the 23rd James Bond filmSkyfall (2012). Played by Bérénice Marlohe, Sévérine is a former sex slave who works as an accomplice of Raoul Silva. She collaborates with James Bond to stop her boss, but is captured and killed by Silva.

References

  1. Burnetts, Charles (2015). "Bond's Bit On The Side: Race, Exoticism and the Bond "Fluffer" Character". For His Eyes Only: The Women of James Bond. Columbia University Press. p. 65. ISBN   9780231850926 . Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Chapman, James (2000). Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films. Columbia University Press. p. 227. ISBN   9780231120487 . Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  3. 1 2 Shaw, Kristen (2015). "The Politics Of Representation: Disciplining and Domesticating Miss Moneypenny in Skyfall". For His Eyes Only: The Women of James Bond. Columbia University Press. p. 75. ISBN   9780231850926 . Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  4. Field, Matthew; Chowdhury, Ajay (2015). Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films. The History Press. p. 354. ISBN   9780750966504 . Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  5. 1 2 Funnell, Lisa (2011). "Negotiating Shifts in Feminism: The "Bad" Girls of James Bond". Women on Screen: Feminism and Femininity in Visual Culture. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 205. ISBN   9780230301979 . Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  6. Gilmore, Brad (2022). Bond, James Bond: Exploring the Shaken and Stirred History of Ian Fleming's 007. Mango Publishing. p. 111. ISBN   9781642505467 . Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  7. Wagner, Travis L. (2015). ""The Old Ways Are Best": The Colonization of Women of Color in Bond Films". For His Eyes Only: The Women of James Bond. New York City: Columbia University Press. p. 56. ISBN   9780231850926 . Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  8. Burnetts, "Bond's Bit On The Side," p. 61.
  9. Simpson, Paul (2020). Bond vs. Bond. Race Point Publishing. p. 104. ISBN   9781631066962 . Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  10. Burnetts, "Bond's Bit On The Side," p. 64.
  11. Etemesi, Philip (28 January 2022). "James Bond: The 10 Best Bond Girls, Ranked By Bravery". Screen Rant . Retrieved 24 August 2022.