Awards Radar Community: What Makes a Bond Girl?

Doubling up on the Awards Radar Community questions this weekend! This one was generated actually by a podcast I listen to, as well as a conversation with my parents, believe it or not. On a recent episode of The Ralph Report, a question arose in regards to the James Bond franchise. Ralph Garman and Eddie Pence debated it, and then I did as well with my folks, while having dinner together one night afterwards. Today, I put it to you all in our newest community question. Ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to this series: what exactly makes a Bond girl?

What goes into making a Bond girl? Some think she has to sleep with 007. Others just need her to be someone interested in him. Then, there’s the debate on if villains qualify or not? As you’ll see in this bit from the wikipedia page, there is both no set criteria and then some supposed mainstays. Take a look:

A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest or female companion of James Bond in a novel, film or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as Pussy Galore, Plenty O’Toole, Xenia Onatopp, or Holly Goodhead.

A Bond girl can also refer to the female lead in the films, such as Ursula Andress, Honor Blackman or Sophie Marceau.

There is no set rule on what kind of person a Bond girl will be or what role she will play. She may be an ally or an enemy of Bond, pivotal to the mission or simply there for her looks. There are female characters such as Judi Dench’s M, and Camille Montes, a Bolivian intelligence agent who teams up with Bond in Quantum of Solace, who are not romantic interests of Bond, and hence not strictly Bond girls. However, it has been argued that M’s pivotal role in the plot of Skyfall qualifies her as a Bond girl or Bond woman.

The floor is now yours. What do you think makes a Bond girl into a Bond girl? Whatever your criteria happens to be, we’re keen to find out. So, chime in today…

What makes a Bond girl? Let us know!