Bond - James Bond

The cable TV station Encore is showing old 007 movies.  I was watching the 1965 movie "Thunderball."  It was a kick watching the computers they were using.  They were very big and had lots of lights and switches.  Some of the gadgets depicted then are just now being made.  I was also shocked to think this movie was forty seven years ago.  For some of you that's twenty years older than you are now.  For me, I can only wish I was forty seven now.


There wasn't a lot of high tech stunts.  No blue screen.  No animation.  Just good old stunt work by real people.  The thing is it didn't look any more real than the Mission Impossible's of today.  Great job Hollywood.  


Thunderball like many movies of that day were very sexist.  In one scene, Sean Connery (The real Bond) forces himself on a beautiful woman he just met.  She resists, but he grabs her and kisses her and she just melts.  The next scene they are waking up in bed together.  Why is it I don't remember that's the way it worked.  Oh, I get it, I'm Kenny Felderstein not Bond - James Bond.


Today, the writer of that scene would have been scolded and forced to change it.  Today, the woman would have kicked him in the; I can't write it because it hurts just thinking about it. Today, the woman would be grabbing him and taking him to bed - Smith - Shirley Smith.


The women had names like Pussy Galore.  I don't think too many famous female actors would like to be call Pussy Galore.  The only female, in these movies, that acted like the females of today was Miss Moneypenny.  She knew Bond the way he was and liked him just the way he was.


Thunderball had many scenes where live sharks were being killed.  This was not animation.  This was not a mechanical shark ah la the movie "Jaws."  These were real sharks with real harpoons piercing their flesh and killing them.  Can you spell ANIMAL CRUELTY.  No way those scenes happen today - even if it's a scary shark. 


I also noticed there wasn't one Black or Hispanic actor in a leading, supporting or sub-supporting role.  The goodies or the baddies didn't have one.  You would think the baddies would have at least one.


We all think the fifties and sixties were the good old days.  The fact is those days had their problems.  It wasn't so great to be Black.  Women were dominated by men.  Not just in the bedroom, but in many aspects of life.  Today we see movies of women who were on the forefront of women's liberty in the sixties.  Well if everything was so great for women back then, why did we need women to change what was going on.


Men supposedly had it made.  The operative word is supposedly.  Men had the burden of taking care of the family financially.  Many worked themselves into an early death.  It was a slap in a man's face if his wife had to go to work (even if she wanted to).  He would be considered a loser.


The things we take for granted today were not available in the fifties and sixties.  That made life more simple, but it sure is nice to be able to shop on the internet - take my wife - please. Just kidding honey!!!!


Sooo, what's so bad about today.  Maybe we all should be more appreciative of today.  If I had a time machine, I wouldn't want to go back living in the sixties.  I like the women of today.  I like working for a company that gives me paid vacations, paid holidays,  health care benefits and 401K plans.  None of those things were there for the average working person.


My feeling is when things are not going so good today, we always want to think people had it better in the past.  The way we should be thinking, when things are not so good today, is they WILL be better in the future.

The future is happiness

Felderstein - Kenny Felderstein