Skyfall: The "Sissy Villain" Again

[Smarmie Doofus]

And again and again.

I'm speaking of the new James Bond release.

Is there any reason for Javier Bardem to play "the bad guy" as gay?

Isn't that... among other things... getting a little *tired*?

Oy.


Or should I say, "Ay-ay-ay."

Thanks Hollywood. Your greed and utter lack of imagination helps keep our gender/sex role divides and stereotypes utterly unchallenged and undisturbed.

And your audience quite the opposite.


>>>>The Sissy Villain, as his name would suggest, is a man whose heart is as twisted as his wrist is limp.
Due to social stigmas against male femininity and "unmanliness", there's a strong tendency in fiction to assign effeminate traits to villains: flamboyant mannerisms, delicate voices, light builds, prissiness, femininely pretty looks, gradiloquent speeches, giggling, love for poetry and opera, impeccable fashion sense (not always in men's clothing), fondness for Persian cats, etc. Evil, it seems, is swishier than a silk skirt.
Frequently, The Hero pitted against the Sissy Villain is an old-fashioned Manly Man (any feminine traits he has are merely there to underscore his masculinity) and making the villain "unmasculine" is intended to emphasize this. After all, there's nothing manlier than beating up a sissy. However, effeminate does not necessarily mean weak.
The Sissy Villain is probably the second most common portrayal of effeminate gay men (besides "one-dimensional joke character&quot , but is not necessarily synonymous with Depraved Homosexual. While Sissy Villains are frequently gay or bisexual, most of them are merely sexually ambiguous or seemingly asexual, and some of them are straight. The Sissy Villain isn't intended to creep out the audience just because of the implication that he might like men (although this usually factors in), but because he acts like a "pansy.">>>>
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SissyVillain

[dipsydoodle]

1. I've yet to see it.

Will wait until its released on DVD / BlueRay. But out curiousity - exactly what classes this particular villain as being a "sissy" ?

There's no particular indication of that in the trailer :

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. Mannerisms plus he fondles a tied-up James Bond in a sexualized fashion. n/t

[dsc]

10. and the song he plays when he finds bond at the end.

[LonePirate]

2. I don't agree with this at all. Some spoilers ahead.

He coldly murders his female sex slave not to mention several other people during a government inquiry meeting. I do not buy the sissy gay villain assessment simply because he coyly strokes Bond's chest for a few seconds. It seems much ado about nothing to me.

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. OK. n/t

[brush]

3. Ahhhh . . . you may be projecting

My wife and I just saw the movie yesterday and we didn't get the vibe that the villian was gay. Him and Bond had a scene where he kind of flirted with Bond but we both thought he was testing to get a reaction from Bond as he tried to humiliate him. Bond one upped him with a great comeback. Something on the order of: "What makes you think it would be my first time?" Good, sophisticated lines from the writers for two worldly characters. I though nothing of it as indicating the Bardeem character was gay. I mean he did have the woman there after all, before he killed her that is. If anything the villian was a thoroughly evil guy with mommy issues, which doesn't mean you're gay. We thought Bardeem was a great villian. He'd better watch it if he wants other roles as that was the second great villian he's portrayed ("No Country for Old Men&quot .

[Smarmie Doofus]

7. This part's true:

>>>Bond one upped him with a great comeback. Something on the order of: "What makes you think it would be my first time?">>>>

The film's one concession to the calendar ( it's 2012, not 1959) in this regard.

[byronius]

13. It made me flinch at first, but Bond's response made Bardem immediately drop the act.

If anything, it rendered the villian homophobic; he thought he could use the ploy to destabilize Bond, but he quit as soon as he found out Bond wasn't homophobic as well.

[William769]

6. I read an article a couple days ago that asked about if we would ever see a "Gay James Bond?"

The resounding answer was NO! Go figure.

[Smarmie Doofus]

8. Did he/she say why? n/t

[William769]

9. Here is the article. You decide.

http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2012/11/10/there-will-never-be-gay-james-bond

[dsc]

11. well Bond has slept with enough women that he would have to be bisexual

so I can't see a gay Bond. But a bi Bond would be kind of cool.

[Prism]

12. Yes and no

There is a kind of Euro effeteness that American audiences commonly reduce down to homosexuality, but my impression of the villain was more along the lines of pansexual - and Bond responded in kind. They are spies, after all, and at some point in their careers, I'm sure there were honey pots of both sexes. They both seemed to nod in that direction. It was an interesting exchange, done in a kind of "See what our evil government has reduced us to? Mere tools, pieces of meat, with no consideration for us as people." Within the context of the plot and the discussion, it worked for me. What are their personal feelings as individuals? Bond is an infamous womanizer, and the villain kept female sexual companions/slaves.

The villain's manner of speech could have a component of "gay lilt", but again, it's hard to separate gay out from European (ah, that age old internet debate).

Mix in the Oedipal obsession with M, and I can see where some might feel the movie is veering close to a negative stereotype.

He was kind of a bad ass, though. He didn't hide behind minions or evince foppishness or fear. He was often the direct actor in risky, dangerous acts.

But I can definitely see where you're coming from with that. Especially the manner of speech.

[Lint Head]

14. The movie was great. Javier Bardem did a fantastic acting job. The scene did not strike me as

stereotypical or a put down. His character, though a despicable villain, solicited empathy because he was wronged is some way. I think the come on scene with James Bond was a jab at the Bond womanizing that has been a part of the secret agent myth since it's inception.
In addition:
The film Before Night Falls (2000) was Javier Bardem's breakthrough role. He received five Best Actor awards and a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a strong-willed man who survived censorship, imprisonment, and homosexual intolerance for the privilege to write freely, only to commit suicide at age 47 in New York, ending a battle with AIDS.

I don't think Sky Fall justifies Hollywood's obvious stereotyping but I also don't think it falls into that category of glorifying it.

[closeupready]

15. Thanks. I won't be seeing it then.

I was going to do so, but not if this is the case. I wouldn't enjoy it.

[DetlefK]

16. There was nothing "sissy" about da Silva. (spoiler for one scene)

He's cultivated.
He regards Bond's style of gunning and running as outdated/antiquated, preferring precise and hard strikes of violence.
And the scene where he touches Bond's chest in a sexually suggestive way? That was deliberate to make Bond uncomfortable.

That's enough to declare him a "sissy villain"?


1. He kills and endangers the lives of others as he sees fit, to further his plan.
2. Although he leaves the violence to his lackeys, he's still able to hold his own.

What does a villain have to do, not to be qualified as a sissy?
Sport muscles like Bane?
Toy around with blades and guns?
Lack a plan?
Dress poorly and look mediocre to ugly?
Ooze testosterone from his arm-pits?