Real men: Sam Smith’s emasculation of the James Bond theme

Manganas, N

Real men: Sam Smith’s emasculation of the James Bond theme

Manganas, N

Permalink

Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: Celebrity Studies, 2019, 10 (3), pp. 436 - 440
Issue Date:: 2019-07-03

Closed Access

	Filename	Description	Size
	3F8E24F9-3530-4F81-B202-017DCF935F5C.pdf	Accepted Manuscript version	120.43 kB	Adobe PDF	View/Open

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Closed Access

This item is closed access and not available.

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Manganas, N https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6121-2531	en_US
dc.date.issued	2019-07-03	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Celebrity Studies, 2019, 10 (3), pp. 436 - 440	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1939-2397	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/133845
dc.description.abstract	© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. In Spectre (2015), British pop star Sam Smith contributed the James Bond theme The Writing’s on the Wall and in so doing was accused of emasculating the towering figure of Bond who has been the epitome of ‘manliness’ since the franchise’s inception in 1962. In this article I argue that Smith Smith’s voice discomforted many of its critics because it penetrated the Bond universe with its passivity, revealing the enigmatic nature of masculinity in a franchise that has attempted to rebrand itself as an authentic representation of masculinity in the current moment. By giving Bond an ‘authentic’ voice, Smith’s theme song laid bare Bond’s emptiness and, in the process, undermined Smith’s own claim to authenticity. I argue that the weight of the franchise’s history precludes any real, deep-rooted, authentic ‘unveiling’ of Bond’s character. As such authenticity is impossible, Smith’s Bond might have challenged Bond’s masculinity on the surface, but ultimately it could not disrupt Bond’s elusiveness.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Celebrity Studies	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/19392397.2019.1630159	en_US
dc.title	Real men: Sam Smith’s emasculation of the James Bond theme	en_US
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.citation.volume	3	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	10	en_US
utslib.for	1902 Film, Television and Digital Media	en_US
utslib.for	2001 Communication and Media Studies	en_US
utslib.for	2002 Cultural Studies	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	3	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	10	en_US

Abstract:

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. In Spectre (2015), British pop star Sam Smith contributed the James Bond theme The Writing’s on the Wall and in so doing was accused of emasculating the towering figure of Bond who has been the epitome of ‘manliness’ since the franchise’s inception in 1962. In this article I argue that Smith Smith’s voice discomforted many of its critics because it penetrated the Bond universe with its passivity, revealing the enigmatic nature of masculinity in a franchise that has attempted to rebrand itself as an authentic representation of masculinity in the current moment. By giving Bond an ‘authentic’ voice, Smith’s theme song laid bare Bond’s emptiness and, in the process, undermined Smith’s own claim to authenticity. I argue that the weight of the franchise’s history precludes any real, deep-rooted, authentic ‘unveiling’ of Bond’s character. As such authenticity is impossible, Smith’s Bond might have challenged Bond’s masculinity on the surface, but ultimately it could not disrupt Bond’s elusiveness.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/133845