There’s been excement about Q’s queer revelatn ‘No Time to Die’ but the anchise’s first gay characters appeared all the way back 1971’s ‘Diamonds Are Forever’. Fifty years on, Adam Bloodworth talks to the actors who played Mr Wt and Mr Kidd about why they’re worth celebratg
Contents:
- ‘I KNEW WAS A URAGEO THG TO DO’: THE CUR STORY OF BOND’S FIRST GAY VILLAS
- JAM BOND’S GAY HT WAS ALMOST CUT OM SKYFALL, SAYS PRODUCER
- IS JAVIER BARM PLAYG THE FIRST GAY BOND VILLA 'SKYFALL'? BARM AND DIRECTOR SAM MENS WEIGH
- JAM BOND, AMBIGUOLY GAY VILLAS AND MASCULY
- JAM BOND'S FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER REVEAL NO TIME TO DIE MA ME TEAR UP
- WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS A GAY JAM BOND
- 'NO TIME TO DIE' HTS Q IS GAY LANDMARK LGBTQ+ SCENE
- JAM ADOMIAN IS THE HERO GAY VILLAS DERVE
‘I KNEW WAS A URAGEO THG TO DO’: THE CUR STORY OF BOND’S FIRST GAY VILLAS
* gay james bond villain *
This isn’t to give eher of those away, but to divulge a third: that Bond’s handy gadget man, Q, is gay. )All of which mak gay henchmen Mr Wt and Mr Kidd back 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, all the more remarkable. To give some ntext, 1970, the year the film was shot, 70 per cent of Amerins thought homosexual relatns were wrong, while the UK was only three years to Wt and Mr Kidd were played by Bce Glover and Putter Smh, two straight men, but even then they reportedly riled Connery.
Glover, who is now 89, remembers the star beg unfortable wh homoerotic jok durg the shoot.
JAM BOND’S GAY HT WAS ALMOST CUT OM SKYFALL, SAYS PRODUCER
Is Javier Barm playg the first gay Bond villa 'Skyfall'? Barm and director Sam Mens weigh * gay james bond villain *
“He didn’t know me, so he thought I was gay. Villas throughout cema history have tend to reflect current “fears” and attus, and homosexuals have a long history of beg vilified.
IS JAVIER BARM PLAYG THE FIRST GAY BOND VILLA 'SKYFALL'? BARM AND DIRECTOR SAM MENS WEIGH
It’s a topic wrer Vo Rso explor his semal 1981 book The Celluloid Closet, which ns through onscreen queer stereotypg om the Sixti to the Eighti, om Dr Frank-N-Furter The Rocky Horror Picture Show to Sharon Stone’s bisexual Cathere Tramell Basic and director Guy Haton were rponsible for nceivg the characters for the screen and feels as if they med edy orr to create gay characters sued to themselv and mastream dienc of the time.
“I didn’t want to be that kd of clichéd gay guy, ” Glover rells, thkg perhaps of the mpns of Richard Burton and Rex Harrison’s gay barbershop uple 1969’s Stairse. ”Lowbridge-Ellis go so far as to pots out that much about the characters is, actually, “unniably homophobic”. From the way Mr Wt was dispatched wh a bomb up his backsi to the obv fact that here were two straight men makg margalised gay men the butt of their jok, ’s easy to argue how Wt and Kidd were explog the LGBT+ muny rather than supportg by simply beg onscreen, the duo had reprented the gay muny – and ma a whole crowd cludg myself feel seen – whether their creators had tend to or not.
JAM BOND, AMBIGUOLY GAY VILLAS AND MASCULY
Jam Bond’s ht Skyfall that he may have had a gay experience his past was a missn too far for stud executiv, acrdg to the film’s producer, who said she had to fight attempts to cut the scene. ”The signifince of the scene was wily bated at the time – screenwrer John Logan said was “playg the sort of homoerotic rd that is sort of always there [ Bond films]” – but acrdg to Brocli almost didn’t make the fal versn, a global smash that ma $1.
JAM BOND'S FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER REVEAL NO TIME TO DIE MA ME TEAR UP
“I thk there’s a huge homoerotic unrtow a lot of Bond movi, ” he former 007 claimed Brocli would never allow a gay Bond her lifetime.
Speakg 2015, Pierce Brosnan said he was open to the ia of a gay 007 but the anchise’s gatekeeper might have different ias.
” said Brosnan, when asked whether he uld picture a gay Bond. I don’t thk Barbara would allow a gay Bond to happen her lifetime.
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS A GAY JAM BOND
However, acrdg to a new documentary on the inic pop culture figure, one particular torture scene was almost emed "too gay" to be clud the Skyfall, one such moment was particularly horny -- and particularly gay. RELATED | Benedict Cumberbatch Explas Why He's Playg Gay New Wtern Film. "Some people claim 's bee I'm, fact, gay but not te at all, " Logan told THR at the New York premiere of the film, held by Tribe Film Instute.
No or Goldfger or whatever, and there’s been so many ways to do a t-and-moe and timidate Bond, and we thought, what would tly make the dience unfortable is sexual timidatn; playg the sort of homoerotic rd that is sort of always there subtextually wh characters like Sramanga 'Man Wh the Goln Gun' or 'Dr.
" Craig then add that while some have suggted Barm's Silva might be homosexual, he didn't agree. Bond villas have always flirted wh homoeroticism. But the latt Bond stallment, Skyfall, Javier Barm ph the gay envelope farther than 's ever been phed before.
'NO TIME TO DIE' HTS Q IS GAY LANDMARK LGBTQ+ SCENE
"I thk there's a huge homoerotic unrtow a lot of Bond movi, " says Mens.
JAM ADOMIAN IS THE HERO GAY VILLAS DERVE
For an actn movie, this type of homo-erotic teractn seems rare.
” He explas that soldiers are often sent ntradictory msag about genr valu and expectatns (ie seeg emotn as week yet valug ntrolled emotn as a sign of honor/rpect; valug heterosexualy yet g homo-erotic activi to iate members and embracg practic like wrg “bend over Saddam” on missil). is no doubt one of the most macho movie anchis of all time, but om the moment I saw Golneye as a ltle gay kid at a iend's hoe, I was hooked.