University adds ‘trigger warning’ to James Bond novel ‘Dr. No’
ANALYSIS: Agent’s stories ‘contain many problematic issues such as racism, misogyny and xenophobia‘
An entertainment staple for over 50 years, the suave British spy James Bond has been featured in numerous novels and 26 films, the most recent being “No Time to Die,” actor Daniel Craig’s last as Agent 007.
News broke this past week that the film franchise’s new owner, Amazon Studios, digitally removed 007’s handgun from various Bond actors’ poses. But after fan outrage, Amazon put the guns back … and offered no explanation, according to OutKick.
The Pierce Brosnan pose for “Goldeneye” looked particularly stupid:
“Please note: James Bond films and novels are popular to this day but contain many problematic issues such as racism, misogyny and xenophobia,” the university said. “We will be discussing the problems with this text in all of our seminars.”
The school said it “encourages students ‘to engage with teaching texts in an informed way’ through content notes.”
Content warnings recognise the diverse lived experience of students and that there can be content they will find challenging or potentially distressing as a result of their experiences. It is our duty of care to our students to do so. The warning enables students to prepare emotionally, engage more deeply and discuss the issues raised by the content critically and constructively.
Ian Kinane, a lecturer at the University of Roehampton and editor of the International Journal of James Bond Studies, defended the trigger warning.
“[I]t is simply a matter of consideration – not to mention healthy wellbeing practice – on the part of Portsmouth’s lecturing staff to signal for their students the inclusion within Dr. No of certain outmoded language and themes,” Kinane (pictured) said.
Kinane said he uses content warnings with his students “as an acknowledgement of his ‘awareness of their potential sensitivities.’”
He added, however, that deletions of entire sections of books — like what happened with the Bond novel “Live and Let Die” — isn’t a good idea.
“The responsible thing would be to preface the text with a disclaimer, not to expunge passages entirely to pretend they never existed in the first place,” he said.
In 2018, a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia determined that in James Bond films, the secret agent “sipped a drink 109 times, or an average of 4.5 times in each film,” meaning he has a “chronic” problem with alcohol.
Yes, “sipped.” What would we do without medical journals?
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