No Time To Digress

Ironically, there was no real-life James Bond to save the world from a global pandemic, which delayed the much-hyped next instalment of the 60-year film franchise.

No Time to Die is finally coming to our cinema screens, where the old misogynist will most certainly take down another super-villain and save the world.

We all know the script by now and unsurprisingly we have yet another villain represented by facial disfigurement. This time it’s Safin, described by Eon Production’s Barbara Broccoli as ‘a nasty piece of work’. He has a heavily disfigured face, which he partially covers ‘a la Phantom of the Opera’ with a Noh mask. In case this wasn’t enough to convince us of Safin’s super-villain Bond credentials, his first name is Lyutsifer (Lucifer – geddit!). So, there you have it; a disfigured scary-mask-wearing devil. That’s a big tick for any Bond.

For centuries, deformity has symbolised deformity of soul and physical disabilities are made the emblems of evil. Richard III, a plethora of wicked witches, Captain Hook, Freddy Kruger, The Joker, Darth Vader, Scar, Voldemort, Dr Poison… to name but a few.

When Skyfall was premiered, Barbara Broccoli was asked why Bond Villains are all disfigured. She said: “I don’t think we ever want to have real politics in these movies because these are fantasy, action-adventure films. Bond lives in a slightly heightened version of the real world…. That’s where we feel very comfortable”.

Our disability communities certainly don’t feel very comfortable having to consistently endure hate crimes and abuse. Lazy stereotyping by writers, TV producers and film directors continues to pour fuel on the fires of ignorance. The only fantasy is that these consistent narratives connecting evil with disability and disfigurement is harmless.

In my view, one of our greatest real English heroes was Horatio Nelson. Like Bond, his character was certainly flawed. However, through battle he lost the sight of his right eye (never wearing an eye-patch), and his arm was amputated without anaesthetic. Noting, that throughout 27 films, spanning 60 years, James Bond doesn’t even have a nick.

Unlike the stereotype, becoming disabled did not make Nelson an evil monster, but a national icon. ?He is celebrated by a statue in London’s Trafalgar Square, positioned on top of a column almost 170ft in the air. It’s just a crying shame that 9 million Londoners and the 15 million tourists who visit Trafalgar Square every year can’t actually see him.

Sadly, it seems we place even our disabled heroes in heightened versions of the real world.??