James Bond's E. Jean Carroll Moment

Times have changed. The Hugh Hefner era coincided with the introduction of the birth control pill, the feminist revolution, and the notion that sex for reasons other than that procreation might not be sinful, even recreational and normal.

Certainly, none of this would have been news to earlier generations, but sexual promiscuity until about the 1960s had been like alcohol under Prohibition - something most people wanted to do - and many did - but as a social norm was considered shameful.

It’s amazing to me now that James Bond was ever openly admired. But because I lived through that era - I know that such aggressiveness was considered by many to be a role model for macho behavior.

This clip doesn’t show what Bond did to the nurse in the steam room, which viewers were made to assume she enjoyed because of his irresistible endowment and prowess. Viewing this clip in the light of today’s sensibilities, I’d say her actions here weren’t meant as an invitation. So, even within the context of movie fiction, the filmmakers must have assumed that showing she said no would simply encourage him.

The further implication is that she didn’t really mean it. That’s where it goes all wrong.