It was to be expected… How can James Bond, a dominant white hero, seducer, sexist and macho, even racist for some, still have his place in the 21st century? The publishers of Ian Fleming’s novels have felt the tide turn and have decided to modernize the sagas for an upcoming publication on 007’s 70th anniversary this year. According to The Telegraph newspaper, Ian Fleming Publications, which owns the literary rights, called on “sensivity readers”, a kind of reading committee in tune with the prevailing wokism, to identify in the text terms and offenses that may shock some readers.
And there was a lot of work as Ian Fleming, author of the 1950s, let his pen slip on the paper to sketch the portrait of a 007 lover of women, cigarettes and Vodka Martini, landing in the countries by conquering to try to save the planet… The Telegraph tells us that several scenes from the book Live and Let Die (1954) have been revised, such as the one where the hero is in a strip club in Harlem: “Bond could hear the audience panting and grunting like pigs at the watering hole”, was suddenly shortened to “Bond could feel the electrical voltage in the room”.
The hand of the proofreaders still allowed some slippages, notes the British daily, probably to avoid sanitizing Her Gracious Majesty’s spy too much. There are remarks about women unable to do “a man’s job” and about homosexuality presented as “a tenacious handicap”. Certain ethnic groups, such as Asians, would also always be the subject of some caricatures…
And to be sure to avoid any lawsuit or lynching, publishers will now include a “disclaimer” from the first pages of the novels – a practice which unfortunately is likely to become widespread. “This book was written at a time when words and attitudes that might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace. A number of updates have been made to this edition, while remaining as close as possible to the original text and the time of its creation. »
To justify this spring cleaning, the publishing house recalls that Lan Fleming himself had authorized before his death in 1964, the modification of certain passages or erotic scenes so as not to offend the American public, in particular for Live and let die .
An evolution that seems inevitable if James Bond wants to continue to attract crowds… The films of the saga have also changed enormously since the 1960s, the old opuses remaining strongly marked by their time, which also gives them a slightly retro charm. subversive. The later films with Daniel Craig have attempted to show a more sensitive, more vulnerable, socially acceptable macho spy, in an attempt to make his character stick to the new century. And for fans of post-war 007, the first editions are still available…
