Judi Dench's age-inappropriateness and the role of M: Challenging normative temporality

Krainitzki, Eva L ORCID: 0000-0003-1178-718X (2014) Judi Dench's age-inappropriateness and the role of M: Challenging normative temporality. Journal of Aging Studies, 29. pp. 32-40. doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2014.01.001

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Abstract

This article approaches Judi Dench's role as M in the long-running James Bond series from a gender and ageing studies' perspective and explores this character's subversion of normative concepts of gender and temporality. Based on the assumption that cultural narratives shape our understanding of ageing, it examines how M disrupts prescribed age- and gender roles, presenting an alternative within films which otherwise perpetuate normative notions of a sexualised, youthful femininity. It focusses on Dench's return as M in Casino Royale (2006), as an instance of anachronism (Russo, 1999), subverting viewers' expectation of linear timelines and examines M's challenge of normative age-appropriateness in Skyfall (2012). Despite M's portrayal as a more vulnerable female character in the latter, this article presents her character as an alternative to traditional portrayals of older women on screen.

Item Type: Article
Article Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Gender; Age; Cinema
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1993 Motion Pictures
Divisions: Schools and Research Institutes > School of Creative Arts
Research Priority Areas: Culture, Continuity, and Transformation
Creative Practice and Theory
Depositing User: Eva Krainitzki
Date Deposited: 30 Jun 2014 10:04
Last Modified: 03 Feb 2022 18:02
URI: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/815

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