15 Crazy Facts You Just Have To Accept To Enjoy The James Bond Franchise

7. Casual Racism & Sexism Runs Rampant

The earlier Bond films in particular are guilty of this, but it's also worth considering that they're undeniable products of their time. Some more memorably dubious instances of racism in the series include Bond donning "yellow face" to appear Asian in You Only Live Twice (pictured above), all the voodoo nonsense and blaxploitation elements in Live and Let Die, and the infamous "That should keep you in curry for a few weeks" line from Octopussy. Sexism is much more pronounced throughout the series, as the majority of the female characters are primarily there to look nice and get bedded by James, leading to some uneasy romantic set-ups that, in retrospect, actually seem pretty rapey. Then there's the various times Bond hits a woman for a relatively minor reason that just wouldn't be accepted in any modern Bond film. And finally, Skyfall has one rather questionable love scene, when Bond walks into the shower when Severine is in there, disrobes and joins her without her knowledge, yet within mere seconds, they're going at it. Considering that Severine was initially painted as a more vulnerable character, a victim of sex trafficking, it seems more than a little insensitive and flippant to hurl a sex scene in there for virtually no reason.