Octopussy (1983)

General Anatoly Gogol: [contemptuously] A common thief. A disgrace to the uniform!
Orlov: Yes, but tomorrow, I shall be a hero of the Soviet Union.

Q: [being kissed by Octopussy's girls after knocking out a bandit] Cut it out! We don't have time for that! Later perhaps.

Not the worst Bond.  Close, but not. Octopussy (O) has the highest level of stereotyping in the franchise -by a mile. If there is a cliche to be used, O goes for it. It also is the winner in the creepy clown count, too.

This is the Bond where James goes to India. (I always try to diligently remember that while India is one country, it's really more like Europe in terms of people and diversity.)  For 1983, taking Bond to India was a big step in terms of cross-culturalism. (In that context, I think O is a net positive.) On the other hand, O is so ludicrous orientalist and stereotyped filled that it made me uneasy.

Bond:

• pulls a sword out of sword swallower
• walks on hot coals
• snake charms
• climbs a magic rope
• faces down a tiger
• throws money for Indians in the street as a diversion
• uses a bed of nails as a gag

It goes on and on and on. The most outlandish I felt was when James is set loose in the jungle to be hunted from elephant back like "the most dangerous game".

Moving on to other uneasy topics...I often think about ownership of culture or creativity. Did I create something new? Am I copying someone else? Am I copying with what intentions? How do I feel? How do those that I am copying feel? -This is just me. I think that O is on the wrong side of cultural appropriation with regards to clothing and cultural sexual displays. I am happy to see other people trying on different clothing from their standard. For example, I like wearing a yukata when in Japan. But, the sheer number of European women wearing Indian clothing as pure costume and as a sign of sexual display was out of touch from reality and good taste. In fact, the idea that Octopussy can simple be a guru to a cadre of specifically desirable and liberated women in India is off-putting from a power/gender/culture perspective.

Lastly, I seem to be a good prognosticator, Russian American/NATO power politics are the continuing core of James Bonds in the 80s.

Points and questions:

1. Were circuses really that popular back then? I know they are dying/dead in 2017, but how popular were they really in 1983? 
2. Vijay Armritaj -You were great in your role. I was sorry to see you die. IMDB
3. If he wasn't in FYEO, Roger Moore was too old to be Bond in 1983.
4. Roger Moore looks terrible as a clown. 
5. Louis Jourdan was the most non-descript villain of the series. 

On a scale of 1 sad clown in a car to clown car math, I give Octopussy 1.87 out of 5 stars.