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Bond Girls should be called Bond Women, author says

William Boyd, author of the latest James Bond novel, says he's "not too keen" on the term "Bond Girl."

By KRISTEN BUTLER, UPI.com
Models dress as famous Bond Girls during a stage greeting for the film "Skyfall" in Tokyo, Japan, on November 19, 2012. (File/UPI/Keizo Mori)
Models dress as famous Bond Girls during a stage greeting for the film "Skyfall" in Tokyo, Japan, on November 19, 2012. (File/UPI/Keizo Mori) | License Photo

William Boyd, author of the latest James Bond novel, "Solo," says "Bond Girls" should be called "Bond Women."

Speaking at the novel's launch, the author said the role of the Bond Girl goes deeper than the nickname implies.

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"I’m not too keen on the expression ‘Bond Girl’. I think Bond has relationships with women. It seems to me that he wants a relationship, not just casual sex," Boyd said. “I think of the many that I have read I remember Honey Ryder -- and not because she was played by Ursula Andress in the film. I think she was a very interesting Bond Girl… Bond Woman.”

Boyd says that in "Solo" Bond will still be aided by a "beautiful accomplice" but that the relationship will be somewhat deeper than those recently depicted in the Bond films.

Recent films including "Skyfall" have received widespread criticism for their shallow female characters who become damsels in distress or are killed off on a whim.

Boyd has also said the new Bond novel would be brought up to date, moving away from the sexism and racism prevalent in original author Ian Fleming's day.

“The sex can veer from terrible Barbara Cartland romanticism to almost sadism,” Boyd said. "I deliberately wrote those scenes well, not in the way Fleming would write them.

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But Boyd insisted that Bond himself would continue to drink and chain smoke through the novel.

“Times have changed but Bond is a heavy smoker. He has a wonderful line in one of the books saying ‘Bond lit his 70th cigarette of the day’. I have no desire to water down or make Bond more acceptable to modern sensibilities.”

"Solo" is set in 1969 and sends the spy to single-handedly end a civil war in a small West African country. Boyd has written 11 novels, many of them adapted for big and small screens, including "A Good Man In Africa" and "Any Human Heart."

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of the first of Fleming's 14 Bond novels, "Casino Royale."

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