strange cousin susan

{a brief examination of the woman called pussy galore}

Despite my love of many things related to the British film industry, not to mention my desire to walk the hallowed grounds of the legendary Pinewood Studios one day, would you believe there are only two James Bond movies I’ve been able to watch without falling asleep almost as soon as the opening credits roll? One is On Her Majesty’s Secret Service; the other is Goldfinger. For some, 007 is all about the uber-cool gadgets, the non-stop action, the awesome cars, and those girls Bond gets every time. Me, I’m totally there for the girls and pretty much only the girls, and particularly Pussy Galore. She’s gorgeous. She’s tough. She’s sarcastic. She’s a lesbian. And, oh my God, let’s not forget she’s portrayed by the one and only Honor Blackman - who is, without question, my.favorite.living.actress.ever.

Because I tend to over-analyze many things, and lately, combining that…curse…no…it’s really a skill - with the sheer enjoyment of making odd observations, especially where clothing is concerned, it was only a matter of time before Pussy and her closet found themselves in the crosshairs of my fashionista-fu sight. Unlike my previous fashionista-fu exercises, I won’t diss Pussy’s wardrobe; it would be far too easy a task because of that inexcusable gold lamé.  It would more like shamelessly taking candy from a baby. My gift of over-analysis has led me to the crazy conclusion that her changing sexual orientation is totally connected to what she’s wearing throughout the film, since it does go from one extreme to the other. It’s not something I would have necessarily picked up on from simply watching the movie; in fact, I’m  fairly positive I wouldn’t have noticed it at all, had I not read the 1959 book and various other sources for the second screening. Armed with that knowledge, however, there  was simply no way it could have gone unnoticed and the connections between Pussy’s clothing and her changing gender loyalties would not have been made. Certainly, I’m more focused on the movie version of the story, but allow me to share the passages spelling it all out:

“Who is this Pussy Galore from Harlem?”

“She is the only woman who runs a gang in America. It is a gang of women. I shall need some women for this operation. She was a trapeze artiste. She had a team. It was called ‘Pussy Galore and her Abrocats.’ Goldfinger did not smile. “The team was unsuccessful, so she trained them as burglars, cat burglars. It grew into a gang of outstanding ruthlessness. It is a Lesbian organization which now calls itself ‘The Cement Mixers.”‘

and

“Bond liked the look of her. He felt the sexual challenge all beautiful Lesbians have for men. He was amused by the uncompromising attitude that said to Goldfinger and to the room, ‘All men are bastards and cheats. Don’t try any masculine hocus pocus on me. I don’t go for it. I’m in a separate league.’”

By the time the story was brought to the big screen in 1964, Pussy’s Sapphic nature had become washed out, faded almost to the point of nonexistence, her lesbianism only broadly hinted at. When we first meet her, she’s wearing that awful gold lamé (okay, so I can’t help it - for Christ’s sake, it’s LAMÉ!) underneath a black jacket; if you hold to the Western view of black symbolizing evil - and if you also associate homosexuality with evil - the jacket fits particularly well with her role as Auric Goldfinger’s  bad-ass  lesbian co-hort, while it’s obvious the gold lamé she’s wearing represents her unswerving loyalty.

As Pussy holds Bond hostage on the plane she’s piloting; there’s no mistaking she really is bad – she’d have to be, to work for someone like Goldfinger. Even when Bond turns on the charm and is subsequently rebuffed…

“This should be a memorable flight.

“You can turn off the charm; I’m immune.”

…can Pussy be anything but an evil, unnatural woman, being employed by the villain and not susceptible to Bond at the same time? Heavens, to this over-analytical fashionista-fu, the color symbolism here is almost blinding, to say the least, and we’re only one outfit deep!

Taupe (or, if you like the more exciting description of champagne) certainly cannot be mistaken for gold lamé in any way, in any dimension, by any stretch of the imagination…even mine! Perhaps the lamé would be  just a wee bit pretentious for sitting on the porch and enjoying a mint julep with one’s evil mastermind boss. Nevertheless, it’s still evident the enchanting Miss Galore is loyal to Goldfinger…to a point. That will eventually change, but I’m jumping ahead of myself. Notice the hand on the right side of the screencap? That’s Goldfinger himself, making an ill-fated play for his pilot. To wit, the following is a bit of dialog from this scene:

“Your share of Operation Grand Slam will make you a very rich woman, my dear.”

“Why else would I be in it, Mr. Goldfinger?”

“Retire to England, I suppose?”

“No, I’ve spotted a little island in the Bahamas. I’ll hang up a sign - ‘No Trespassing’ and go back to nature.”

The rejoinder is barely out of her mouth and Goldfinger snatches his hand back as if he’d been burned by her subtle rejection, as if he realizes the “No Trespassing” statement pertains to him - and possibly men in general. Gentle reader, please put your mind at ease: popping her heterosexual cherry won’t be left to a man of such bumbling oafishness. This scene leads directly to a quick wardrobe change, which then leads to Bond’s seduction of Pussy in the barn. (begin sarcasm now) This seduction, ummm, well…proves homosexuality can be cured by the right person (end sarcasm now) and ultimately foreshadows Pussy’s wavering loyalty even to her employer, once her lesbian tendencies are…cured. The woman puts up a good fight, both verbally…

“You’re quite a girl, Pussy.”

“I’m strictly the outdoor type.”

“I’d like to think you’re not in all of this caper.”

“Skip it, I’m not interested. Let’s go.”

“What would it take for you to see things my way?”

“A lot more than you’ve got.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t want to know.”

“Isn’t it customary to grant the condemned man his last request?”

“You asked for this.”

…and then bodily, and quite a bit more admirably in the latter situation, when she throws him over her shoulder after that last exchange. It’s simply a joy to see a woman toss a man as she does, and even more so when it’s James Bond, but then 007 turns the tables and returns the favor. A scuffle ensues and she makes a fair attempt in resisting him, but in the end Bond simply overpowers her with his strength and heterosexual manliness. Maybe if Pussy’s penchant for wearing gold lamé had not deserted her, she would have found the mettle to have another row with the man and toss him to the ground again, just to teach him a lesson. As it turns out, there is no white to be seen, ditto for the black. Just good ol’ purple, which can certainly be said to represent bisexuality. It’s a perfect color for Pussy Galore to wear for encounter with Bond, since this seduction seems to force her to decide if she’s for her team or his, both sexually and professionally.

In the last scenes of the movie, it’s evident Pussy has gone to the other side one hundred percent and then some, if that’s possible. The switch in loyalties is evidenced again in her wardrobe…white now, instead of black, signifying her turning from the dark side, if you will, and again if you equate the color white with goodness or purity, as it is in the West. I don’t think it would be too much to take this one step further, this sudden change to white after she’d been rolled by Bond in the hay, either, given my earlier suppositions concerning color and sexuality in this context. If my observations are at all accurate and not simply the result of a fever, the white is certainly symbolic of Pussy’s renunciation of both Goldfinger and her lesbianism…although I do contend Pussy’s regrettable return to the gold lamé was only to throw Goldfinger off the scent of her disloyalty to him. Of course we don’t know anything about that until the end of the movie.

What are we left with, then, after traipsing through Pussy Galore’s closet? By the end of the movie, her transformation from villainous lesbian to upstanding heterosexual is complete and we’ve traveled the route with her from one end of the spectrum to the other. From Pussy’s first scene, dressed in black and gold, symbolizing her original characterization, through her flirtation with heterosexuality and the good guys, as shown by the purple clothing, to her willing duplicity towards her boss, as she waits anxiously at the raid on Fort Knox, modeling a combination of white and gold…her re-education is complete and she’s apparently cured of everything wrong with her…

…until she meets some sexy bird as soon as Bond drives away in his Aston Martin.

(disclaimer: This collection of a few amusing-to-me fashionista-fu observations is in no way a declaration that I believe the color black represents evil, the color white represents purity or that homosexuality is evil and heterosexuality is not, nor should it be taken as such. Please note the use of italics and sarcasm in some passages; they are there for a reason, not simply because I like using italics indiscriminately or using sarcasm for no apparent reason.)