Just like many of the greats of the film industry, director Spike Lee was an avid consumer of cinema and everything related to the big screen, which eventually became what he did for a living. Thus, his days growing up were filled with many trips to movie theatres with his mother, where once he managed to embarrass her with a simple question.
While the question may have been simple to ask, it was that much harder to answer, especially when he was still young and didn’t know about the more mature aspects of those films. The film in question was 1964’s Bond film Goldfinger, where there was a character named Pussy Galore, and when he asked his mother why she was named that way, her mother turned red with embarrassment.
Spike Lee Managed To Embarrass His Mother In Public When He Was Young While Watching Goldfinger
Everyone has the innate desire to learn everything that piques their interest while growing up into an adult, and that’s what makes us who we are. For filmmaker Spike Lee, his interest in the art of cinema is what pushed him to become one of the greatest directors of all time. But some of his curiosities also made his mother quite uncomfortable.
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In a past interview with The Guardian, the Malcolm X director opened up about his past, where during his younger days, he would frequent the cinemas with his mother. One day, while watching Sean Connery‘s Bond film Goldfinger, he laid eyes upon Honor Blackman, who was named Pussy Galore in the movie.
Being naive and curious about the nomenclature, he turned to his mother and asked her why the lady in the film was named what she was. Since the theatre was quiet, everyone around them heard his question, which naturally made his mother uncomfortable and she told him not to ask her this question. He said:
“The theatre was packed. Those Bond films have explosions and shootings, but there was a lull in the action and everything was quiet.I said: ‘Mommy, why is that lady named Pussy Galore?’ And the whole audience heard me. My mother grabbed me by the neck and said: ‘Don’t say another word’. She was so embarrassed.”
Since it was still the 1960s, the 007 franchise was beginning to make a name for themselves, and would begin the trend of campy performances of the actors as James Bond.
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How Have The Bond Films Changed Over The Years?
While Goldfinger may be considered one of the best films of the franchise along with one of the greatest action films of all time, the nature of the films being stuffy from its own tropes also began with Connery’s performance.
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But as time went on, the audience’s reception to the same thing over and over again started to numb them to the franchise, which is why Daniel Craig’s entry into the franchise as the new Agent 007 was refreshing. This version of Bond, unlike his predecessors, was a lethal killing machine on top of all the traits that fans came to love about the character, which was a game changer.
Goldfinger, streaming on Max.
