Double 'O' Awesome

Many films during the 1960s can be easily dissected as simple exercises in “cool” guys looking “cool” and driving “cool” cars. A few examples of these triumphs of cinema would be Steve McQueen in Bullitt, James Garner in Grand Prix and Sean Connery in Goldfinger. More specifically Sean Connery personified the handsome debonair man of the 1960s who drove not just a “cool” car, but, an awesome car. Sean Connery as James Bond leaning on his Aston Martin DB5 in 1964 demonstrates the point that both connotation and denotation occur simultaneously in any photograph that an audience views; in this instance the photograph being the quite beautiful scene of a man in a tailored suit accompanied by a high-end sports car with the epic scenery of the Swiss Alps as a backdrop.

This literal transmission of one of the film’s promotional photographs of a reality is sufficient in itself and it is not, “necessary to divide this reality into units and to constitute these units as signs,” according to Barthe. Barthe states that, “the photograph appears as the only (graphic medium) that is exclusively constituted and occupied by a ‘denoted’ message.” Barthe is correct, but while there are always denoted messages in photography there are also connoted ones. This photo can be literally translated as one man, one car and some mountains. This interpretation, although it is present in the photo, is very basic and, this photo especially, lends itself to more interpretation than just the dissection of its basic elements.

There is, in addition to, the denoted meaning, a connoted meaning. Each element of the photo adds to the overall sense of the photograph being an image of “smooth” personified and a man that is to be admired that goes beyond the literal interpretation of man, car and mountains. The car evokes the impression of high-end. Although the entire automobile cannot be seen, and only a trained eye can identify it as an Aston martin, the perfectly squared and glossy door along with the artistic embellishment on the fender allow the viewer to deduce that this is not an ordinary grocery getter. The car is not the only element that contributes to the overall “wealthy” connotation of this image; the scenery does as well. The mountain road that Connery is standing beside is not in a bustling city with many destinations and attractions; it is in an area that only those with the leisure time to get there would be able to partake of. Sean Connery’s posture while leaning on the Aston portrays him as a man of action, but not one that is quick to rush into things, which fits in perfectly with the character of James Bond that he plays. The suit, fitting Connery to a “T,” that he is wearing also evinces this “man of class and action” connotation. It does not look at all like an off the rack selection from Sears. Connery’s facial expression; being that it is a relaxed one on a handsome man inspires envy on the part of the male viewer and affection on the part of the female audience.

Denotation and connotation occur simultaneously in this photograph of Sean Connery as James Bond. One is not independent of the other; whatever photograph an audience takes in will be able to be taken in at a surface level and then dissected until all that is left to do is take out a pair of scissors.

- Joel Engles -