As long as there has been a James Bond, there has been the Bond Girl, that rare category of action star vixen that has been at the center of everything from adoration to outrage. Just like so much of the Bond mythos, the Bond Girls follow a formula that has only been broken for a postmodern effect on the story. The classic setup involves two girls, one an agent of the antagonist and the other an unlikely ally to Bond. In the first film Dr. No those two roles went to Miss Taro and Honey Ryder, respectively. It wasn't until the famed reboot with Daniel Craig that this equation got jumbled.

If James Bond has a weakness, it's the fairer sex. No one comes closer to killing Bond than the women he shouldn't have gone to bed with. At the same time, it's obvious in most of his adventures that Bond never would have succeeded without the help of the other girl. She's frequently not as exotic, alluring or otherwise fantastical, but she also usually has more depth and compassion than the killer ladies in Bond's life.

Say what you will about the exploitative nature of the Bond Girl, the dual-girl setup is still an impressive bit of social commentary. Ian Fleming wrote his James Bond stories in the 1950's and 60's, just in time for the sexual revolution. Bond Girls are a way to reconcile the Free Love ideals of the counterculture and the considerably more conservative views of the establishment. For Bond, sex can indeed lead to death and damnation, but only the wrong kind of sex. The better Bond Girl is more often than not self-possessed, successful in her own right and socially conscious. So, even if Bond himself is an unrepentant misogynist, Fleming's stories have a much stronger (if a bit sneakier) moral voice.

Daniel Craig's Bond hasn't been so lucky in love, but he came about in a time when the dust of the sexual revolution had settled and then some. Today's Bond has to face the woeful realism of his makers. For him, sex and love aren't cultural forces, they're elements of his own psyche. Craig's 007 can't enjoy himself because all the alluring women in his life represent the gentleness his career and disposition have made impossible.

But what's bad for Bond may be good for real men. James Bond is in the top tier of male fantasies. For a large subsection of men, there's no greater aspiration than to be suave, capable, strong and an all-around winner with women. The evolution of the Bond Girl has to be in line with the changing perceptions of the intended audience. If Casino Royale's Bond longs to run away with his smart, beautiful lover and leave behind all of the nastiness of the world, then maybe that means the men who want to be Bond dream of the same. That's a world away from the cool killer who gets to nonchalantly bed whatever stranger he wants.

There's no word yet on when Bond's next outing will hit theaters. Given the lukewarm reception of Quantum of Solace I wouldn't expect it any time soon. Still, it'll be interesting to see what the new decade's take on the Bond Girl will be.