title: Judi Dench's age-inappropriateness and the role of M: challenging normative temporality.
abstract: This article approaches Judi Dench's role as M in the long-running James Bond series from a gender and ageing studies' perspective and explores this character's subversion of normative concepts of gender and temporality. Based on the assumption that cultural narratives shape our understanding of ageing, it examines how M disrupts prescribed age- and gender roles, presenting an alternative within films which otherwise perpetuate normative notions of a sexualised, youthful femininity. It focusses on Dench's return as M in Casino Royale (2006), as an instance of anachronism (Russo, 1999), subverting viewers' expectation of linear timelines and examines M's challenge of normative age-appropriateness in Skyfall (2012). Despite M's portrayal as a more vulnerable female character in the latter, this article presents her character as an alternative to traditional portrayals of older women on screen.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Women, Ageing and Media (WAM), University of Gloucestershire, UK. Electronic address: ekrainitzki@glos.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Krainitzki
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003469:Culture; D005197:Famous Persons; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D009040:Motion Pictures / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States; D014930:Women / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Age-appropriate; Ageing; Judi Dench; Popular culture; Representation; Temporality