Austin Powers, an International Man of Mystery: The Role of Comedy in the Espionage Film
Kevin Hopsicker
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1 Kevin Hopsicker FYSE Final Paper
Austin Powers, an International Man of Mystery: The Role of Comedy in the Espionage Film
While the espionage and comedic genres are not typically associated with each other, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) combines these genres to create a hilarious blend of thrill and spoof, powered by the character of
Austin Powers. The espionage genre is usually characterized by thrilling chases, sexuality, danger, and the urgency to save the day, all containing one common relationship: they are intended to be received seriously. Austin Powers: International
Man of Mystery takes advantage of this solemnity by reversing it and giving the same characterizations the opposite effect: comedy, in order to make fun of the classic espionage film. Formally known as a parody, this technique is effective in creating humor and entertainment. Through its role as a parody of the James Bond movies,
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery revolutionizes the spy fiction genre by satirizing previous norms of the genre and shows how the combination of comedy and espionage works as an artistic piece.
In Spy Fiction, Spy Films, and Real Intelligence, academic scholar and professor Wesley Wark writes that spy films contain certain elements, including
“adventure, suspense, politics and romance,” and often an evil plot of “stolen secret plans and documents” (136). These elements are usually depicted with thrilling chases to appeal to adventure, dangerous situations to evoke suspense, and seduction and sexuality to complement romance. In Austin Powers: International
Man of Mystery these elements are certainly incorporated in the film to classify the movie within the espionage genre. For instance, Powers is involved in two chase
2 scenes of Dr. Evil, his arch-nemesis, to try to capture him and bring him to justice.
Powers is also constantly escaping dangerous situations, like being slowly dipped into a pool of hungry, ill-tempered sea bass, or being caught in the crossfire of Dr.
Evil’s minions as he attempts to abort a nuclear missile strike. Finally, Powers is a master of seduction, which materializes in his ability to charm his stunning, hard-to- get partner Vanessa. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery fits the criteria of an espionage film, but with its incorporation of humor, is more likely to be classified as a comedy rather than an espionage thriller.
The comedy genre derives its success from the ability to make one laugh. The incongruity theory of comedy states that laughter “is the perception of something incongruous-something that violates our mental patterns and expectations”
(Morreal). In other words, events can be humorous because the unexpected happens. In Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery this technique is used in moments that create laughter at the characters out of sheer ridiculousness and disbelief. However, it is important to note that much of the laughter and humor created is a result from the mocking of established espionage conventions. Austin
Powers: International Man of Mystery contains elements from the espionage genre, specifically the James Bond movies, and then satirizes them to create humor and entertainment. It takes these conventions and then completely violates our mental expectations of what should happen, creating comedy. So in effect, the incongruity theory is essential to parody, as Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery incorporates comedy into places where one would not expect it to be, espionage.
3 With this addition of humor to satirize espionage, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is not only a comedy, but further, can be classified as a parody.
The film parody is an artistic work that has become more and more common and popular among audiences as television and movies have evolved. Professor and
British academic Chris Baldick defines parody as “a mocking imitation of the style of a literary work or works” (qtd. in F D’Angelo 38). Distinguished classical scholar and academic Kenneth Dover’s interpretation of a parody explains that “common to most definitions of parody are ideals of ridicule, incongruity, exaggeration and
‘criticism of the original’” (qtd. in F D’Angelo 38). So in general, a parody makes fun of a previous work in order to obtain a positive response of amusement from its audience. However, using a different perspective in the book Film Parodies, Dan
Harries explores specifically film parodies to draw out conventions and create a definition of a parody through several techniques: reiteration, misdirection, and exaggeration. These techniques are used in Austin Powers to satirize the James
Bond franchise as they create mockery, which gives birth to comedy.
Reiteration, as defined by Harries, is a parody technique that uses “evocation or quotation of particular elements from the targeted text to both create an association between the prototext and the parody as well as to establish conventional narrative expectations” (Harries 43). In Austin Powers: International
Man of Mystery, reiteration is used to construct a correlation between the James
Bond movies and itself. One example of this occurs in certain parts of the film where the music resembles that of the classic James Bond films. This creates an underlying connection with the viewer between the two films, and helps to establish the Austin
4 Powers’ movie with “conventional narrative expectations.” Another use of reiteration is Austin Powers as a character. First of all, Austin Powers is an agent working for British intelligence, exactly like James Bond. Powers also possesses an excessively full chest of hair, clearly a play off of the original James Bond Sean
Connery’s notorious chest hair. Powers has many similar character traits that Bond displays, including his affinity for seducing beautiful women. However, Powers seduces in a more outgoing and comical way. For example, Powers seduces the
FemBots in order to escape their imprisonment. Instead of talking smooth or buying them a drink, a likely move of Bond, Powers starts stripping to reveal a British themed thong and his luscious chest hair. This is too much sexy for the FemBots and their heads explode from the seduction. This scene takes the convention of seduction from Bond’s character to a whole new level, and therefore humor is produced. Powers’ resemblances to Bond’s character helps to establish the movie as a parody, however, there are many other characters that are parodied to reinforce this.
In Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery many of the characters act as a reiteration of the James Bond movies. For example, Basil Exposition is based off M, the leader of the British intelligence. Frau Farbissina is based off Rosa Klebb, as she is a very masculine and intense character, similar to Klebb. Dr. Evil has many similarities to the Bond villains. For instance, in the scene where he is introduced,
Dr. Evil is shown stroking his white cat, which resembles the first time Blofeld is introduced in From Russia with Love (1963). Finally Random Task is based off the character of Oddjob, and where Oddjob uses his hat as a weapon, Random Task
5 throws his shoe. All of these characters evoke particular elements from the James
Bond films to create an association between the two films.
Misdirection is a technique of parody that occurs when “conventional elements are evoked and initially played out in a manner similar to the target text, but are then transformed to deliver an unexpected turn in the eventual parodic presentation” (Harries 62). In Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, this takes place in a scene where Powers and his partner Vanessa are doing reconnaissance on
Dr. Evil’s second hand man, Number Two. They join him at a blackjack table in a casino, and Powers plays a hand against him. Initially this resembles a scene from the James Bond film Casino Royale, where the good guy beats the bad guy in a game of poker. However, Austin Powers completely satirizes the situation when he decides to ‘stay’ with his cards only adding up to five, while Number Two’s cards add up to twenty-one. Powers claims that he “likes to live dangerously,” justifying his decision to stay. The only way that Powers can win is if the dealer’s cards add up to less than five, which is highly unlikely. The viewer still believes that Powers knows what he is doing, because the scene depicts Powers in control, making it seem like there is still a shot that he will win. However, the dealer reveals his cards to add up to twenty and Powers loses his money. This is an example of misdirection because it starts out in a manner similar to a Bond movie, but in the end the opposite outcome occurs as Powers loses to Number Two. This scene increases its effect as a parody by being extremely comical, mocking the corresponding element of the Bond movie.
6 Another example of misdirection occurs in a scene after Powers is unfrozen and goes to claim his possessions that the government kept for him. Powers receives his box of belongings, and the worker pulls out Powers’ suit, Italian shoes, ruffled shirt, and finally a “Swedish-made penis enlarger.” When Powers’ denies that the enlarger is his because the girl he likes is present, the worker provides a receipt showing that Powers had purchased the item, and furthermore, takes out a book that shows Powers endorsing the enlarger. This is funny because the enlarger is completely unexpected. The expected espionage convention is that spies have cool gadgets at their disposal, like x-ray glasses, shoe phones and pen guns. However, in this case the gadget is uncool and embarrassing. In a conventional spy thriller gadgets can threaten the spy’s life, however, in this situation the penis enlarger only threatens Powers’ masculinity, creating a humorous situation. The film satirizes the traditional and anticipated component of the spy film, while generating humor and entertainment.
Exaggeration as defined by Harries targets “elements of the prototext and extend[s] them beyond their conventionally expected limits” (Harries 83). This is important because it allows the parody to place an emphasis on the fact that it is truly mocking a certain element from the former work. An example in Austin
Powers: International Man of Mystery occurs in a scene where Scott makes fun of his dad, Dr. Evil, for giving Powers and Vanessa a chance to escape. In The James Bond
Phenomenon, James Chapman states that a common component of the James Bond movies involves a scene “where the villain reveals his grand design to Bond before leaving him in a bizarre and elaborately improbable death-scenario, from which he
7 escapes” (94). In the movie Dr. Evil makes a point to over-emphasis this, literally stating “I am going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death.” This scene clearly satirizes the stylistic element found in many James Bond movies, mocking it as too contrived and highlighting the incompetence of the villain. The exaggeration of this scene as a Bond convention produces humor and shows how the addition of comedy to mock this Bond element creates entertainment.
One final point to note is that rather than just being a reiteration of the James
Bond character in order to set up the film for misdirection and exaggeration, Austin
Powers provides a critique on Bond’s character, especially in his relation to women.
The norm in the Bond films is the depiction of female characters as deferential and dependent on Bond. Bond is the dominant character in the films and the women rely on him to save them. This role is completely reversed in Austin Powers: International
Man of Mystery in which Powers relies greatly on his female counterpart, Vanessa, to do much of the spy work while he goofs off. Vanessa is portrayed as a dominant, strong female. Without her, Powers would not be nearly as effective. This is important because it parodies the James Bond depiction of women as inferior to
Bond. This parody does create humor because seeing Powers’ ineffectiveness, rather than the expected sound capability of Bond, at times can be funny. However, it is important to point out that not only does this type of parody create humor, but a criticism on the portrayal of women in the Bond films.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is clearly a parody of the espionage thriller, specifically the James Bond films, as defined by Dan Harries in the
8 book Film Parody. It satirizes many of the conventions of these films, including the characters and certain scenes. The parody of these elements of the Bond films spawns comedy at the expense of the Bond franchise, and the combination of comedy with espionage changes the way in which espionage within the Bond franchise is viewed. The mockery of these conventions not only creates a new perspective, but also provides a platform for criticism. For example, Austin Powers’ character is a critique on the relation of Bond to women in the Bond films, while the scene in which Dr. Evil exaggerates the his death plan for Powers criticizes this convention as too contrived. Being a parody, Austin Powers: International Man of
Mystery can really exaggerate these critiques so that the viewer can realize how silly or laughable some aspects of the Bond franchise are. Nonetheless, even the most adamant Bond supporters can find entertainment in the movie because of the generated comedy, which shows that Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery thrives as a successful artistic work.
9 Works Cited:
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Dir. Jay Roach. New Line Cinema Presents, 1997. Film.
D'angelo, Frank J. "The Rhetoric of Intertextuality." Rhetoric Review 29.1 (2009): 31- 47. Web.
From Russia with Love. Dir. Terence Young. Eon Productions, 1963. Film.
Harries, Dan. Film Parody. London: BFI Pub, 2000. Print.
Lindner, Christoph. The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003. Print.
Morreall, John, "Philosophy of Humor", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), 20 Nov. 2012. Web.
Wark, Wesley K.. Spy Fiction, Spy Films and Real Intelligence. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2013. Ebook Library. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
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