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Austin Powers
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Sir Austin Danger Powers, KBE, is a fictional character from the Austin Powers series of films. He first appeared in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and is portrayed by Mike Myers.
Personality
Apart from being a satire of James Bond, Austin Powers also represents the archetypal 1960s mod, with his constant advocacy for free love, his use of obscure impressions and his clothing style (including crushed velvet suits and Beatle boots, which is also a costume George Lazenby's Bond has worn), though the womanizing side of him could be said to neatly combine his 1960s side with his James Bond template in itself.
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Encyclopedia
Sir Austin Danger Powers, KBE, is a fictional character from the Austin Powers series of films. He first appeared in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and is portrayed by Mike Myers.
Personality
Apart from being a satire of James Bond, Austin Powers also represents the archetypal 1960s mod, with his constant advocacy for free love, his use of obscure impressions and his clothing style (including crushed velvet suits and Beatle boots, which is also a costume George Lazenby's Bond has worn), though the womanizing side of him could be said to neatly combine his 1960s side with his James Bond template in itself. With his flamboyant ways and never-changing dress-sense, he is deliberately made to stick out from his surroundings – though invariably escaping detection when disguised – particularly when he talks about things that would have had no place in the 1990s.
In the many instances he takes off his clothes, he is revealed to have a very hairy chest. Indeed, his chest hair resembles two testicles at the top, tapering into a phallic shape further down. Much of his attitude toward relationships could be a parody of Bond's lack of reflection with regard to the loss of a woman. For example, after partner Vanessa Kensington is revealed to be a "fem bot" and explodes on their honeymoon, Austin mourns at first, then joyously exclaims, "Wait a tick ... that means I'm single again! Oh, behave!" and proceeds to dance through the hotel in the nude. Some of his abilities include a kind of hypnosis he learned in India from the late Guru Shastri, "a chaste man, who died from a disease that had all the hallmarks of syphilis."
Interestingly, Austin does display a streak of morality dating from his period - he will not make love to a girl (such as Vanessa Kensington after a night in Las Vegas) when she 'is smashed...it's not right'. This morality is not completely ironic, since Austin does not consider other mind-altering drugs to fall under this limitation. Alcohol, however, does snap inhibitions, hence his unwillingness to permit an alcohol-induced event.
From the original film he lists only two things which scare him. One is nuclear war, the other are "carnies" or "circus folk".
Austin Powers series
Powers was born on 12 November 1939, son of Nigel Dick Powers (Michael Caine), and brother of Douglas "Dougie" Powers, also known as Dr. Evil. Austin and Dougie's mother died in an assassination attempt when they were babies, separating them in the process. Austin grew up with his father, and went on to attend an espionage boarding school with Dougie (now known as Dr. Evil), his roommate and, unbeknownst to him, his brother. While at boarding school, he was awarded the title of International Man of Mystery, much to the dismay of Dougie. This event would destroy the relationship between the two and cause them to become enemies.
Following his schooling, Powers went on to join the Ministry of Defence and become a famous spy. After exiling Dr. Evil to space, Austin was cryopreserved in 1967 in case Dr. Evil should return from space. Eventually, Dr. Evil returned and Austin was unfrozen and partnered with Miss Kensington, whom he believed was the daughter of Austin's former partner Mrs. Kensington. Once he had been unfrozen, they started their adversarial relationship while he attempted to adjust to the culture shock of losing 30 years' worth of time.
After Vanessa's shockingly less-than-tragic death (and the revelation that she was fembot), Austin returned to womanizing, until falling for American Agent Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham). The two began a relationship during the events of the second film, but Felicity is missing from the third film, implying an off-screen break-up, or relating to the credits of Austin Powers 2, in which Felicity is found in bed with 'Past Austin', implying that they are both together. Austin then began a relationship with his ex-sexual partner, Foxy Cleopatra, (Beyonce Knowles), and it is unknown if they slept together, due to the planning of a fourth film.
Austin's other shootings include Alotta Fagina, who jeopardizes Austin's relationship with Vanessa by having sex with him. Later, after Vanessa's death, Austin sleeps with Ivanna Humpalot, until losing his "mojo" halfway through. In the third film, he almost sleeps with two Japanese twins, Fook Yu and Fook Mi.
The series shows very strong ties to the James Bond series, notably Michael Caine's bespectacled Harry Palmer and the foppish Jason King (Myers being a big fan of these 60s spy genres).The bespectacled Powers is also partly inspired by Peter Sellers's character of Evelyn Tremble/James Bond from Casino Royale. "Mr. Roboto" shows ties to the Otomo industries from You Only Live Twice (film), as does the Shaguar (it matches Bond's Jaguar except for the year of manufacture). The Spy Who Shagged Me shows strong ties to Moonraker (the fact there is a base on the moon), whereas Dr. Evil himself is a parody of Donald Pleasence's version of Blofeld, and Random Task throwing his shoe is a parody of Odd Job, who throws a steel-reinforced top hat. It can also be argued that his poor dental hygiene is a tribute to British glamrocker David Bowie, who famously had similarly misaligned teeth throughout his early career.
In popular culture
- When registering for hotel stays, Rubén Sierra used the alias "Austin Powers" to avoid unwanted fan attention.
- Austin Powers appears in the Boys music video by Britney Spears and the Beautiful Stranger music video by Madonna, both of which also appeared in the film series.
- In the British television comedy The Office, David Brent wears an Austin Powers costume while participating in a dating game.
- Roger Ebert, in a review of the film Beowulf, argued that it was a satire of the poem, stating that, "This leads to a great deal of well-timed "Austinpowerism", which translates as 'putting things in the foreground to keep us from seeing the family jewels.'"
External links
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