Austin Powers
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| Austin Powers | |
|---|---|
| Austin Powers series character | |
 Austin (right) with Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyonce) in a scene from Goldmember. |
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| First appearance | Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery |
| Created by | Mike Myers |
| Portrayed by | Mike Myers |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Spy for the Ministry of Defence |
| Family | Nigel Powers (father) Dr. Evil (brother) Mini-Me (brother's clone) Scott Evil (nephew) |
| Spouse(s) | Vanessa Kensington,(widowed) |
| Nationality | British |
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.
[edit] Personality
In addition to being a parody of James Bond, Austin Powers represents an archetype of 1960s Swinging London, with his constant advocacy for free love, his use of obscure impressions and his clothing style (including crushed velvet suits and Beatle boots. 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. Much of his attitude toward relationships could be a parody of Bond's lack of reflection with regard to the loss of a woman.[1] For example, after partner Vanessa Kensington is revealed to be a fembot 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 from an Indian Guru, "a chaste man, who died from a disease that had all the hallmarks of syphilis."
Austin does display a streak of morality dating from this 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.
From the original film he lists only two things which scare him: one is nuclear war, the other are "carnies" or "circus folk".
One of the things Austin is best known for is his "mojo." His mojo is the physical representation of his sex drive. It is what gives Austin Powers his legendary sexual prowess and energy. Without it, he would be rendered impotent.
Obituaries of Simon Dee (1935-2009), the radio and television presenter, stated that his "Sixties grooviness" made him the inspiration for the character.
In 2010 he was voted 23° in Entertainment Weekly's list "The 100 greatest characters of the last 20 years".
[edit] References
- ^ Spot-On: Marshal Zeringue Is James Bond a misogynist?
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Austin Powers |
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